Lagoa do Capitão and Pico's lakes plateau: trails, driving and fog

Most visitors see Pico's interior in one of three ways. They drive up to Lagoa do Capitão for a look at the mountain behind the water, they walk down from the lake to the north coast on PR13PIC, or they give a whole day to the 22-kilometre Caminho das Lagoas across the plateau. Which one makes sense depends less on fitness than on the cloud, because the middle of the island spends a lot of its time inside it.

The centre of Pico is a high plateau of old volcanic cones, peat bog, pasture and small lakes, at roughly 800 to 1,000 metres. Lagoa do Capitão sits at about 826 metres in the municipality of São Roque do Pico, and the regional trail leaflet calls it one of the biggest lakes on the island. Endemic shrubs grow around it: Azores heather, Azores juniper and Azores laurel. Birds use the lake all year.

Further east, Lagoa do Caiado lies among cinder cones inside its own partial forest reserve, with Lagoa Seca and Lagoa do Landroal nearby. Beyond those, the Caveiro nature reserve covers more bog and juniper. The ground there is soft and protected, so keep to the road or the marked trail.

On a clear morning you see Mount Pico to the west and São Jorge across the channel to the north. On a cloudy one you see the edge of the road.

The plateau is far colder and wetter than the coast. A Direção Regional do Ambiente station at Cabeço do Teicho, about 850 metres up, recorded January averages of around 12 °C by day and 7 °C at night between 2017 and 2024, with more than 570 mm of rain that month and humidity near 90 percent. Summer is milder, but fog comes in quickly in any month.

In practice the plateau is clearest early, and it often clouds over by late morning. Go up first thing and keep the coast for the afternoon. If Madalena is grey and you cannot see the mountain from town, the lakes will most likely be in cloud too.

The official page for the Caminho das Lagoas says that the trail is not recommended on foggy days. Apply the same rule to the top of PR13PIC: on open ground in poor visibility, waymarks are easy to miss.

You do not need to walk to see Lagoa do Capitão. The Estrada Longitudinal (ER 3-2) climbs from the Madalena end of the island along the northern flank of the mountain, and a signed side road leads to the lake. Allow about half an hour from Madalena. Lagoa do Caiado lies further east, close to the road across the plateau, and you can continue down to São Roque on the north coast afterwards.

There is nowhere to buy food or fuel on the plateau. Fill up and eat in town. The roads are asphalt but narrow in places, cattle stand on them, and the fog can arrive quickly, so drive slowly with dipped headlights. Our guide to getting around Pico covers car hire.

This is the shorter of the two plateau trails. It is linear, 9.3 kilometres, graded medium, about three hours, and it drops roughly 750 metres from the plateau towards the north coast.

It starts by the Estrada Transversal on asphalt that leads to the lake. After the lake you go back a short way and take the dirt track on the right, lined with large old junipers. About 3 kilometres in, the trail skirts Cabeço do Piquinho, and a short detour gives you a view over the north coast with São Jorge behind it.

Lower down you go through a gate into a pasture and follow the stone wall until the waymarks lead you onto a narrow path. It widens into a steep cobbled descent through a wood of pittosporum and Australian blackwood. That is the part to take slowly, especially when the stones are wet. At the bottom of the wood a short detour to the right leads to a picnic area and an old water tank.

The last stretch mixes tarmac and earth down towards Cais do Pico and ends at the convent of São Pedro de Alcântara, a listed building. You finish close to sea level with the car still up at the lake, so plan the return before you start (see below).

The Caminho das Lagoas crosses the top of the island from west to east. It is linear, 22 kilometres, about seven hours. The register grades it easy, but the distance, the altitude and the exposure still make it a long, serious day.

It starts on the Estrada Transversal near a Forest Services house and heads east across the Planalto Central. You cross the Caminho dos Burros (PR02PIC), pass the island's wind farm, and then the lakes begin: Caiado, Seca and Landroal. The highest point comes near Lagoa Rosada, a little under 1,000 metres. From there the route descends gently past Lagoas do Peixinho and Lagoa José Inácio, with more pasture as you go. Before Lagoa do Paúl it turns north down a dirt road and ends at the regional road by the Terra Alta viewpoint. From there two other trails, Caminho das Voltas (PR07PIC) and Nove Canadas da Ribeirinha (PR18PIC), continue to other parts of the island.

You walk through bog with sphagnum and rushes, holly and juniper, and you may hear goldcrests and see woodcock. On a clear day São Jorge and Terceira are both in view. You cannot shorten the route without someone meeting you on a road, so carry all the food and water you need and waterproofs, and turn back if the cloud comes down.

Both trails end a long way from where they start, by road. Pico's buses run on two routes, along the north coast and the south coast, and not often enough to collect you at a trail end. That leaves three options: two cars, someone who drops you at the top and meets you at the bottom, or a taxi booked in advance for the return. Agree a time and a meeting point before you set off.

If you have one car and no lift, drive to Lagoa do Capitão, walk the first part of PR13PIC to the Piquinho viewpoint and back. It gives you the junipers and the view of the north coast without the transport problem.

• Check the trail status on trails.visitazores.com on the morning you walk. On 4 October 2026 the alerts page listed no Pico trail as closed.
• Tell someone which trail you are on and when you expect to finish.
• Close every gate behind you; these are working pastures.
• In an emergency call 112 and give the number of the last trail post you passed.
• Bring a warm layer and a waterproof even in summer.

If you want to go higher, the mountain itself works quite differently, with registration and a GPS tracker; see our guide to climbing Mount Pico. For low routes that keep out of the fog, try the coastal walks on Pico.

Can you drive to Lagoa do Capitão? Yes. A signed side road off the Estrada Longitudinal leads to the lake, about half an hour from Madalena. Go early in the day for the best chance of a view.

How long is the Lagoa do Capitão trail? PR13PIC is 9.3 kilometres one way, about three hours, graded medium. It runs downhill from the lake to the convent of São Pedro de Alcântara near Cais do Pico.

Is the Caminho das Lagoas hard? It is graded easy, but it is 22 kilometres and about seven hours across exposed high ground. The official page advises against walking it in fog.

Do you need a permit for the plateau trails? The official trail pages mention no permit or booking for PR13PIC or PR19PIC. That is different from Mount Pico, where you register before climbing.