Meanders [GRZ - MTB sector 4]

Track types

Rest stops

Safety information

Take the necessary precautions for high temperatures in summer and slippery terrain in the winter. The levels of difficulty and times given are only indicative. They were calculated on a physical effort basis and do not include stops. Make your estimate by analising the technical data of path to be taken.

Contact information

SOS Emergency: 112

SOS Forest: 117

Fundão Municipal Council: (+351 )275 779 060 |

Pampilhosa da Serra Municipal Council: (+351) 235 590 320 |

Oleiros Municipal Council: (+351) 272 680 130 |  

Tips and hints

This crossing over the Zêzere in Dornelas is secular, ancestral and the subject of many myths, legends and some tragedies. It was already in the 20th Century that the fragile and dangerous barge was replaced by the old wooden bridge, just downstream from the current road crossing. Its built heritage comprises the main church. Long ago, the riverside beach on the Dornelas stream used to divide the village, but it is today a refreshing place to relax. The Ethnographic Museum is also worth a visit. 

The schist houses, densely dotted with pebbles from the Zêzere river, make Janeiro de Cima a unique village. A unique urban grid dives into labyrinthine paths, ending at the old church, around which the town formed. The new church is located at the entrance of the village and, together with the parish centre and café, a welcome area par excellence and a vital element of the village - is the village’s reception area, wide, open and simultaneously organised. Legend has it that a nobleman, when he died, decided to bequeath his property to the two sons, both called Januários. Thus was born Janeiro de Cima on the left bank, and Janeiro de Baixo on the right bank. The watercourse and dense pine vegetation are elements of the surrounding landscape. The two banks were once joined by a public barge carrying people and animals between Fundão and Pampilhosa da Serra municipalities. From high above, they would yell out, “Oh da Barca!”, calling for the boatman’s services. Today the boat still exists: the tradition was preserved and the vessel faithfully reconstructed. Visit the churches and the Weavers’ House. Cool down at the Lavandeira River Park. 

The accessible river beach, the rural campsite, the picnic park, the sports complex, the blacksmith trunk, the parish house, the quartzite crests in the Naturtejo Geo-Park (UNESCO), and the twists and turns of the Zêzere are prominent natural and tourist attractions that you simply must visit in the Aldeia do Xisto of Janeiro de Baixo. 

Under the influence of Serra do Muradal lies the magnificent Zêzere bottleneck, one of the geo-monuments in the Naturtagus Geopark and classified by UNESCO. It is a geological cut, at a location also known as Malhada Velha, fundamental as a testimony to the geological history of the land over the last 600 million years. The part the includes the left bank is Cabeço Mosqueiro, with a viewpoint at the top (360 m). A former nesting place for eagles (Buteo buteo), it has been transformed into a pleasant picnic park. In addition to the trace fossils to be found there, you can contemplate the Zêzere as it runs through this deep, winding valley. With luck, you will still be able to find the dwarf germander (Teucrium chamaedrys). Although the highlight goes to the river, your gaze will wander over a myriad of mountains: the mountain ranges of Serra da Estrela and Gardunha, with a privileged perspective of the magnificent glacial Valley of Alforfa with its rugged granite, the quartz mountains of Serra do Muradal quartzite and Penedos de Góis and the schist mountains in Açor, Lousã and Cabeço Rainha.

Coordinates