[5] The Achada Plateau is located on the highlands of Pico, the highest and second largest island on the archipelago of the Azores.

[6] The volcanic cones, totaling around 190, have very varied dimensions and shapes, usually with associated ʻaʻā-type drains, which flowed towards the coast.

Some cones show craters (sometimes occupied by small ponds) that are multiple, elongated or have several eruptive mouths, which reflect the associated tectonics.

It hosts one of the last intact remnants of the original temperate mixed forests that covered the archipelago before the arrival of humans and the following deforestation and introduction of exotic species.

[10] The area is subject to intense orographic lift which makes precipitation thoroughly abundant, humidity high (around 90%) and cloudiness persistent.