Cascata da Cabroeira

Cabroeira de Baixo / Parque Natural da Serra do Sao Mamede, Alentejo Region, Portugal

About Cascata da Cabroeira


Hiking Distance: about 1.6km round trip
Suggested Time: 1 hour

Date first visited: 2024-06-07
Date last visited: 2024-06-07

Waterfall Latitude: 39.26227
Waterfall Longitude: -7.25055

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Cascata da Cabroeira is a seemingly lesser-known waterfall near Portugal’s Eastern Border with Spain in the Portalegre District.

Like the nearby Cascata de Monte Sete, this waterfall sits within the Serra de São Mamede, which seemed to be off the typical tourist path.

Cascata_da-Cabroeira_042_06072024 - Looking down at the Cascata da Cabroeira
Looking down at the Cascata da Cabroeira

The waterfall is said to be about 10m tall (a modest size), but the appeal of this place has more to do with solitude than it has to do with the waterfall itself.

Of course, there was a bit of mystery concerning this waterfall near the village of Rabaça.

By the way, that village is how this waterfall can also be known as Cascata da Rabaça, and there seems to be a neighboring town across the border in Spain called La Rabaza.

Anyways, some of the mystery around this waterfall has to do with outdated information concerning how to hike to this waterfall, especially given private property concerns.

Cascata_da-Cabroeira_038_06072024 - Contextual view of the Cascata da Cabroeira from the miradouro
Contextual view of the Cascata da Cabroeira from the miradouro

So I’ll seek to clear that up in this write-up after my mid-June 2024 experience here.

Trespassing to Access the Cascata da Cabroeira

There appears to be at least two ways to visit the Cascata da Cabroeira from the M1044 Road – one to the south of the waterfall and one to the east of the waterfall.

During my pre-trip research, conventional wisdom said that the best place to start this hike was from the southern approach (even GoogleMaps labeled it “Estacionamento para a Cascata da Cabroeira).

From this starting point, the hike to the lookout for the Cascata da Cabroeira would be about 1km in length, but I encountered a barricade and private property sign barely 350m into this hike.

Cascata_da-Cabroeira_012_06072024 - A barricade with verbiage in Portugese saying not to trespass into private property to access the Cascata da Cabroeira from the southern approach
A barricade with verbiage in Portugese saying not to trespass into private property to access the Cascata da Cabroeira from the southern approach

In order to go around the private property, I would have had to do a much longer 2.7km detour with even more elevation change (upwards of 150m).

In any case, the trespassing trail descended towards the Ribeira do Cabroeira, ultimately crossing it above the waterfall, before ascending up to an unpaved road past some abandoned-looking buildings that were part of the private property.

After going right from the rejoining of the road, the path then led to a lookout down at the Cascata da Cabroeira, which looked rather puny from this lofty vantage point.

While I had seen more impressive closeup photos of the waterfall, the people taking those shots either trespassed knowingly or accessed the area in the past before the signs and barricades were put up to keep people from trespassing.

Cascata_da-Cabroeira_022_06072024 - Some abandoned-looking buildings belonging to the private property near the Cascata da Cabroeira
Some abandoned-looking buildings belonging to the private property near the Cascata da Cabroeira

Based on this rather disappointing experience, I wouldn’t recommend doing this hike from the south approach.

The Recommended Way to Access the Cascata da Cabroeira

Instead, of doing the southern approach, I found out by doing a shuttle hike (with Julie staying behind and able to drive the car to the other trailhead) that the eastern approach from the M1044 Road is the way to go (see directions below).

From that side, I saw that there were some pullout spaces near a trail leading across the Spanish border towards La Rabaza, and I would recommend parking the car in one of those spaces.

Then, I’d walk briefly up the M1044 Road about 100m to an ascending unpaved road to the left.

