About Salto da Farinha
Salto da Farinha is a modestly-sized waterfall (said to be 40m tall though it felt shorter than that) situated on the northeastern part of Ilha São Miguel.
This waterfall is in a more open area than is typical of tropical waterfalls of this size so it could be seen from both afar as well as up close and personal.
As the name would suggest, the word salto means “leap”, and this was certainly one of the few such free-leaping waterfalls found in the Azores Islands (let alone Portugal in general).
That said, the word farinha means “flour”, and I’m not sure why this waterfall was named after flour (unless there might have been some historical use of the Ribeira das Coelhas for the purposes of grinding flour).
So I’ll briefly describe how we were able to experience this waterfall, which I’d imagine would be how a typical visit would look like.
We started by driving to a hairpin bend near the end of a signed access road for the Salto da Farinha just west of the small town of Achadinha (see directions below).
From this hairpin turn, we had the option of leaving the car at one of the limited pullout spaces so we could see the waterfall from the Miradouro do Salto da Farinha right at the corner of the hairpin turn.
At this lookout, we could see right away how steep and narrow the rest of the access road was, which is why lots of people opted to walk down this road instead of chancing it with their rental car.
The view of the waterfall from here was a bit distant, but we could certainly appreciate the wide open terrain it was in as well as the secluded valley facing the north coast of Ilha São Miguel.
There was also a walkway continuing further downhill past a restroom facility directly towards the coastline, and this led about 150m to the Miradouro Pedra dos Estominhos.
At this lookout, there were nice views along the northern coastline as well as some picnic tables and even some BBQ grills.
Back at the hairpin bend, we then descended the steep road for the final 500m over two switchbacks to the lower car park for the Salto da Farinha.
This road was steep and scary enough that you’d better be a confident and skilled driver in low gear while tackling each of the switchbacks, but it’s even more important to have momentum going back up!
Things get really tricky if there’s another car going in the opposite direction (the road is essentially single-lane) so I can easily see why lots of people opted to walk this portion.
Anyways, from the lower car park, I then pretty much followed an obvious trail following the signs as it led me past a picnic area towards what appeared to be some kind of sanctuary before going right to the base of Salto da Farinha.
This hike was more or less about 550m in each direction (or 1.1km round trip) with mild elevation gain and loss (roughly 60m of elevation change).
Once at the waterfall, I had the ability to get right into its refreshing plunge pool (not deep enough for a swim during my visit) or climb up to a more elevated view atop a rocky area.
I did notice around the last part of the trail that there was a detour leading to the very brink of what appeared to be another tier of the Salto da Farinha, but I was unable to find a safe way to get to its bottom for a more satisfying experience.
All told, I wound up spending about 35 minutes away from the car, but this didn’t include the additional 20 minutes at the Miradouro do Salto da Farinha as well as the steep descent to the lower car park.
Authorities
Salto da Farinha is located near Achadinha on the island of São Miguel of the Azores Autonomous Region of Portugal. It is managed by the Municipality of Nordeste. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting the official Azores tourism website.
Salto da Farinha resides in the civil parish of Achadinha on the island of São Miguel.
Since we stayed in the town of Furnas, I’ll describe the most straightforward way (not necessarily the way that we went) to drive to the waterfall from there.
From the EN1-1A intersection just to the east of the Repsol gas station in Furnas, we’d drive north and then make an immediate right turn onto the one-way road through the center of town.
After about 300m going east on the EN1-1A, we’d then keep straight ahead before turning left at the next three-way junction (the one-way road has us going that way anyways).
Shortly after the left turn, we’d then take the next right turn where a sign pointed the way to Ribeira Grande and Ponta Delgada.
From there, we’d follow this single-lane road to the EN2-1A, where we’d then turn left to continue driving on the EN2-1A Road for about the next 8km before keeping right to continue on the EN4-2 Road towards Nordeste.
After another 2.5km, the road then joined up with the EN1-1A Motorway heading east towards Nordeste, L. Maia, and Burguete.
Next, we’d continue driving on the EN1-1A for about 8.5km to an exit for Achadinha/Salga (there’s also a sign for Parque Ribeira dos Caldeirões), and we took the first exit at the roundabout for Achadinha.
Then, we’d follow the main road towards Salga for about 2.5km before getting to a signed turnoff on the right for the Miradouro do Salto da Farinha.
Finally, we’d follow the access road for about 500m to the Miradouro do Salto da Farinha, where we have the option to park the car up here, check out the viewpoints, and then walk down.
However, if we wanted to save ourselves from walking the steep road beyond the miradouro, then we’d have to steeply descend the last 2 switchbacks on the single-lane road to the lower car park after the remaining 500m or so.
Overall, this drive should take around 30 minutes.
For context, Achadinha is about 15km (under 15 minutes drive) west of Nordeste, 19km (under 30 minutes drive) north of Furnas, about 25km (about 30 minutes drive) east of Ribeira Grande, about 21km (over 30 minutes drive) north of Povoação, and about 44km (under 60 minutes drive) northeast of Ponta Delgada.
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Left to right sweep from the ocean to the falls as seen from the miradouro
Checking out the falls from its base
Checking out the base of the falls from a more elevated position above a bluff
Downstream to upstream sweep from the brink of an intermediate waterfall before ending at the main one
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