Tell me about the Pico das Cruzes - Terreiros - Pico João do Prado hike in Madeira
💭 Thinking
The user is asking about a specific hike in Madeira - "Pico das Cruzes - Terreiros - Pico João do Prado". Let me search for this trail using the find_hikes tool.The search returned no results. Let me try a broader search for this trail - maybe with just part of the name.The find_hikes tool returned no results for "Pico das Cruzes - Terreiros - Pico João do Prado". Let me try searching with different terms. This might be a community/unofficial trail rather than an official PR trail, or it might be listed under a different name. Let me try searching for "Pico João do Prado" or just look for hikes near that area.The user is asking about "Pico das Cruzes - Terreiros - Pico João do Prado" hike. This didn't match any official PR trail or community trail in our database. Let me search more specifically for this trail name on the web to find information about it.The user is asking about the "Pico das Cruzes - Terreiros - Pico João do Prado" hike in Madeira. This trail didn't appear in my searches through the official PR trails or the community trails near Santana. Let me search more specifically for this trail on theweb.The user is asking about the "Pico das Cruzes - Terreiros - Pico João do Prado" hike in Madeira. My search results don't show this as an official PR trail — it doesn't appear in the IFCN register or the AllTrails community trails from my find_hikes results. Let me search more specifically for this route.
I found a Komoot result mentioning "Pico da Cruz und Chão dos Terreiros von Fontes aus" which seems related, and a Visit Madeira page about "João do Prado - Lamaceiros" (which is a BTT/mountain bike route, not a hiking trail). Let me try to find more information about this specific route.
Let me also check the Santana Biosphere page which mentioned "Percursos" - it might have this trail listed.
Let me look more carefully. The trail name "Pico das Cruzes - Terreiros - Pico João do Prado" doesn't match any official PR trail. It seems like it might be a community/unofficial route on AllTrails or Komoot. I didn't find it in my initial find_hikes results. Let me try a more specificsearch.Let me analyze the search results. The trail "Pico das Cruzes - Terreiros - Pico João do Prado" doesn't appear in the IFCN official PR trail list, nor in our hike database. The Komoot results mention "Pico da Cruz und Chão dos Terreiros" as a community route around Fontes/Serra de Água, but that's a different trail than what the user is asking about.
The user is asking about "Pico das Cruzes - Terreiros - Pico João do Prado" which seems to be a specific route name. Let me check the Santana municipality's pedestrian trails page - it was mentioned in the search results (cm-santana.com). Also, the santanamadeirabiosfera.pt page listed "Percursos" which might have this trail.
The Santana municipality website listed several PR trails (PR1, PR1.1, PR1.2, PR1.3, PR9, PR10) but none with the name "Pico das Cruzes - Terreiros - Pico João do Prado."
Looking at this more carefully, this trail might be listed on the AllTrails community or on Visit Madeira but NOT as an official PR trail. It didn't appear in my find_hikes results either as a PR trail or as a community trail.
The Visit Madeira site had a page about "João do Prado - Lamaceiros" as a BMT (mountain biking) trail, not a hiking trail. Let me check that URL.
Actually, looking at the search results more carefully:
- The Komoot result lists "Pico da Cruz und Chão dos Terreiros von Fontes aus" which is about Pico da Cruz and Chão dos Terreiros - this is a different route than "Pico das Cruzes - Terreiros - Pico João do Prado"
- The visitmadeira.com result mentions "João do Prado - Lamaceiros" as a BTT (mountain biking) route
The trail "Pico das Cruzes - Terreiros - Pico João do Prado" might be a route described on Visit Madeira's website or the Santana Biosphere website that I haven't fully explored. Let me check the santanamadeirabiosfera.pt page.
Actually, I found a reference to this trail on VisitMadeira's site as a "BTT" (mountain biking) route, not a walking/hiking trail. The URL was: https://visitmadeira.com/pt/o-que-fazer/exploradores-da-natureza/atividades/btt/joao-do-prado-lamaceiros/
"Pico das Cruzes" (with an "s") and "Pico João do Prado" are peaks in the Santana municipality area. The trail connecting these peaks with Terreiros might be a local walking route that's not part of the official PR trail network.
Since I couldn't find this trail in any of my searches (not in IFCN's official PR list, not in AllTrails community routes via find_hikes, and only tangentially mentioned in Komoot/web), I should be honest about what I found and what I couldn't confirm.
