Walking Pico's north-coast vineyards: Santa Luzia, Lajido and the PR01PIC and PR10PIC trails

Two of Pico's official trails meet in the same place: Lajido de Santa Luzia, a hamlet of black basalt houses on the north coast, inside the UNESCO vineyard landscape. One comes along the shore from the east, the other down through the vines from the hills above. Both are linear, so the question is which one you walk and how you get back to the car.

The short answer: the PR10PIC from Santana is the easier, flatter and more coastal of the two. The PR01PIC Caminhos de Santa Luzia is a little longer and climbs back up through woodland, and it suits you better if you want the vineyards and a bit of forest in one walk.

The name comes from the ground underfoot. Lajido is the local word for a lava field with a smooth, flat or gently rolling surface, the kind geologists call pahoehoe. The Azores Geopark lists the typical features: tumuli (small domes where the crust was pushed up), ropy lava, ridges and trenches. On top of that the farmers added their own marks, the walled vineyard plots called currais and the relheiras, grooves worn into the rock by ox-cart wheels.

Some of the ground here is young. The Mistério de Santa Luzia eruption began on 1 February 1718, after strong earthquakes, from a line of small cones and seven explosion craters between 850 and 1,250 metres up the mountain. The lava ran about 9 kilometres and reached the sea between the harbour at Cachorro and Lajido de Santa Luzia, covering 8.6 square kilometres. According to the Geopark it destroyed only vineyards and a few wine cellars. (One Geopark page gives 2 February; the Geopark's panels on the island say the 1st.)

The vineyard landscape has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004, and the PR01PIC runs through a protected landscape area. The official notes ask walkers not to pick fruit anywhere on the route, and that includes grapes and figs in late summer.

This is the one most people should walk. It is 8.7 kilometres, graded easy, about two and a half hours one way.

It starts on the regional road at the boundary between Santana and São Vicente Ferreira. Before you set off, the trail notes suggest the lane to the left to see the whale lookout, a short detour and worth it. From the road a path climbs between two houses; after about 700 metres you turn right onto a paved road, which soon drops through orchards and vineyards to the bay of Gasparal and its tidal pool.

From Gasparal you keep to the right of the seaside houses towards Ponta Negra, on a lane lined with heather and pittosporum that turns into a shortcut over bare basalt. Watch your footing here when the rock is wet. After the houses at Cabrito you turn right, pass the small Ermida de São Mateus da Costa, an 18th-century chapel, and go on through the village of Arcos to the centre of Lajido, where the trail ends near the interpretation centre.

Cabrito has a small harbour, Porto do Cabrito, and Arcos is one of São Roque do Pico's official bathing areas for 2026, with a season from early June to the end of September and the "ZERO poluição" label. On a warm day that makes a swim the natural end to the walk.

The other trail is 9.4 kilometres, graded medium, about three hours. The route runs between 15 and 246 metres above sea level, so expect a real climb on the way back.

It starts at Miraguaia, in the parish of Santa Luzia, and goes down towards the sea through the vineyards to Lajido. On this stretch the ox-cart tracks are worn into the lava. At Lajido the trail notes recommend the museum and point out the lava formations. Then the route turns uphill past Forno dos Frades, climbing for about 3 kilometres to the main regional road, which you follow to the left for about 500 metres to the church of Santa Luzia.

At the church you turn right, as signed, and the last part changes character: beaten earth through woods of Azores heather, the native white wood (Picconia azorica) and pittosporum, among other plants. The official page calls the trail linear but describes this last section as a loop back to the church, so check the map on trails.visitazores.com before you decide where to leave the car.

Santa Luzia itself is a small place. The parish dates from 1617, and the 2021 census counted 436 residents.

• Walk the PR10PIC if you want the coast, little climbing and a swim at Arcos.
• Walk the PR01PIC if you want the vineyards and some shade, and don't mind 3 kilometres uphill.
• Walk both, on separate days, if the north coast is the reason you came to Pico.

Neither trail returns you to your start without planning. Buses on Pico are run by Cristiano Limitada on a south route and a north route, but they are too sparse to rely on for the end of a walk, so check the timetable on the operator's site or arrange a taxi before you set off. With two cars, or a driver willing to meet you in Lajido, the PR10PIC becomes an easy half day.

There is little shade on the coastal stretches, and black rock holds the heat. In summer, start early. Download the GPX file from the official trail page before you go, because part of the route near Ponta Negra crosses bare rock rather than a path.

The Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture Interpretation Centre sits in the hamlet, on Rua do Lajido, and is run by the Pico Natural Park. A visit includes a short documentary, a guided walk into the vine and fig plots, the inside of a wine store and a traditional distillery that still works, and the lava field itself.

Neither Visit Azores nor the Natural Park's pages gave opening hours or prices when we checked in October 2026, so ring ahead on +351 965 896 313 before you plan a walk around it.

Which trails pass through Lajido de Santa Luzia?

Both. The PR10PIC from Santana ends in the centre of Lajido, and the PR01PIC from Miraguaia passes through it on the way down.

How long is the walk from Santana to Lajido?

8.7 kilometres, graded easy, about two and a half hours one way.

Can you swim along the way?

Yes. Arcos, just before Lajido on the PR10PIC, is an official bathing area in 2026, with a season from early June to the end of September. Gasparal has a tidal pool.

What happened here in 1718?

The Mistério de Santa Luzia eruption sent lava about 9 kilometres down the mountain to the sea between Cachorro and Lajido. Its flows covered 8.6 square kilometres of the slope above this coast.

• Trails of the Azores: PR01PIC Caminhos de Santa Luzia
• Trails of the Azores: PR10PIC Santana - Lajido
• Azores Geopark: Pico geosite panels
• Visit Azores: Vineyard Culture Interpretation Centre
• Official bathing areas of Pico 2026
• Santa Luzia (São Roque do Pico), Wikipedia