Lomba d’El-Rei

The trail starts in the heart of the parish, next to the Church of N. S.ª do Rosário. Go around the church on the left and, after about 300 metres, turn left onto a dirt path; shortly after, turn right towards the slope of Moio de Baixo. The climb follows a narrow path framed mainly by reeds (Arundo donax), joined by tree heather (Morella faya) and the endemic heather of the Açores (Erica azorica).

At one of the highest points of the route, the landscape opens up on both sides: to the West you can see the parish of Fenais da Ajuda and, to the East, the parish of Achada. Continue through cultivated lands until you find a left turn that descends to the mouth of Ribeira do Lenho. On this descent, the vegetation changes to pittosporum (Pittosporum undulatum) and ferns (Athyrium filix femina), with heather (Erica azorica) appearing again by the water’s edge.

After crossing the watercourse, follow an asphalt road with the stream always on your right. Once you’ve climbed a slight incline, the path turns right at the meeting point of Ribeiras do Lenho and dos Caldeirões, where you can still see the ruins of a mill and pass by the base of one of the highest bridges on the Nordeste motorway.

From here, the route enters a forest of Japanese cedars (Cryptomeria japonica) and gains height to the top of Lomba d’El-Rei, where you reach an asphalt section that crosses over the motorway. On the other side, turn left onto a path that passes by Fonte Velha and several water tanks that once supplied the local population. The return is made via a dirt path that leads to Jardim da Eira Velha, now Rua Formosa, and descends again to the church where the trail began.