Walking Trail Pico da Esperança

Hiking through the central mountain range of São Jorge island, which reaches 1,056m at Pico da Esperança and offers panoramic views of the Central Group.

The mountain range on the island of San Jorge, which reaches the altitude of 1.056m in Pico da Esperança, you can enjoy a panoramic view from San Jorge and other islands of the Central Group of Azores. In the highest areas of this mountain range, Pico da Esperança, Pico do Areeiro, Pico do Pinheiro, Pico Alto, Pico das Pedras and Pico das Brenhas, you’ll find, above all, the presence of a large endemic vegetation of botanical and scientific value worthy of all the protection which led to the creation of three nature reserves.

This trail begins on Pico das Caldeirinhas and ends by the sea (North Coast - Fajã do Ouvidor). This route takes us through some of the highest points of this mountain range, where we found craters of extinct volcanoes with beautiful lakes populated with reddish fish. We will still find endemic typical flora of these islands. Noteworthy is the rarest European orchid, Platanthera azorica, that can be found in Pico da Esperança and a few places around you, in the central mountain range of volcanic origin.