Mistérios Negros

This circular trail runs through the Serra de Santa Bárbara and Mistérios Negros Nature Reserve, in the Terceira Natural Park. The area is also covered by the Serra de Santa Bárbara and Pico Alto Special Conservation Zone, integrated into the Natura 2000 Network, and by the Santa Bárbara Caldera and Mistérios Negros geosite. The starting point is next to Negro Lagoon, beside the support building of Gruta do Natal.

The trail begins along an earth path lined with heather (Calluna vulgaris) and Japanese cryptomeria (Cryptomeria japonica). Further ahead you enter a pasture, where you continue straight on and pass a tank, until the trail narrows between endemic vegetation of the Açores: heather (Erica azorica), Azores juniper (Juniperus brevifolia), bilberry (Vaccinium cylindraceum) and Azores boxwood (Myrsine retusa).

Then come the Lagoinhas do Vale Fundo, a set of three small lagoons. Only one of them retains water throughout the year, making it an important refuge for some migratory birds that stop here. The trail continues among the trachytic domes that give the place its name: dark rocks, with almost no vegetation, born from the volcanic eruption of 1761.

At the highest point of the trail, the view opens up around you, with Pico Gordo, the Central Massif of the island and Pico do Gaspar. The descent is made through a forest of cryptomeria interspersed with pastures delimited by these same trees. You pass the geodetic marker of Pico da Cancela and reach a road, where you turn left. Halfway through this section there is an optional detour to the right, to Pico Gaspar, a place of great richness in endemic flora.

From here, the forest path leads back to the starting point, where the trail ends. It is worth taking the opportunity to visit Gruta do Natal, a lava tube with 697 metres.