Madeira Ativa › Levada trails › PR 4
Levada do Barreiro (PR 4) is a easy 5.2 km walking trail on Madeira, running from Poço da Neve to Casa do Barreiro. It climbs about 30 m and descends about 706 m along the way. That is close to level walking for most of the way, about 6 m of climb per kilometre. The route loses far more height than it gains (706 m down against 30 m up), so walked in this direction it is mostly descent — hard on the knees rather than the lungs. It runs between 966 m and 1642 m above sea level. At that height the trail is often above or inside the cloud, and noticeably colder than the coast, whatever Funchal is doing. It is a point-to-point route. The official walking time is 2 h 10. Access status is currently partially open. The trail is waymarked in yellow.
Official walking time and difficulty from Visit Madeira, as on the trailhead board.
Narrow sections are limited (11% of the surveyed route), and 0% is without a railing. 2% of the route is classed as demanding mountain terrain. These figures come from OpenStreetMap surveys covering 57% of the route, so the unsurveyed remainder may differ.
OpenStreetMap, where surveyed; mapped on 57% of the route.
No bus route is mapped near either end, so this one effectively needs a car or a transfer. It is point-to-point, not a loop, so a car left at the start is a car you have to walk back to — most people arrange a drop-off, a taxi, or the bus. A car park is mapped at one end only.
Official route page (visitmadeira.com) ↗
The official walking time for PR 4 is 2 h 10 over 5.2 km. That is the signed estimate at the trailhead, walking steadily and without long stops.
No. This trail is free to walk; some other marked trails on Madeira are not.
Not directly — no bus route is mapped near either end.
It runs between 966 m and 1642 m above sea level. At that height the trail is often above or inside the cloud, and noticeably colder than the coast, whatever Funchal is doing.
The last published status is partially open. Closures on Madeira follow storms and landslides and change without much warning, so check the official status on the day.