Above the Clouds: A Guide to the Funchal Ecological Park

The Funchal Ecological Park is a protected mountain area directly north of Funchal, covering roughly 8 to 10 km² of terrain between 470 metres and 1,818 metres above sea level — the summit of Pico do Areeiro, Madeira's third-highest peak. Established in 1994 with the explicit goals of nature conservation and environmental education, it's one of the most dramatic landscapes on the island and one of the least understood by first-time visitors, largely because most guidebooks mention it only in passing as "the road up to Pico do Areeiro."

Where it actually is

The park sits between two access roads: the ER103, which runs between the mountain hub of Poiso and Ribeira das Cales, and the ER202, which continues from Poiso up toward Pico do Areeiro itself. If you've driven or been driven from Funchal toward the island's central peaks, you've almost certainly passed through it without necessarily knowing its name.

Poiso is the informal gateway to the park — a small mountain junction with a well-known café stop, sitting at the point where several routes into the park converge. Most guided activities in the area, ours included, use Poiso as an orientation point even when it isn't the exact meeting location.

What's actually in the park

Beyond the road itself, the park is laced with hiking and trail-running routes, picnic areas, and viewpoints, all set in pine and native forest that changes character sharply with altitude. A few specific spots worth knowing by name:

• Chão da Lagoa — a clearing that doubles as one of the region's established paragliding launch sites, with wide views back down over Funchal and the coast.
• Pico Alto — a panoramic viewpoint along the route between Poiso and the lower park.
• Ribeira das Cales — a quieter picnic and barbecue area near the eastern edge of the park, popular with locals on weekends rather than tour groups.

The area burned significantly in a 2010 wildfire that affected roughly 92% of the park, which is part of why active reforestation and invasive-species management are visible if you know to look for them — this isn't an untouched wilderness so much as a landscape the local government has been actively rebuilding for over a decade.

"Above the clouds" — what that actually means here

Because the park's elevation range runs up to 1,818 metres while Funchal itself sits at sea level, the cloud layer over the south coast frequently sits below the upper park on a normal day. Riding, walking, or driving up into the park on a day like that means genuinely emerging above a cloud layer you can look down on — not a figure of speech, an actual visual you get on a meaningful share of days, particularly in the morning before the cloud burns off or builds.

This is the single most-requested photo moment among visitors who make it up here, and it's the reason the mountain routes through this park get described, consistently, as feeling different from anywhere else on the island.

How most people experience the park

The classic way in is on foot — the park has an established network of hiking and trail-running routes, including a circular route of nearly 19 km connecting several of its landmark points for serious hikers. That's a real commitment: several hours, proper footwear, and a level of fitness the shorter tourist stops don't require.

A shorter, guided alternative

If you want the above-the-clouds sensation and the park's key landmarks — Chão da Lagoa, Pico Alto, Ribeira das Cales — without committing to a multi-hour hike, a guided ride through the park covers the same core route in roughly 2.5 hours, with a trained guide setting the pace and no hiking fitness required.

Our Mountain Tour rides an electric longboard route through this exact area, descending from the park's upper reaches through pine forest with stops at its main viewpoints. No previous board experience is needed — full training happens before you set off.