Pico Alto: 360º Views Over Santa Maria and Its Cold War Bunkers
Not every island’s highest point is only about scenery. Santa Maria’s Pico Alto combines a 360º view with a dark chapter of Portuguese aviation history — and remnants of a war that never actually reached the Azores.
The island’s rooftop, at 587 metres
At 586.84 metres, Pico Alto is Santa Maria’s highest point, part of a mountain range marking the transition between the wetter, more mountainous eastern zone and the flatter western zone. Its formation is linked to a phase of intense fissural volcanic activity roughly five million years ago.
A biodiversity hotspot
The 121-hectare protected area around Pico Alto holds one of the island’s most representative patches of laurel forest, with endemic species like folhado and uva-da-serra growing among tall trees, mostly cryptomeria.
Cold War bunkers
At the summit, next to several still-active antennas, stand bunkers built in the late 1950s, during the Cold War, to protect an Air Force radar installed on site — now decommissioned and in advanced disrepair, serving only as a historical curiosity for viewpoint visitors.
Portugal’s deadliest air disaster
Pico Alto also holds the memory of a tragedy: it was here, in 1989, that an accident occurred that remains recorded as Portugal’s deadliest air disaster, claiming 140 lives. A monument on site commemorates the victims.
Planning your visit
- Location: Santa Bárbara parish, Vila do Porto municipality.
- Trails: Pico Alto (PRC02 SMA) and the Santa Maria Grand Route (GR01 SMA), both starting from the car park.
- Access: by car to the car park, followed by a staircase up to the highest point.
Best time to visit
Clear-visibility days let you see, beyond all of Santa Maria, the neighbouring island of São Miguel in the distance.
Nearby highlights
Barreiro da Faneca, the Azores’ “red desert,” is visible from the viewpoint.
After Pico Alto, head down to Barreiro da Faneca to see up close the arid landscape visible from the summit.
Learn more about mountaineering in the Azores.
