Cascata de Pitoes das Junias

Montalegre / Parque Nacional da Peneda-Geres, North Region, Portugal

About Cascata de Pitoes das Junias


Hiking Distance: 1.1km round-trip
Suggested Time: 45-60 minutes

Date first visited: 2024-06-11
Date last visited: 2024-06-11

Waterfall Latitude: 41.82963
Waterfall Longitude: -7.94901

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

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.

Pitoes_das_Junias_062_06112024 - The Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
The Cascata de Pitões das Júnias

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.

Pitoes_das_Junias_001_iPhone_06112024 - A signed trail junction where one path went towards the waterfall lookout while another one went towards the monastery (as well as a closer look at the waterfall, which we neglected to do)
A signed trail junction where one path went towards the waterfall lookout while another one went towards the monastery (as well as a closer look at the waterfall, which we neglected to do)

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.

Pitoes_das_Junias_032_06112024 - Sweeping panoramas of the knobby mountains of the Serra de Gerês across the valley as we descended towards the lookout for the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Sweeping panoramas of the knobby mountains of the Serra de Gerês across the valley as we descended towards the lookout for the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias

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.

Pitoes_das_Junias_012_iPhone_06112024 - View of the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias from its miradouro. Notice how it appeared there were more tiers of the waterfall hidden behind the trees below
View of the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias from its miradouro. Notice how it appeared there were more tiers of the waterfall hidden behind the trees below

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

Pitoes_das_Junias_100_06112024 - Approaching the ruins of the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias
Approaching the ruins of the 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.

Pitoes_das_Junias_115_06112024 - Exploring the ruins of the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias
Exploring the ruins of the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias

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.

Pitoes_das_Junias_020_iPhone_06112024 - Contextual view back at the ruins of the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias on the connector trail with the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Contextual view back at the ruins of the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias on the connector trail with the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias

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.

Drive_to_Pitoes_das_Junias_078_MingSung_06122024 - Driving towards Pitoes das Junias with the mountains of the Serra de Geres in the background on the way to the waterfall
Drive_to_Pitoes_das_Junias_089_MingSung_06122024 - Around the cemetery to the south side of Pitoes das Junias, where the continuation of the road leads to the car parks for both the monastery and the waterfall
Drive_to_Pitoes_das_Junias_091_MingSung_06122024 - Going down the cobblestone single-lane road from the village of Pitoes das Junias to the car parks for the monastery ruins and the waterfall
Pitoes_das_Junias_004_06112024 - Looking back at the car park for the Cascata de Pitoes das Junias
Pitoes_das_Junias_001_06112024 - Approaching the signed trail leading us closer to the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_007_06112024 - Following an open trail down the initial 250m towards the next trail fork on the way to the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_012_06112024 - Looking in the distance towards some neighboring knobby peaks nearby the village of Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_013_06112024 - Continuing along the open trail towards the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_016_06112024 - Closeup look at one of the wildflowers in bloom during our visit to the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_017_06112024 - Julie and Tahia following the marked trail leading the way to the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_019_06112024 - There was limited shade for the trail to the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias, but fortunately, this wasn't a long trail
Pitoes_das_Junias_023_06112024 - Tahia going down the wooden walkway descending towards the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_026_06112024 - Tahia continuing down the wooden walkway descending towards the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_035_06112024 - Sweeping panoramas and interesting rock formations were starting to show up as we got lower on the boardwalk leading to the lookout for the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_038_06112024 - Tahia and Julie approaching the miradouro for the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_045_06112024 - Our first look somewhat against the sun at the main drop of the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_049_06112024 - More zoomed in look at the main drop of the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias, but notice how there were lower tiers that were obscured by the overgrowth of trees below
Pitoes_das_Junias_062_06112024 - Contextual look at the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias from the miradouro in the mid-morning
Pitoes_das_Junias_064_06112024 - Looking back at the miradouro for the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_066_06112024 - Another look at the miradouro for the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_073_06112024 - After having our fill of the waterfall, we headed back to the car park and opted not to do the connector trail (though I regret not doing the spur trail from there to the base of the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias)
Pitoes_das_Junias_074_06112024 - Noticing some ruins or some kind of infrastructure next to the trail for the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_075_06112024 - Noticing some small stream (possibly an irrigation ditch or something) besides the trail leading down to the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_082_06112024 - Julie and Tahia making their way back to the car park for the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_087_06112024 - Julie and Tahia making the final approach back to the parked car to finish off our brief excursion to the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_091_06112024 - Looking at the line of mountains from the car park for the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_094_06112024 - There was a lot of space at the car park for the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias because we were the only people here during our mid-morning visit in mid-June 2024
Pitoes_das_Junias_098_06112024 - Descending towards the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias on a separate excursion nearby the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_103_06112024 - Noticing this elusive bright green lizard that was all around the Ribeiro de Campesinho by the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_108_06112024 - Exploring about the ruins of the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_116_06112024 - More exploration of the ruins of the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_123_06112024 - Looking back across the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias as I noticed an ascending trail that ultimately connected back to the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_130_06112024 - Another panoramic look across the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias on a connector trail leading about 750m back to the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_133_06112024 - Noticing a lot of wildflowers along this connector trail between the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias and the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_136_06112024 - Continuing up the connector trail between the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias and the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias, which happened to be full of wildflowers during my mid-June 2024 visit
Pitoes_das_Junias_144_06112024 - A more distant look back towards the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias on the connector trail leading back towards the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_150_06112024 - The continuation of the connector trail between the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias and the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias was actually quite easily overgrown so markers like this helped to stay on the path
Pitoes_das_Junias_155_06112024 - After a brief scramble on the 'shortcut' back from the connector trail between the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias and the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias, I returned to the single-lane road near the car park for the monastery
Pitoes_das_Junias_158_06112024 - Paying closer attention to the signage at the road fork by the car park for the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias
Pitoes_das_Junias_015_iPhone_06112024 - Context of the parked car where Julie and Tahia were chilling out in the shade while I was checking out the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias


Cascata de Pitões das Júnias is located in the east side of Peneda-Gerês National Park near the towns of Pitões das Júnias in the municipality of Montalegre.

That said, I’ll describe the driving directions as if we were driving from Gerês since that was where we were staying when we made our visit to this waterfall.

Drive_to_Pitoes_das_Junias_045_MingSung_06122024 - A big chunk of the drive from Gerês to Pitões das Júnias was along the N103 Road where we saw quite a few man-made lakes on the Rio Cávado
A big chunk of the drive from Gerês to Pitões das Júnias was along the N103 Road where we saw quite a few man-made lakes on the Rio Cávado

So from Gerês, we drove south on the N308-1 Road for about 7km before crossing a bridge over part of the reservoir joining a round-about hooking up with the N304 Road.

We then took the N304 Road over another bridge over part of the reservoir, and then we followed this road for about 1.5km to the M529 connector road on the left.

This single-lane connector road then went uphill for about 1km towards the CM1392 Road, where we veered right at a fork and took that road another 1.8km to the larger N103 Road.

Turning left onto the N103 Road, we then followed it for about 22km before turning left onto the N308-4 Road (crossing the dam at the mouth of the Albufeira da Venda Nova).

Drive_to_Pitoes_das_Junias_074_MingSung_06122024 - Finally starting to see signs for Pitões das Júnias along the was along the M513 Road
Finally starting to see signs for Pitões das Júnias along the was along the M513 Road

Then, we followed the M308-4 Road for another 18km towards the village of Outeiro before following the N308-5 Road towards the village of Covelães.

From there, we then took the M513 road on the left and followed it for about 5km before noticing a signed turnoff for Pitões das Júnias on the left.

From there, we then followed the signs leading the final 3km or so towards cemetery on the south end of the village of Pitões das Júnias.

Then, we continued down a narrow road leading about 500m towards a fork in the road, where the fork to the left was right at a car park for the Mosteiro de Santa Maria das Júnias while the fork on the right went to the waterfall.

Drive_to_Pitoes_das_Junias_100_MingSung_06122024 - Descending the single-lane road leading the final 400m or so to the car park for the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias
Descending the single-lane road leading the final 400m or so to the car park for the Cascata de Pitões das Júnias

Continuing to the fork on the right, we followed it for the final 400m or so to the car park for the waterfall.

Overall, this drive took us around 100 minutes.

For context, Gerês is about 43km (about an hour drive) northeast of Braga, 82km (about 90 minutes drive) east of Ponte de Lima, about 96km (over 90 minutes drive) northeast of Porto, 65km (over 90 minutes drive northwest of Mondim de Basto, about 213km (over 2.5 hours drive) north of Coimbra, and 406km (over 4.5 hours drive) north of Lisbon.

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Left to right sweep from the miradouro with 2 zoom-ins of the falls as the second one tries to show a little more of a lower tier obscured by a tree

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Tagged with: montalegre, peneda-geres, vila real, north region, portugal, pitoes das junias



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