Cascata_da-Cabroeira_074_06072024 - Looking down at the context of the unpaved road and the M1044 Road east of the Cascata da Cabroeira, which I'd recommend doing given the private property issues with the other approach
Looking down at the context of the unpaved road and the M1044 Road east of the Cascata da Cabroeira, which I’d recommend doing given the private property issues with the other approach

This unpaved road looked rather rough and perhaps unsuitable for passenger cars, but after roughly 500m from the M1044, I encountered a bend in the unpaved road that had pullout spaces that could have acted as a trailhead parking.

Of course, that trailhead parking would only be feasible if the car could make it that far, but I’d imagine most rental car drivers probably wouldn’t want to chance it.

Anyways, from this alternate trailhead spot, there was a gradual uphill hike for the remaining 300m ultimately arriving at the miradouro (or lookout) of the Cascata da Cabroeira.

There were no private property concerns doing the hike in this manner, and it was perhaps the same distance as the trespassing approach from the south (the round-trip distance was on the order of about 1.6km).

Cascata_da-Cabroeira_040_06072024 - Looking towards Spain from the miradouro for the Cascata de Cabroeira
Looking towards Spain from the miradouro for the Cascata de Cabroeira

Finally, it’s worth mentioning that there was a noticeable lack of proper signage around the trailhead areas as well as at trail forks along the way.

Therefore, you’ll want to have some pre-trip notes as well as a GPS app handy so you can tell your position relative to where the waterfall is at.

Authorities

Cascata da Cabroeira (or Cascata da Rabaca) is near the town of La Rabaza, Spain though it’s in the Portalegre District of the Alentejo Region of Portugal. It is not clear if there’s an official governing body that presides over this waterfall. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting the Alentejo Tourism website.

Cascata_da-Cabroeira_079_06072024 - Looking back at the trailhead parking for a trail that went right to the Spanish border towards La Rabaza. But I'd recommend walking about 100m north along the M1044 Road to an unpaved road ascending up the left side from here. By the way, the next several photos are taken in reverse-chronological order so you'd know what to look for when doing the eastern approach.  I did this hike in reverse since I did it as a shuttle hike coming from the southern approach.
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_072_06072024 - Looking back at the M1044 Road as the unpaved road ascended towards the Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_071_06072024 - Looking up the unpaved road leading closer to the trail leading to the miradouro of the Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_069_06072024 - A closer look at the surface of the unpaved road going up the eastern approach towards the Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_065_06072024 - Looking back at the unpaved road going past some residences on the way up to the miradouro for the Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_064_06072024 - Looking back at the unpaved road following along some power lines as it made a beeline up to the miradouro for the Cascata de Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_063_06072024 - This deviation from the unpaved road (where the partial pole is at) is where the trail leading up to the Miradouro da Cascata da Cabroeira is at. If your car can make it up here, then this would be where you might be able to stop the car
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_061_06072024 - Looking back at the alternate trailhead parking for higher clearance vehicles able to handle the unpaved surface of the eastern approach road to the Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_060_06072024 - Some trail signage along the footpath leading up to the Miradouro da Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_058_06072024 - Another look back at the ascent that had to be made in order to access the Miradouro da Cascata da Cabroeira from the east side
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_057_06072024 - Looking back at the foot trail rising and skirting along the rim of the gorge containing the Ribeira da Cabroeira Creek
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_054_06072024 - Closeup look at some of the rock formations seen alongside the foot trail near the Miradouro da Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_047_06072024 - Looking off into the distance towards Spain from the trail leading up to the Miradouro da Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_033_06072024 - Approaching the Miradouro da Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_035_06072024 - Approaching the end of the miradouro for sweeping views of the southern and eastern frontiers of the Serra de São Mamede
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_044_06072024 - Looking down at the context of the Cascata da Cabroeira looking puny from the miradouro
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_039_06072024 - Zoomed in look at the main drop of the Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_006_06072024 - This was the trail fork barely 200m from the start of the hike from the southern approach trailhead to the Cascata da Cabroeira. The rest of the photos in this gallery were taken in chronological order from my mid-June 2024 visit so that did involve trespassing and doing the whole thing as a one-way shuttle hike
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_007_06072024 - I kind of suspected something was off when I saw the spray-painted 'X' indicating that this path was the wrong way even though it was the most direct way to get to the Cascata da Cabroeira from the southern approach
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_009_06072024 - Some interesting flowers blooming in a plant that looked like it was full of cobwebs (though I suspect they weren't done by spiders)
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_010_06072024 - Another look at the plant full of cobweb-looking things surrounding this bloom of wildflowers seen along the southern approach trail to the Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_011_06072024 - Looking towards the gorge carved out by the Ribeira da Cabroeira somewhere upstream of the actual Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_015_06072024 - Somewhere past the barricade and private property sign, where the trail seemed pretty tame heading down towards the Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_016_06072024 - Following an eroded part of the private trail leading down to the Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_017_06072024 - Continuing the steep descent along a weather-worn private trail leading down to the Ribeira da Cabroeira and ultimately the Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_020_06072024 - Crossing Ribeira da Cabroeira somewhere upstream of the Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_021_06072024 - Looking towards some ruins belonging to the private property around the Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_023_06072024 - Looking back at the context of the private trail and the seemingly abandoned buildings near the Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_025_06072024 - Another reminder that the trail I was just on was designated to be the wrong way
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_026_06072024 - That red sign on this trail further indicated that this was private property and not a public trail
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_028_06072024 - Finally making it to the public trail after the interlude through private property in pursuit of the Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_030_06072024 - Descending on the public trail towards the Miradouro da Cascata da Cabroeira
Cascata_da-Cabroeira_031_06072024 - Finally arriving at the Miradouro da Cascata da Cabroeira via the unsanctioned southern approach.  Luckily, I had cell phone reception and I was able to text my wife to drive to the eastern approach after looking at my topo map app and seeing that I didn't have to go back the unsanctioned way I came!


