About Cascata de Fervenca
Cascata de Fervenca (or Cascata de Fervença) is one of those waterfalls that had a lot of potential as a serious tourist attraction, especially when you consider its proximity to Sintra as well as the Cascata de Mourão.
As you can see from the photos on this page, it featured an attractively wide and multi-stepped drop that was said to be 10m tall.
However, I tend to believe that the modest height figure only pertains to the main drop, and that its cumulative height should be a bit taller than that.
In any case, this attractive waterfall seemed to have fallen into a state of abandonment as it’s situated next to what appeared to be an abandoned marble or tile factory (as evidenced by lots of broken tiles strewn all over the place).
With the abandoned factory also came the litter and graffiti, and there was definitely a lack of a legitimate trail to get all the way to the base of the main drop, which made this excursion deceptively dangerous.
Further adding more uneasiness to my visit here, I encountered a character making his way out of here when I showed up, and it made me wonder if he was adding to the graffiti and litter pile or some other nefarious activities.
Indeed, I thought that this place certainly deserves more respect than it currently got as of our visit in early June 2024, and who knows if the authorities will clean this place up while providing some infrastructure to enhance visitor safety?
Scrambling to the Cascata de Fervença
From the informal parking area (see directions below), it was a short jaunt to get to at least a partial view of the Cascata de Fervença.
After getting over a slippery boulder obstacle, I had a choice of climbing down beside a tree descending to the level of the Ribeira de Fervença, or straddling a ledge sloping towards a dropoff to get to the base of the main drop.
Going down to the creek, I managed to get a view of the waterfall’s lower tier together with its main upper tier though it definitely left me wanting to get closer to the main falls.
So going back up to the ledge, I had to be very careful about staying on this ledge without sliding down into the dropoff as the ledge sloped in that direction.
While it was tempting to climb onto a protruding rock wedge to get right to the shore in front of the plunge pool at the base of the main upper drop, there were simply too much risk of falling off the dropoffs to go that way.
Thus, I found a better way by clinging to the ledge above and getting over a hump before descending a tile-strewn gully leading down to the fringe of the plunge pool of the upper drop of the Cascata de Fervença.
The polluted smell of the water (especially the stagnant parts) as well as the presence of litter and spraypaint all around me made me reconsider any thought of going into the water.
And while there were other false “trails” leading up towards the abandoned factory from here, I was content to simply enjoy the view of the falls from here before getting my fill and very carefully returning back the way I came.
Overall, I spent about 35 minutes away from the car, but most of that time was spent evaluating how best to negotiate the dangerous obstacles without getting hurt as well as taking lots of pictures and videos.
Distancewise, my GPS logs suggested that it was only about a 200m jaunt in each direction.
Other Info about the Cascata de Fervença
The Cascata de Fervença is also known as the Cascata de Bajouca though its proximity and association with the community of Fervença was probably how this waterfall would be more commonly referred to.
The Ribeira de Fervença Creek originated from the marshlands within the privately owned Quinta do Marquês or Quinta da Granja, which was originally owned by Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, the first Marquis (or Marquês) of Pombal.
The marshes ultimately gave rise to the headwaters of the Ribeira de Fervença, tumbling over the waterfall described on this page, and then continuing on as the Ribeira de Cabrela, which is a tributary of the Rio Lizandro.
The Rio Lazandro ultimately empties into the Atlantic Ocean by the town of Carvoeira.
The course of the Ribeira de Fervença passed by what seemed to be a pretty heavily industrialized area, and the abandoned tile factory adjacent to the falls was kind of indicative of the economic activities that happened here.
It’s this legacy of industrialization and subsequent neglect that adversely impacted the experience of the Cascata de Fervença, and it’s why I had to dock its scenic rating score accordingly.
Authorities
The Cascata de Fervenca is located in the industrialized hamlet of Fervença near the town of Sintra in the Lisbon Region of Portugal. It is not clear if there’s an official governing body that presides over this waterfall. Moreover, it’s not clear if any entity exists to support road/trail infrastructure to facilitate visitation. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting the Sintra Tourism website.
The Cascata de Fervenca resides in the industralized hamlet of Fervença near the well-touristed town of Sintra.
Thus, for the directions here, I will do the routing as if we were coming from the Sintra Train Station and public parking.
So from the P3 lot by the Sintra Train Station, we’d drive east on the Avenida Mario Firmino Miguel (N249) for about 1.7km to the A16 going north.
Shortly after getting on the A16 north, we’d then go about 850m before taking the next exit leading to the N9 Road.
Following along the N9 for about 3.2km, we’d then keep to the right to take the ramp to Lameiras.
Next, we’d turn left to cross the road bridge before turning right to the ramp to Cascais/Sintra (southbound N9).
Once back on the N9 going south, we’d then drive around 400m before turning right onto an easy-to-miss road where the guardrail on the right terminates near some trash bins and some layby leaving the N9.
Note that if you’re still on the N9 southbound and there’s no center divider, then you missed the turnoff and will have to find a way to backtrack.
Anyways, after getting onto the easy-to-miss turnoff, the road briefly goes north before encountering the Rua da Bajouca (there’s a “Cascata” sign and a “P”) pointing to the left.
Follow this single-lane road, which leads to a dead-end next to the abandoned tile factory, which is where the excursion begins.
Overall, this roughly 8km drive should take around 10-15 minutes.
For context, Sintra is about 29km (about 30 minutes drive) northwest of Lisbon, about 18km (under 30 minutes drive) north of Cascais, 330km (over 3 hours drive) south of Porto, and 320km (over 3 hours drive) north of Lagos.
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Sweep of both tiers of the waterfall from a lower position
Right to left sweep of the polluted plunge pool and the upper drop of the falls
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