Coastal walks on Pico: Ponta da Ilha, the mistérios and the trails that skip the mountain

Pico is known for one walk, and it goes up. If you are not climbing the mountain, the island still has a good set of official trails that stay close to the sea. Most of them are under 10 kilometres, take about three hours and never rise much above 300 metres.

The question is which coast. Pico is long and narrow, and Madalena is at the opposite end from the eastern tip, so pick a trail by where you are staying and by how you will get back to the car.

All the routes below are on Trails of the Azores, the regional register, which publishes the official length, grade, map and GPS track for each one. On 1 October 2026 its alerts page listed no Pico trail as closed. Check it again on the day you walk.

This matters on Pico. Buses run on two routes, north and south, and too rarely to fetch you from the end of a walk. A linear trail therefore means two cars, a taxi back to the start, or someone willing to drop you off and pick you up. A circular trail brings you back to where you parked.

If you are on your own with a hire car, start with the circular routes.

This walk explains the word mistério. Islanders gave that name to lava fields, because nobody understood what had made them. The trail crosses two of them: the flow from the 1718 eruption at São João and the one from 1720 at Silveira.

It runs 8.5 kilometres from the forest reserve and recreation park of Mistério de São João to the church of São Bartolomeu in Silveira, graded easy, about three hours. It never climbs higher than about 76 metres. On the way you pass tidal wells at Baía do Arruda, Ponta do Admoiro, Verdoso and Maré do Rego, which once supplied the villages with water, the Ponta Rasa windmill of 1949, and natural pools at Ponta do Admoiro, Arinhas and Fonte. Bring swimming things in summer.

The catch is that it is linear, and the two ends are some way apart by road. Part of the route crosses a protected habitat area, so stay on the path.

If you want the south coast without the transport puzzle, this is the one. It is a 9.1-kilometre loop from the harbour in front of the church of São Sebastião, built in 1852, graded medium and about three hours. It goes down to the harbour at Feteira and its natural pools, passes a whale lookout, the Poça das Mujas bathing spot and a windmill at Morro do Cão, then turns inland and climbs to around 330 metres before coming back.

Calheta do Nesquim was a whaling village, and its whaleboat house is now a museum. The register advises walking the loop clockwise for the better views, and taking care on the stretches along tarmac roads.

The walk out to the end of the island is only 6.1 kilometres and almost flat. The highest point is 27 metres above the sea. The register still grades it hard, and it is right to. Much of the path crosses bare basalt with an uneven surface, there is a stairway to climb, and three hours is a realistic time for a walk that looks like it should take two.

It starts on the road near the chapel of Nossa Senhora de Cima da Rocha, built in 1854, and runs through vineyards and small bays to the lighthouse and the quay at Manhenha. Wear proper boots, not trainers, and do it in dry weather: wet basalt is slippery. It is linear, so plan the pickup.

A 7.8-kilometre loop from the natural pools at Furna, in Santo António near São Roque do Pico, graded medium, about three hours, with a high point a little over 200 metres. It climbs on old ox-cart tracks, passes the Adega A Buraca and the church at Santo António, and comes back through a protected coastal area and the fossil cliff of Santo António-São Roque, a listed geosite. The pools look across the channel to São Jorge.

Terns and Cory's shearwaters nest along this coast in summer, and the register asks walkers not to disturb them.

The gentlest of the loops: 8.8 kilometres, graded easy, about three hours, starting and finishing on the square by the church of Nossa Senhora da Ajuda in Prainha. It passes vineyards walled in black basalt, an abandoned vineyard at Morro that coastal heath has taken back, the Ponta da Rocha viewpoint, the small sandy cove of Canto da Areia and a clear pool called Poça Branca. São Jorge is in view much of the way.

A 9.4-kilometre linear walk from Miraguaia to the church of Santa Luzia, graded medium, through the UNESCO vineyard landscape on the north coast and down to the lava field at Lajido. Walkers are asked not to pick fruit, and that includes grapes at harvest time.

Two easy linear trails run through the vineyards on the west and north coasts: the PR5PIC through Criação Velha near Madalena and the PR10PIC from Santana to Lajido. We cover both in our guide to Pico's vineyards. If you are staying in Madalena or crossing from Faial for the day, the Criação Velha walk is the obvious first choice.

• Staying in Madalena, short on time: the Criação Velha vineyard walk
• Staying in Lajes or the south, one car: Calheta do Nesquim
• Staying in São Roque or the north, one car: Garajau or Prainha do Norte
• Want lava fields and a swim, and have a lift: Mistérios do Sul do Pico
• Want the end of the island and do not mind rough ground: Ponta da Ilha

The mountain itself needs a permit; see our guide to climbing Mount Pico if you change your mind.

Shade is scarce on the lava, and the black rock holds the heat, so start early in summer. Carry water: the villages on these routes are small, and a café is not guaranteed. Download the GPS track from the trail page before you set out, and check the alerts page on Trails of the Azores the same morning.

Are there good walks on Pico that do not climb the mountain?

Yes. The official trail register lists several coastal routes, most between 6 and 10 kilometres and about three hours long, including Ponta da Ilha, Mistérios do Sul do Pico, Calheta do Nesquim, Garajau and Prainha do Norte.

Which coastal walk on Pico is a loop?

Calheta do Nesquim (9.1 km) on the south coast, and Garajau (7.8 km) and Prainha do Norte (8.8 km) on the north. All three start and end in the same village, so you come back to your car.

Is the Ponta da Ilha trail difficult?

It is short and flat, but graded hard because much of it crosses uneven bare basalt and includes a stairway. Allow three hours and wear boots.

Can I swim on the way?

Several routes pass natural pools: Ponta do Admoiro, Arinhas and Fonte on the Mistérios walk, Feteira and Poça das Mujas on the Calheta do Nesquim loop, and Furna at the start of the Garajau loop.