The Cascata da Cabroeira Waterfall resides near Rabaça by the Portugese-Spanish border in the Portalegre District.

Given all the misinformation concerning access to this waterfall, I’ll only focus on the drive to the recommended trailhead from Portalegre with a passing mention of the old southern approach.

Cascata_da-Cabroeira_081_06072024 - This layby with limited parking space is where I'd recommend parking the car to start the hike to the Cascata da Cabroeira via the eastern approach
This layby with limited parking space is where I’d recommend parking the car to start the hike to the Cascata da Cabroeira via the eastern approach

The most straightforward way would be to drive northeast of the town of Portalegre along the N246-2 for about 6-7km or so before veering left to continue along the M522 Road.

Then, we’d follow the M522 Road for about another 7km to its junction with the M1044-2 Road.

At this point, we turned right to go on the M1044-2 Road and then drove nearly 13km remaining on the M1044-2 Road (eventually keeping left and going onto the M1044 Road) before reaching the recommended trailhead parking layby just south of the village of Rabaça.

Note that about 1.3km before the recommended trailhead parking was the trailhead parking for the southern approach (which had a clearing and quite a bit of parking space), but I’d avoid starting the hike from there.

Cascata_da-Cabroeira_002_06072024 - This large clearing adjacent to the single-lane M1044 Road was the trailhead parking for the southern approach to the Cascata da Cabroeira, but due to private property issues, I'd recommend against starting from here
This large clearing adjacent to the single-lane M1044 Road was the trailhead parking for the southern approach to the Cascata da Cabroeira, but due to private property issues, I’d recommend against starting from here

Overall, this drive should take around 45 minutes or so, and you’ll want to be careful driving on the M1044-2 Road, especially around the Cascata da Cabroeira trailheads because the road is single-lane for much of that stretch.

For context, Portalegre is about 22km (about 30 minutes drive) south of Marvão, 103km (about 90 minutes drive) northeast of Évora, 184km (over 2 hours drive) south of Manteigas, about 227km (about 2.5 hours drive) northeast of Lisbon, and about 339km (about 3.5 hours drive) southwest of Salamanca, Spain.

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Back and forth sweep from the lookout showing the panorama in the direction of Spain as well as the waterfalls down below

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Tagged with: cascata da rabaca, serra de sao mamede, sao juliao, portalegre, alentejo, portugal, spain, espanha



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Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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