About Fraga da Pena
Fraga da Pena is a pretty family-friendly waterfall situated in the Serra do Açor Protected Landscape in the mountainous Central Region of Portugal (by the way, an açor is the Portugese name for the northern goshawk endemic in this area).
It’s situated in a precipitous box-like canyon with a double-barreled segmented drop of about 19m.
I say that this excursion is family-friendly because it’s a short and gradual 300m walk (or 600m round-trip) along the Barroca de Degraínhos Stream.
Along the way, there were plenty of picnic tables as well as shallow parts of the creek that you can wade in to cool off or just let the kids play.
Towards the end of the walkway, there were more picnic tables situated on ledges (those are perhaps not as family-friendly) as well as a scramble underneath the bridge to get right into the box canyon at the base of the Fraga da Pena Waterfall.
I know our daughter spent quite a bit of time skipping stones in front of the Fraga da Pena Waterfall, which was every bit as photogenic as it was a nice little place to be a kid.
Now there were other trails and bridges criss-crossing the Barroca de Degraínhos, and those other trails led higher up to abandoned mills or buildings that I knew not what they were for.
While these alternate trails were not as family-friendly, they did offer the more adventurous an option to do a little more exploration and experience the subtleties of the Serra do Açor landscape.
Those additional trails on the other side of the creek went to either Pardieiros to the north or Sardal to the south.
During our mid-June 2024 visit, we spent a leisurely 55 minutes away from the car (and this included all the extra exploring that I did).
Therefore, I think 30-45 minutes would be plenty of time to experience this waterfall without lingering for long.
Authorities
The Fraga da Pena Waterfall is in the Serra do Açor Protected Area just downhill from the village of Pardieiros, which itself is near the town of Benfeita of the Coimbra District in the Central Region of Portugal. It is not clear who administers the waterfall, but being in a protected area, I have to believe that the local municipalities and districts are in charge of the upkeep. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting the Centro de Portugal tourism website.
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