Flores Nature Park rules in 2026: where you can walk, camp and fly a drone

On 5 August 2026 the Azores government published a management plan for the land side of the Flores Nature Park, Decreto Regulamentar Regional n.º 16/2026/A. It took effect the next day. Most visitors will never notice it, because nothing changes at a roadside viewpoint or on a marked trail. It matters if you plan to leave the path, camp, launch a drone or land a kayak on an islet. This guide sets out what the plan and the park's 2011 founding decree say on those points, and where the lines are.

The park has nine protected areas. Eight are on land, covering 60.58 km², which the plan puts at 43% of the island. The ninth is a marine area of 39.80 km². The land areas include the central plateau with its crater lakes, the Rocha dos Bordões basalt columns, the north-east, south and south-west coasts, the cliffs of the west coast and the islet of Maria Vaz. Separately, the whole island and the sea around it have been a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 2009.

Each area is split into management units, and each unit gets one of seven protection levels. Three of them shape a visit.

In integral protection zones nobody goes in, apart from conservation work, monitoring, rescue, enforcement and authorised research. In partial protection zones you may visit, but a list of activities, from tours and recreation off the existing trails to collecting and drone flights, needs a binding opinion from the regional environment department first. Complementary protection zones are buffers with lighter rules, though collecting, sport outside designated areas and low flights still need that opinion.

The largest no-entry zone is the heart of the island. Four units called "Morro Alto e Planalto Central" add up to about 1,031 hectares of integral protection. The 2011 decree already banned walking off established trails and paths in the Morro Alto e Pico da Sé reserve and in the reserve around the Funda and Rasa crater lakes.

In practice, keep to the PR03FLO trail, from Miradouro das Lagoas to Poço do Bacalhau, the forest roads and the viewpoints. The plan lists five viewpoints on the plateau for upkeep: Lagoas Negra e Comprida, Morro Alto, Lagoa Seca, Lagoa Branca and Pico da Sé. It also calls for new signs at the start of PR03FLO about the ban on leaving the marked route, and at the path down to Lagoa Funda about the rules in the reserve. The peat bog and juniper scrub off the path are what the reserve exists to protect. Our Morro Alto guide covers the summit road.

The Rocha dos Bordões natural monument covers 10.29 hectares. The plan's objectives for it include a ban on public access to the rock itself. You see it from the viewpoint on the regional road, which the plan keeps and maintains. Do not climb the columns.

Several small islands and headlands are closed to people altogether. Ilhéu de Maria Vaz, off Ponta Delgada in the north-west, is 9.79 hectares of integral reserve, and the 2011 decree bans any boat from coming alongside and any person from landing or staying. On the north-east coast, Ponta do Burquilhão, the Alagoa islets and Baixa do Moinho are under integral protection too, and the plan wants signs about the visiting ban in the nearest harbours, Santa Cruz and Ponta Delgada. South of Santa Cruz, Ponta Fernão Jorge has 0.70 hectares of integral protection, closed except for conservation and science.

A boat trip passes these from the water, which is allowed. If you paddle a kayak or sail your own boat, look and move on.

The 2011 decree bans camping and caravanning in the Morro Alto and Caldeiras Funda e Rasa reserves unless the park director authorises it. On the coasts and in the protected landscape of the west-coast cliffs, the ban covers camping outside designated sites. None of these areas lets you pitch a tent wherever you happen to stop. The list of measures in the 2026 plan includes creating a camping area, but it does not say where or when.

We could not confirm campsite locations, seasons or 2026 prices from an official source, so we do not list them here. Ask your host or the town hall in Santa Cruz das Flores or Lajes das Flores before you pack a tent.

The 2026 plan makes overflight by powered aircraft below 1,000 feet, and by drones flown "for technical and scientific purposes and at occasional events", subject to a binding opinion from the environment department in the partial protection, priority conservation and complementary zones. In integral zones no activity at all is allowed. The plan does not deal with holiday drone flights separately.

Do not fly over the plateau, the lakes, the islets or the Rocha dos Bordões without asking the park first. Nesting seabirds use the coastal areas, and the habitat rules forbid disturbing them.

In the Morro Alto e Pico da Sé reserve the 2011 decree bans fishing in streams, lakes and pools unless a regional order regulates it. Motorboats are banned on the crater lakes. Burning vegetation is banned in both plateau reserves. In the coastal habitat areas, driving a motor vehicle off designated roads is banned, except for farm, forestry and safety work. Taking eggs or destroying nests is banned there too.

Collecting protected plants or animals, or rocks and fossils, needs that binding opinion in the partial, priority and complementary zones. In the plateau reserves and at the Rocha dos Bordões, taking protected species is banned outright. The Azores trails code says the same in shorter form: do not remove geological material or plant samples, and check your boots for seeds so you do not carry invasive plants in.

Guided activities and recreation off the existing trails, and sport outside designated areas, also need an opinion. The operator handles that paperwork, which is one more reason to book canyoning or birding with a licensed local company rather than improvise it.

The nature wardens, the vigilantes da natureza, patrol the areas, along with the environment inspectors and the police. Under the plan, doing something prohibited, or something conditioned without authorisation, is a serious environmental offence (contraordenação grave) under the regional nature conservation law. We did not find the fine amounts stated in the plan itself.

To report damage, the Azores trails site gives the SOS Ambiente line, 800 292 800. For emergencies call 112, and give the number of the last trail post you passed: posts are numbered every 500 m. Many trails have phone signal only at the start and the end.

Check the official alerts page on trails.visitazores.com. On 8 October 2026 it listed PR01FLO, Ponta Delgada to Fajã Grande, as temporarily closed, and the Grande Rota's second stage is marked closed on the island page. Our hiking guide covers the open routes and the taxi transfers. Rules and closures change, so check again close to your trip.

Can I walk off the trail on the Flores plateau?

No. The Morro Alto e Pico da Sé and Caldeiras Funda e Rasa reserves ban walking off established trails and paths, and about 1,031 hectares of the plateau are integral protection.

Can I wild camp on Flores?

Not in the nature park. Camping is banned in the plateau reserves unless the park director authorises it, and on the protected coasts and west-coast cliffs outside designated sites.

Can I fly a drone over the crater lakes?

Not without asking the park. The 2026 plan makes drone flights subject to the environment department's binding opinion in most zones, and integral zones allow no activity at all.

Can I land on Ilhéu de Maria Vaz?

No. It is an integral nature reserve, and boats may not come alongside.

• Diário da República: Decreto Regulamentar Regional n.º 16/2026/A, Flores Nature Park management plan (PDF)
• Diário da República: Decreto Regulamentar Regional n.º 16/2026/A
• Diário da República: Decreto Legislativo Regional n.º 8/2011/A, Flores Nature Park
• Parques Naturais dos Açores: Flores Nature Park
• Trails Azores: ethics and safety
• Trails Azores: alerts
• Trails Azores: Flores