Caldeira do Faial

The Caldeira occupies the centre of Faial: a crater about two kilometres across and four hundred metres deep, formed by collapse rather than a single explosion, with walls dropping steeply to a floor of bog, juniper scrub and endemic vegetation that includes plants found nowhere else. A short tunnel from the car park leads to the main viewpoint on the rim. A trail runs the full circuit of the rim, about eight kilometres, giving the crater on one side and, when the weather allows, the whole island and Pico's cone across the channel on the other. Descent to the floor is prohibited without authorisation, as the vegetation is protected. The rim sits at over a thousand metres, which means it is in cloud a large proportion of the time, and the walk becomes dangerous in fog because the edge is unfenced.

What you actually see

• The crater - two kilometres across and four hundred metres deep.
• The floor - protected bog and endemic vegetation, closed to visitors.
• The rim trail - an eight-kilometre circuit with the crater on one side.
• Pico - the neighbouring island's cone across the channel on clear days.

When to go

Year-round; summer mornings offer the best chance of clear conditions. Two to three hours for the circuit, or twenty minutes for the viewpoint alone.

Honest expectations

Cloud covers the rim very frequently and the walk is genuinely dangerous in fog with unfenced drops. Cold and windy at over a thousand metres. Descending into the crater is prohibited. The trail is muddy and exposed throughout.

Nearby

Capelinhos is at the western tip; Horta and the marina are south-east.