Passagem das Bestas

Passagem das Bestas preserves the memory of old ox-cart routes through Terceira’s interior. Soon after the parking area, the circuit enters an uneven lava field and reaches deep cart ruts worn by repeated passage of wooden wheels. A watercourse and pipe serving a small hydroelectric installation accompany the approach to native cedar woodland, where a viewpoint opens beyond the shade.

The path then crosses pasture with views over Caldeira dos Cinco Picos and climbs Morião, the high point of the route. Endemic forest, the Terra Brava and Guilherme Moniz viewpoints and a ravine complete the return towards the initial ruts. Stone, water and vegetation tell a connected story: volcanic relief shaped rural movement, while forest and wetlands now occupy much of the caldera. The circuit combines working heritage with perspectives over two major volcanic depressions.

The Terra Brava and Guilherme Moniz viewpoints reveal two scales of the interior: nearby woodland and a much larger volcanic depression. That double perspective completes the meaning of the cart ruts, which belonged to a movement network adapted to this difficult relief and connected working land across the central part of Terceira.

Leave the roadside parking area and enter the lava field, keeping left at the junction towards the cart ruts. Cross the watercourse and follow the pipe to the cedar woodland and viewpoint. Continue through pasture overlooking Caldeira dos Cinco Picos, climb Morião and proceed through endemic forest. Pass the Terra Brava and Guilherme Moniz viewpoints, descend the ravine and return by the ruts to the parking area. Within the ravine, follow the marked exit leading directly back to the cart ruts and parking area.