Cabeço Gordo
1,043 m
Portugal
Also known as Faial, Горда (гора)Also known as
Faial · Горда (гора)
- Elevation
- 1,043 m
- Prominence
- 1,043 m
- Difficulty
- 2/10
- Hike
- Best Season
- Jun–Sep
- Routes
- 1
Routes
1Sources differ: Easy (Azores official trail rating, whole loop) (trails.visitazores.com)
A short, steep walk from the car park at the Caldeira viewpoint (about 900 m) up the caldera's southern rim to the antennas on Cabeço Gordo (1,043 m): under 1 km and about 150 m of ascent. Most people extend it into the official 6.8 km loop around the rim of the 2 km-wide caldera (PRC04FAI, about 2½ hours).
Elevation Profile
- Distance
- 0.9 km
- one way
- Ascent
- +142 m
- start → summit
- High Point
- 1,043 m
- Time Up
- 35m
- DIN 33466
- Time Down
- 23m
- DIN 33466 · same way back
Drive or take a taxi from Horta to the end of the Caldeira road and the car park at Miradouro da Caldeira (about 900 m). Walk through the short tunnel to the viewpoint over the caldera, about 2 km across and 400 m deep, with a floor of marshes, thickets and small cones. Back at the road, the PRC04FAI trail climbs south-west along the rim, steeply on an eroded path and track, to the antennas and radio dishes on Cabeço Gordo, the highest point of Faial. The summit area is about 0.85 km and 150 m above the car park; allow 20–30 minutes. To walk the whole rim, continue west past the junction with PR06FAI (Rota dos Dez Vulcões, towards Capelinhos), then north and east along the rim with views to the north and west coasts and back to the car park; 6.8 km and about 2½ hours in all. The official description walks the loop the other way round (anticlockwise from the viewpoint via the dirt road towards the chapel of São João), finishing with a descent from Cabeço Gordo that it warns is steep and uneven. The rim lies between 840 and 1,040 m and is in cloud much of the time; the official advice is to walk it in good weather with good visibility. The path is narrow and the caldera side is a near-vertical drop in places.
Start
Miradouro da Caldeira897 m
- No bus to the Caldeira; taxi or hire car from Horta (about 20 minutes' drive).
- Parking at the trailhead
Stages
| Day | Stage | km | m ascent | m descent | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miradouro da Caldeira → Cabeço Gordo | 0.9 | 142 | 0 | 35m |
Waypoints
- Parking: Miradouro da Caldeira897 m
- Feature: Miradouro do Cabeço Gordo1,036 m
not on route line
- Summit: Cabeço Gordo1,043 m
Key Passages
- Steep eroded climb from the viewpoint to the antennas
- Narrow rim path above the caldera
Equipment
0/3 packedDownloads
Route confidence 75%Overview
The highest point of Faial (1,043 m), an antenna-topped hump on the southern rim of the island's 2 km-wide, 400 m-deep central caldera. A 20–30 minute climb from the Caldeira car park, or part of an easy 6.8 km walk around the rim with views to Pico, São Jorge and Graciosa when the cloud lifts.
Faial is built around a central stratovolcano whose summit has collapsed into the Caldeira, an almost circular crater about 2 km across. Its floor, about 400 m below Cabeço Gordo at roughly 570 m, holds marshes, thickets and small cinder cones and is protected as the Caldeira do Faial Nature Reserve. Cabeço Gordo is the highest point of the rim and of the island, and carries radio and television antennas.
The summit itself is not much of an objective, but the rim walk is one of the best short walks in the central Azores: native juniper, heather, Azores blueberry and Euphorbia stygiana line the path, and on clear days the view takes in the cone of Pico across the channel, São Jorge and Graciosa, and the volcanic line of the Capelo peninsula running west to Capelinhos, where the 1957–58 eruption added 2.4 km² to the island.
The weather sets the tone. The rim is often in fog when Horta, 20 minutes away, is sunny, and the wind can be strong. Go early or wait for a clear spell; the road ends at a car park a short walk below the summit.
Climbing Notes
No special preparation is needed: from the Caldeira car park it is under 1 km and about 150 m of ascent to the summit, and the full rim loop (PRC04FAI) is 6.8 km and about 2½ hours, graded easy by the Azores trail authority. The path is steep and eroded in places, often muddy, and narrow along the rim, with a long drop on the caldera side; take care in wind. Carry a waterproof and a warm layer whatever the weather in Horta.
For a longer day, PR06FAI (Rota dos Dez Vulcões, 19.3 km, rated hard) leaves the rim near Cabeço Gordo and descends west past Cabeço do Fogo to the Capelinhos visitor centre; PR07FAI (Caminhos Velhos) links the Caldeira with the east side of the island.
History
The Caldeira formed through a series of eruptions over the last 400,000 years. The most recent volcanic activity on Faial was on the Capelo peninsula to the west: the Cabeço do Fogo eruption of 1672 and the Capelinhos eruption of September 1957 to May 1958, which led to large-scale emigration from the island.
Season
Best Jun–Sep- January: Possible
- February: Possible
- March: Possible
- April: Good
- May: Good
- June: Best (best window)
- July: Best (best window)
- August: Best (best window)
- September: Best (best window)
- October: Good
- November: Possible
- December: Possible
- Jan
- Frequent fog, rain and strong wind
- Feb
- Frequent fog, rain and strong wind
- Apr
- Changeable; clear days possible
- Jun
- Best chance of clear views; hydrangeas in flower from late June
- Jul
- Driest months; cloud still common on the rim
- Nov
- Wet and windy
- Dec
- Wet and windy
Access & Permits
- Rules
- Caldeira do Faial Nature Reserve: stay on the waymarked trail; do not pick plants
- Getting There
Horta
Horta Airport (HOR)
- Car or taxi from Horta along the Caldeira road to the car park at Miradouro da Caldeira
- Ferries link Horta with Pico (Madalena) and São Jorge
Hazards
- Weather
- Exposure