Ribeira dos Caldeirões Natural Park

The Ribeira dos Caldeirões Natural Park is a gorgeous park located in the parish of Achada, in the municipality of Nordeste. It's a very popular visit among tourists and locals alike, and a near-mandatory stop if you're out exploring this part of the island.

The park is known above all for its large waterfall, one of its main draws. But there's more: it has five water mills, some of which date back to the 16th century, and three of them are listed as Sites of Public Interest. They're a lovely testament to the island's rural past.

Some of these mills are still in working order and, with a bit of luck, you'll get to see them in action. What's more, one of the old millers' houses is now home to a small ethnographic space and others have been turned into craft shops. Interesting, isn't it?

The park stretches along the course of the Ribeira do Guilherme, where you can go canyoning, one of the most recommended activities in São Miguel. It's a perfect setting both for the more adventurous and for anyone who just wants to take a quiet stroll through nature.

Here you'll find plenty of Macaronesian flora and laurel forest (laurisilva), with large tree ferns, hydrangeas and Japanese cedars. To give you an idea, a walk through the park can take between 1.5 and 2 hours, plenty of time to discover its nooks, the mills and the waterfall.

The area is included in a Special Protection Area because of its importance for the priolo (Azores bullfinch), an endemic and very scarce bird that only lives in this corner of the island. It's hard to spot, so keep your eyes wide open. And if you're out of luck, don't worry: very close by is the Priolo Environmental Center, where you can get to know it in depth and understand why its conservation is so important.

Like any popular tourist destination, the park features a cafeteria, a souvenir shop, and a picnic area for grabbing a bite.

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