Stª Cruz das Flores - Fazenda and back 14-07-2019
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 9.44 mi
- Elevation gain
- 1,621 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 1,621 ft
- Max elevation
- 1,012 ft
- TrailRank
- 58
- Min elevation
- -14 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Time
- 6 hours 41 minutes
- Coordinates
- 1300
- Uploaded
- August 10, 2021
- Recorded
- July 2019
near Santa Cruz das Flores, Açores (Portugal)
Viewed 855 times, downloaded 28 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
Some info on the village of Fazenda can be obtained from
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fazenda_de_Santa_Cruz
The walk starts near the tourist information close to the church of Stª Cruz. Proceed from there to the sea, which you reach close to the new harbour. From there walk north along the coast until, after passing the old harbour, you have to divert to the left (no route along the coast). Pass by Bairro dos Franceses and proceed along the road leading towards the airport terminal, then turn right again towards the coast, which you reach above the main rockpools of Stª Cruz. From here continue on the coast, passing the rockpools of Salemas before reaching "Museu da Fábrica da Baleia do Boqueirão", a former whaling factory now converted to a museum. Continue along the coast towards the West, first pasing the INATEL hotel and then the end of the runway of Flores airport. Here you climb up some stairs until reaching the road to Fazenda (km 3.4) in the suburb of Monte.
Proceed along the road until reaching Fazenda with its characteristic church (km 4.7).
Continue further along the road until at km 5.3 you divert to the left on a tarred road and go uphill until reaching a water conduct at km 5.4. From here on the trail should be waymarked red-white as GR Flores. You follow this conduct until at km 6.8 you reach the reservoir which feeds it (Barragem Central Hidroeléctrica da Ribeira de Além da Fazenda de Santa Cruz ). Walk over the dam until at km 7.3 reaching the Forest Reserve, which is a comfortable spot for a picnic. Follow GR Flores south-west up a valley. At km 9.4 we should have diverted from the dirt road to the left and crossed over to the other side of the valley, but we missed it and adventured on some cow paths instead, eventually rejoining GR Flores at Km 11.1.
At km 12.2 reach a spot with great panorama over Stª Cruz, followed by a steep descent to the suburb of Monte.
Waypoints
Waypoint
0 ft
Start of the Stª Cruz - Fazenda walk
Waypoint
0 ft
Bairro dos Franceses
Neighbourhood which was built by the French that ran a military base on Flores from 1966-1993 for the purpose of observing ballistic missile test trajectories. https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_Francesa_das_Flores
Beach
0 ft
Piscinas Naturais Santa Cruz
Main rockpools at Stª Cruz, to my opinion the best on the island
Beach
0 ft
Piscinas Naturais das Salemas
Museum
0 ft
Museu da Fábrica da Baleia do Boqueirão (museum)
Museu da Fábrica da Baleia do Boqueirão (museum) Santa Cruz das Flores. Former whaling factory converted museum, nicely restored and well worth a visit.
Panorama
Religious site
0 ft
Igreja Fazenda
The church of Fazenda will accompany us with many different views throughout this walk.
Waypoint
0 ft
Central Hidroeléctrica da Ribeira de Além da Fazenda de Santa Cruz
Hydroelectric power plant (location not part of this walk) that receives the water from the reservoir via the conduct encountered later in the walk. Erected in 1966 with French support in order to supply power to their military base.
River
0 ft
Conduta de agua
Conduct that channels water from the reservoir towards the hydroelectric power plant
River
0 ft
Barragem Central Hidroeléctrica da Ribeira de Além da Fazenda de Santa Cruz
This dam (20 m height, 70 m width, the largest in the Azores) forms the reservoir in Ribeira de Além that supplies water to the hydroelectric power plant
Park
0 ft
Reserva Florestal de Recreio Luís Paulo Camacho
Forest reserve with picnic and grill facilities, children's playground as well as a small educational animal zoo. At the far end a viewpoint over the dam and valley of Ribeira de Além can be found.
Risk
0 ft
Missed diversion GR Flores (T6)
At this point we should have diverted from the road to the left, and, following GR Flores, crossed over to the other side of the valley. At time of walking (July 2019) GR Flores was poorly signposted but meanwhile the situation has probably improved. The part of our trail that follows is possible but not really recommended (involves following some cow paths and climbing some fences).
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