Cabeços e Lagoas (Hills and Lakes)
Where Mountains End, Waters Begin
From the heights of Serra de Figueiró to the Rio Zêzere's broad back
Leaving the village of Figueiró dos Vinhos by the eastern track, you climb first through old chestnut woodland—trees so ancient their bark has cracked into maps of imaginary countries. The trail here is marked with faded yellow crosses on stone, a system dating from when local shepherds needed guidance home in November fogs.
At the first ridge, pause. Behind you the Atlantic influence makes itself known: moisture-laden air pushes against the range, and the western slopes stay green well into summer. Ahead, the rain shadow begins. The landscape dries incrementally as you descend toward the Zêzere valley.
The crossing to Cabril involves navigating the reservoir's northern arm, where the old village of the same name—drowned in 1951 when the Castelo de Bode dam was completed—gave its name to the new settlement rebuilt above the waterline. On clear days, old field boundaries are sometimes visible beneath the surface, a palimpsest of the agricultural life that was submerged.
Practical Considerations
Water sources: The ridge sections carry little reliable water in July and August. Springs marked on maps sometimes fail. Carry capacity for six hours.
The dam road question: The EN237 crosses the Castelo de Bode dam itself—a practical crossing but a hot one, fully exposed, with heavy lorry traffic on weekday mornings. The local alternative involves a longer route through Pedrógão Grande and is recommended for those not pressed for time.
Accommodation: The small residencial in Cabril has eight rooms; the owner's sister runs a second establishment that is unmarked and requires asking at the taberna. Both require calling ahead.
What the maps omit: The informal path network used by the few remaining farmers is more direct than any marked route. These paths exist and are passable but are not maintained. Bramble clears itself in winter; by September, sections become difficult.
The Lake Villages
The settlements around the Castelo de Bode reservoir occupy a peculiar position in Portugal's interior—neither fully agricultural nor tourist destinations in any developed sense, they persist through a combination of subsistence gardens, summer visitors from Lisbon (often descendants of displaced families), and the small fishing economy.
Palhais and Martinchel warrant exploration. In Martinchel, a woman who has lived there her entire ninety-three years told a visitor that she remembered watching the water rise. "We were told it would only come to the second field," she said. "It came to the fifth."
The reservoir supports what locals call pesca desportiva—sport fishing—a slight misnomer given that the participants are largely older men fishing in the same manner their fathers did, for the same black bass (achigã) that were introduced from America in the 1950s and have since become, in the minds of those who grew up eating them, entirely native.
Connecting route to Serra da Lousã: approximately 4 hours from Figueiró dos Vinhos to the lousã ridge path junction, assuming the northern reservoir crossing is passable. Confirm local conditions in Cabril before attempting the eastern shore track after heavy rain.