Rota da Agua - Janela do Inferno

The Azores are hard to describe. The greenest green, the lushest lush, the cutest cows. There are lots of musts on the island of Sao Miguel but the Rota da Aqua is a nice introduction to the dizzying diversity of the Azorean landscape. This trail is one that has been designated by the tourism council. (These trails are highly recommended; they are well-blazed and mapped out in English.) You can find more information on this specific adventure here. 

Park at the picnic area noted on the map. Here you will find a trailhead and useful overview (you'll encounter another guide about halfway through the hike). You'll begin your hike on a secondary road that will lead you through cow pastures (if you're like me, you're gonna end up with a lot of pictures of cows) before the trail turns left up a dirt path that looks like someone's driveway (it might be). This long, slow climb is the hardest part of the hike but provides incredible views of Ponta Delgada, the capital city of the Azores. 

The trail will then make a surprising transition from farmland to jungle, burrow through 4 tunnels (that are actually ancient aqueducts), and dive deep into the woods, where you will find Janela Do Inferno. Here a spring flows from a large tear in the towering rock wall. Keep an eye out for the newts that are brave enough to inhabit the so-called Window to Hell. 

Afterwards, you'll walk through more dense forest while admiring the very old and very complex Azorean aqueduct system that was originally designed to get water from the mountain to the Alcohol Factory of Lagoa (priorities) and still provides water to the island today. 

A jaunt through the small town of Remedios wraps up this 5-mile hike. Back at the picnic area, if you time it right, you can watch the sun set over Ponta Delgada and behind the infinite Atlantic Ocean.