Parque Florestal do Ribeiro Frio

• Outdoors
• From 2
• Children free
• Just turn up

The trout hatchery, picnic ground and restaurant in the forest on the ER103 - the stop at the Balcões trailhead, not the walk itself.

The Posto Aquícola has bred rainbow trout here since 1960 and the tanks are at child height right beside the car park, thousands of fish you can lean over and sometimes watch being fed. It is fifteen or twenty minutes, not a destination: visitors who arrive expecting an aquarium are disappointed, and the ponds are working tanks rather than a polished display. What makes it worth stopping is that everything is in the same car park - the hatchery, picnic tables, toilets, a restaurant and shop, and the start of both PR11 to Balcões and the much harder PR10 Levada do Furado.

Worth knowing: Arrive before ten. The verge parking on the ER103 fills as soon as the tour minibuses start, and the restaurants opposite fill with coach groups at lunchtime.

Opening hours

The operator publishes no opening hours. Phone before you drive.

Prices

The forest park and picnic ground are free. The trout hatchery is 3 € from age 12 and free for under-12s. The PR trails that start here are separately paid and booked at simplifica.madeira.gov.pt.

Getting there

Prices and opening times change without notice, and on this island they change often. Everything here carries the date it was checked in our research notes; if a place has moved or closed, tell us and we will fix it.