About Cascata de Pitoes das Junias
Cascata de Pitoes das Junias (or Cascata de Pitões das Júnias) is a fairly tall waterfall situated in the northeastern fringes of Peneda-Gerês National Park in Portugal’s far noth.
The waterfall is where the Ribeiro de Campesinho (de Pitões) is said to have a 30m drop into an open valley flanked by impressive cliffs as well as mountains at over 1000m in elevation.
The same creek responsible for the waterfall also passes by the ruins of the 12th century monastery of Santa Maria das Júnias.
The monastery happened to have been built on the former site of a 9th century hermitage pre-dating Roman times.
We were able to visit both the waterfall and the monastery as two separate short excursions (of 1.1km round-trip and 700m round-trip, respectively), or as a longer 2.4km or so loop hike.
Accessing Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
From the car park for the waterfall (see directions below), we followed a signed path descending gently in an open area with views of the knobby peaks of the Serra de Gerês across the valley.
After about 250m, we reached a trail junction, where the trail to the waterfall descended to our right on a wooden boardwalk with steps and railings alongside a small stream.
The path going straight ahead was a connecting trail leading another 750m to the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias (as well as a spur trail going to the base of the waterfall).
So going down the wooden path, we continued for about another 300m as the path curled to the left leading to a lookout for the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias.
At this lookout, there were already sweeping panoramas looking into the rugged valley flanked by more knobby mountains of the Serra de Gerês.
While the lookout (miradouro) provided a view of the main drop of the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias, it appeared that there was a lot more than meets the eye if not for trees blocking the view of the lower tiers.
Thus, it was tempting to continue past the miradouro as it appeared the trail kept going, but then it quickly disappeared into overgrowth with no apparent way to safely continue further.
So I opted to not push my luck and pursue any more of this scramble in an effort to get closer to the waterfall.
By the way, we showed up to the waterfall in mid-morning on a sunny and cloudless day, but since the falls faced west, we actually looked against the sun.
Thus, I’d say under such conditions, the waterfall would probably get the best lighting in the afternoon.
That said, I’m sure more people would be at the falls later in the day (we had the place to ourselves on the morning of our visit).
Anyways, after having our fill of the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias, we returned the way we came in a mostly uphill hike back to the car park.
This roughly 1km or 1.1km hike took us about an hour away from the car at a very leisurely pace while spending quite a bit of that time taking pictures along the way and at the lookout.
Accessing Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias
A bonus to the excursion for the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias is visiting the 12th century monastery of Santa Maria das Júnias.
Although we could have combined the waterfall with the monastery in a single loop hike taking about 2.4km or so, we opted to do it as a separate excursion.
So that’s how I’ll describe this additional excursion in this section.
From the other car park near the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias (see directions below), I pretty much went down a short path leading about 100m or so towards the ruins of the monastery.
The walking trail actually continued past the monastery and over a bridge traversing the Ribeiro de Campesinho (the same creek that went over the Cascata de Pitoes das Junias further downstream).
However, I didn’t pursue any other trails though I was kind of preoccupied with interesting lizards scurrying around the creek.
Anyways, there was a path that ascended around the monastery and ultimately provided nice contextual views of the ruins backed by green-clad mountains.
This trail continued to ascend further alongside a lot of wildflowers and ultimately hooked up with the remainder of the 750m path back towards the trail for the waterfall or waterfall’s car park.
I did notice a trail-of-use shortcut that returned to the car after about 200m from the monastery ruins.
However, that shortcut required a little route-finding along with my Gaia GPS phone app for navigating in-the-field.
In any case, that shortcut might save about 300m of backtracking, but it’s definitely not a sanctioned route (though I did take that way in the interest of saving time and energy).
As a result, I wound up spending around 40 minutes for the monastery ruins done as a short 600-700m loop.
Authorities
Cascata de Pitões das Júnias is located in Peneda-Gerês National Park near the historical Pitões das Júnias village in the municipality of Montalegre of the Vial Real District of the Norte Region of Portugal. It is managed by the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests Municipality. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting the Natural.pt website.
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