Let me try one more search to see if I can find specific information about this trail.Based on all my research, I can now piece together what I know about this trail route. The "Pico das Cruzes - Terreiros - Pico João do Prado" is NOT an official IFCN PR (Percurso Recomendado) trail. It didn't appear in the IFCN trail database, and it wasn't among the official PR trails listed on any source.
However, I did find references to some of the place names:
- Pico da Cruz (not Pico das Cruzes) appears on Komoot as a hiking route near Fontes/Serra de Água
- Chão dos Terreiros also appears on Komoot near Fontes
- Pico João do Prado is a place in the municipality of Machico
- The "João do Prado - Lamaceiros" route on Visit Madeira is listed as a **MTB (BTT) route**, not a hiking trail
The trail the user is asking about seems to be a community/unofficial route, likely in the Santana/Machico mountain area. Let me check what I found from Komoot:
- "Pico da Cruz und Chão dos Terreiros von Fontes aus" — a circular route on Komoot, 10.5 km, 480m elevation, rated moderate, starting from Fontes (which is in Serra de Água, Ribeira Brava municipality)
- This is listed on Komoot as an unofficial community route
The web search found that Pico da Cruz is in Serra de Água, with views of Ribeira Brava valley, Paul da Serra, and Encumeada Pass.
But the user specifically asked about "Pico das Cruzes - Terreiros - Pico João do Prado" — note the different peak names, and "Terreiros" not "Chão dos Terreiros". Pico João do Prado is in Machico municipality (from the Visit Madeira page about the MTB route).
This seems to be a route that connects three peaks/localities in the Santana/Machico mountain area. However, it is NOT an official PR trail managed by IFCN.
I should be honest that this specific route isn't in our trail database as an official PR trail or as a community trail on AllTrails. I can share what I know from the sources I found and provide the caveats that apply to unofficial routes.
Let me summarize what I have:
1. Not an official IFCN PR trail
2. Not in the AllTrails community catalogue
3. "João do Prado - Lamaceiros" on Visit Madeira is listed as an MTB/BTT route, not a hiking trail
4. Found on Komoot as "Pico da Cruz und Chão dos Terreiros von Fontes aus" — but this starts from Fontes (Serra de Água), which is a different area than Pico João do Prado
5. Neither IFCN nor Visit Madeira list a hiking trail with this exact name
I should tell the user what I found and what I didn't, and be clear about the unofficial nature of this route.
Photos: walkmeguide.com · green = official IFCN PR trail · amber = community route (AllTrails)
The Pico das Cruzes – Terreiros – Pico João do Prado route is not one of Madeira's official PR trails (the classified and managed trails in the IFCN network), and it doesn't appear in the AllTrails community catalogue either. Here's what I was able to find from the sources I checked:
What this route is
This is an unofficial community route — it's not managed, signposted, or maintained by IFCN (the regional government's forests and nature-conservation authority). That means:
It has no official open/closed status and no guaranteed maintenance or signage
The hiking conditions and path clearance can vary; check locally before setting out
There's no official access-fee system for it (unlike the PR trails that require payment via SIMplifica)
What the sources say
Pico João do Prado appears on the official Visit Madeira website, but as a mountain-bike (BTT/MTB) route called João do Prado – Lamaceiros, listed under their cycling section — 5.29 km, medium difficulty, ~45 min, descending from 1,281 m to 650 m, mostly dirt tracks with some stone sections (Visit Madeira)
A related community hiking route appears on Komoot as "Pico da Cruz und Chão dos Terreiros von Fontes aus" (starting from Fontes near Serra de Água) — ~10.5 km, ~480 m elevation gain, rated moderate — but this starts from a different area and doesn't include Pico João do Prado (Komoot)
The route the name suggests — linking Pico das Cruzes, Terreiros, and Pico João do Prado — passes through the mountainous interior of the Santana/Machico area, traversing high-altitude terrain with significant elevation changes. Pico João do Prado sits at around 1,281 m.
If you're planning to hike it
Since this isn't an official trail, I'd recommend:
Checking conditions locally — ask at the Santana or Machico tourist office about current path conditions
Carrying offline maps — there are no official waymarks; use a GPS app (Komoot, AllTrails, Wikiloc) with the route pre-downloaded
Mountain weather matters — the area is high altitude and cloud can roll in fast; check the mountain forecast and IPMA warnings before you go
Nearby official trails in the same area
If you'd prefer a marked, maintained route in the Santana mountains, the official PR trails nearby include: