Morro Alto: the highest point of Flores, the road up and the juniper plateau

Morro Alto is the top of Flores, 914 metres above the sea. On a clear day most of the island lies below you. Often you see the inside of a cloud. Whether to go comes down to two questions: will the summit be clear, and are you happy on an unsurfaced forest road? This guide covers both, and what is actually up there, so you can decide before you leave the coast.

Don't come expecting a wild peak. An antenna mast has stood on the summit since 1986, and the island's weather radar is next to it. The radar went into service in 2025. It picks up rain up to 300 km away and sends a fresh image every five minutes, for forecasters and for shipping and air traffic in the Atlantic.

Around the masts there are several viewpoints, and from this height you look over much of Flores and the sea around it. Pico da Burrinha, at 886 metres, and Pico dos Sete Pés, at 849, are the nearest summits.

Before the roads, the track over Morro Alto was the way from Fajã Grande on the west coast to Cedros in the north, and shepherds came up here to round up livestock that had spread across the plateau.

The inside of Flores is a plateau in two steps. The upper, northern step lies at about 600 to 700 metres and carries Morro Alto, Pico da Burrinha, Testa da Igreja and Pico da Sé. The lower step to the south, at 500 to 600 metres, holds smaller, younger cones and the crater lakes most visitors come to see.

Morro Alto and Pico da Sé form one protected area, the Reserva Natural do Morro Alto e Pico da Sé, about 1,573 hectares inside the Flores Natural Park. It holds the largest forest of Azores juniper (Juniperus brevifolia) in the archipelago, a small tree found only in the Azores, and wide peat bogs carpeted with moss. The bogs act like a sponge. The water they hold feeds the ravines and waterfalls lower down. The reserve is also a Ramsar wetland site (no. 1806, designated 2008) and a Natura 2000 conservation zone. The whole island has been a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 27 May 2009.

Stay on the road and the marked paths. Peat bog is easy to damage and slow to recover.

The way up is the Caminho Florestal do Morro Alto, a forest road. It leaves the ER 2-2ª, the regional road that crosses the island between Santa Cruz and Fajã Grande, south-west of the summit, and climbs about 6 km to the summit. Those figures come from OpenStreetMap, which records the lower part as dirt and compacted gravel. Visitors do drive it as well as walk it, but we could not confirm its condition this season. Judge it on the day: if it looks rough after rain, or your hire agreement rules out unpaved roads, park and walk.

The PR03FLO trail touches the forest road about 3 km below the summit, on its way from Lagoa Negra to the Poço do Bacalhau waterfall. PR03FLO is 7 km, graded hard, about three hours, and runs through the Morro Alto and Pico da Sé reserves. It was open on 7 October 2026. The summit is not on the trail, so a walk to the top from there is a detour of about 3 km each way on the road. For the lakes and the walk down to the waterfall, see Flores waterfalls and crater lakes, and for every official route, hiking on Flores.

The high interior is the island's fog zone, with strong winds and heavy rain. The official trail page warns walkers on PR03FLO to check the forecast before they go up. Some practical rules:

• Look up from the coast before you drive. If the cloud base is sitting on the plateau, the summit view will not be there.
• Cloud up here often moves through. If you are already at the top, wait a few minutes before you give up.
• Bring a windproof layer even in summer. It is colder at 914 metres than in Santa Cruz.
• Combine it with the lakes. The Miradouro das Lagoas over Lagoa Negra and Lagoa Comprida is on the same plateau, so one clear spell can cover both.

On a clear day, yes. Nowhere on Flores is higher, and the view takes in the plateau, the lakes and the sea. In cloud, the drive is grey and the summit is a cluster of masts. If you have only one day and the forecast for the interior is poor, spend it on the coast and keep Morro Alto as a bonus for the first clear morning.

How high is Morro Alto?

914 metres, the highest point of Flores.

Can you drive to the top?

A forest road, the Caminho Florestal do Morro Alto, runs about 6 km from the ER 2-2ª to the summit. The lower half is mapped as dirt and gravel, so check its condition on the day and walk if in doubt.

Is Morro Alto on a hiking trail?

Not directly. The PR03FLO trail from Lagoa Negra to Poço do Bacalhau crosses the reserve and touches the summit road about 3 km below the top.

What are the masts on the summit?

An antenna mast that has been there since 1986 and the island's weather radar, in service since 2025, which tracks rain up to 300 km away.

• Réserve du Morro Alto et Pico da Sé, Routard
• Radar Flores, European Commission Recovery and Resilience Facility
• PR03FLO Miradouro das Lagoas - Poço do Bacalhau, Azores Trails
• Livro das Paisagens dos Açores: Flores, SIARAM
• OpenStreetMap