About Penedo Furado
Penedo Furado (or Cascata do Penedo Furado) consists of a pair of waterfalls near the headwaters of the Albufeira do Castelo do Bode reservoir in the geographical center of Portugal.
The two notable waterfalls here were modest in size (each probably about 10m in cumulative height), and there might be even more hidden further upstream and downstream of the main touristed area.
In addition to its waterfalls, this place attracts families from around the country with its river beach (praia fluvial).
This was where the Ribeira de Codes creek has been man-modified to ensure the water at the river beach is both calm and shallow.
It’s even watched over by a life guard during the Summer season (as it was during our mid-June 2024 visit) to ensure this place remains a fun place for the whole family.
The family-friendliness of this place is further played up as there was a gentle boardwalk and trail (i.e. the Passadiços do Penedo Furado) connecting the praia fluvial to the cascatas.
As if that wasn’t enough, there were also panoramic views to be had of both the gorge and the reservoir as well as a chance to check out some ancient fossils at the bicha pintada (or “painted tail”).
Indeed, the slab of rock here is said to be 480 million years old.
Even though this place can be quite popular, it appears to be well off the beaten path of most tourist itineraries (at least nowhere near as crazy as Porto, Sintra, the Algarve, nor Lisboa).
There are also statues donated by nearby villagers perched atop some outcrops overlooking the gorge.
They were situated in such a way as to remind me of the famous Jesus the Redeemer statues in both Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and across the April 25th Bridge in Lisbon.
Experiencing Penedo Furado – lookouts and the Praia Fluvial
While there are many ways to experience the Penedo Furado attractions, we’ll just focus on how we managed to experience this place.
We started off by stopping at one of two overlooks during the drive down to the car park for Penedo Furado (see directions below).
Even though we could have walked down to the main trails along the creeks down below from the lookouts, we just briefly stopped and then continued driving so we wouldn’t have to worry about the elevation gain/loss.
The lookout we stopped for was the Miradouro Fragas do Rabadão, which had a swing as well as views of both the Ribeira do Milreu and the Ribeira de Codes (both of which feed into the Albufeira do Castelo do Bode reservoir).
The Miradouro do Penedo Furado was a little further south from the one we stopped for.
This lookout offered a more southerly view of the Ribeira de Codes while near the bottom of its descent into the gorge was the Bicha Pintada (site of a 480 million-year-old fossil).
Once we got to the car park for Penedo Furado, there were picnic areas, campgrounds, the aforementioned river beach, toilets, and even a snack bar.
Experiencing Penedo Furado – Walking the Grande Rota do Zêzere
From this developed area, we then followed the boardwalk (passadiços) leading downstream along the Ribeira de Codes on the Grande Rota do Zêzere.
But before even getting started in earnest on this walk, just downstream of the dam holding up the creek for the swimming area, there was the end of the steps that came down from the Miradouro do Penedo Furado.
And just a short flight of steps up this trail was a spur path leading to a roped off area with an interpretive sign for the Bicha Pintada (or painted tail), which housed an ancient fossil on its veined slab of rock.
Continuing on the Grande Rota do Zêzere along the creek, it would continue for about 700m as it went past a footbridge (where the path to the left was for the Grande Rota da Prata e do Ouro) and ultimately got to another footbridge.
This second footbridge crossed the Ribeira do Milreu just downstream of the first waterfall of the Penedo Furado.
This one fell in two separate tiers underneath some bridge and steeply ascending trail leading back up to the Miradouro das Fragas de Rabadão.
According to a sign here, this first waterfall, which I’m estimating to be where the Ribeira do Milreu dropped a modest 5m or so, was called the Fonte Cristalina.
Continuing up the steps above the Fonte Cristalina, the trail then continued up past some rock shelters or sheds with a detour that led up to the backside of one of the statues overlooking the gorge.
I had to be real careful on the steep scramble to get up to the statue because the footing was unsure, and I did wonder if I was even supposed to scramble up to the statue in the first place.
In any case, continuing along the elevated boardwalk, I only had to go about another 100m or so before reaching a spur trail descending to a lookout for the secluded Bica Negra Waterfall.
This waterfall seemed to have a bit more height than the Fonte Cristalina Waterfall, and I’m guessing that it’s where the Ribeira do Pisão dropped roughly 10m.
Indeed, this waterfall was more satisfying to look at compared to Fonte Cristalina, but it was essentially my turnaround point for the brief hike from the Praia Fluvial do Penedo Furado.
While there was another statue perched even higher above the continuation of the trail (where one path went up to the Miradouro das Fragas de Rabadão), I decided not to continue climbing to pursue them.
Thus, when all was said and done, I wound up walking about 1.6km round-trip, and we wound up spending a little under 90 minutes away from the car.
Authorities
The Penedo Furado Waterfall is located near the town and municipality of Vila de Rei of the Castelo Branco District (also straddling the Santarém District) in the Centro Region of Portugal. It is managed by the Municipality of Vila de Rei. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting the Center of Portugal website.
The Penedo Furado Waterfall and River Beach is located near the town of Vila de Rei.
However, since we drove to and from here from Coimbra and Nazaré, respectively, I’ll describe the directions from both cities as starting points.
Driving to Penedo Furado from Coimbra
So from center of Coimbra (at the one-way streets near the Hotel Oslo Coimbra), we would follow the one-way streets to the Avenida Emidio Navarro along the Mondego River towards the Ponte de Santa Clara.
Taking the first exit of the roundabout to go across the bridge, we’d then take the second exit at the next roundabout to go onto Avenida Inês de Castro.
From there, we’d then continue along the N17 road for about 9km before reaching an access to the A13 motorway.
Taking the A13 motorway south for about 62km, we eventually took the exit 21 towards N348, where after getting through the toll station, we pretty much took the N348 for the next 22km eventually reaching the N2 in Vila de Rei.
Turning right onto the N2, we then followed this road south for a little over 7km before following the signs to turn right and go towards the village of Milreu.
Then, we continued to follow the signs through the village streets of Rua Irene Barata, Rua do Canto, Rua do Cemiterio, and Rua do Fontanario (roughly 1.4km) before turning left onto a wider access road (still following the signs for Penedo Furado).
After going about 1km, there was a turnoff for the Baloiço do Penedo Furado and its lookout.
Continuing another 150m from the turnoff for Baloiço do Penedo Furado, there was another pullout for the Miradouro do Penedo Furado.
Finally, continuing another 500m, we reached the well-signed turnoff for Penedo Furado on the right.
This turnoff led the final 400m or so down the ramp to the car park for the Praia Fluvial do Penedo Furado.
Overall, this drive took us about 90 minutes.
Driving to Penedo Furado from Nazaré
Even though we didn’t actually drive this way, the most straightforward route to get to the Praia Fluvial do Penedo Furado would be to rely more on the motorways instead of the more rural N and IC roads.
So from Nazaré Beach, we would drive the N8-5 east for about 8.5km to the A8 motorway, where we took the entrance for the northbound direction.
Then, we would pretty much followed the A8 for about 32km before taking the ramp for the A1 motorway.
On the A1, we’d then drove south for about 38km before taking the A23 motorway going east at exit 7.
Next, we’d follow the A23 motorway for the next 42km before taking exit 10 for the N2 towards Abrantes Norte/Vila de Rei/Sardoal.
After nearly 18km along the N2 Road, we’d eventually turn left into the village of Milreu, and then follow the directions to the lookouts as well as the Praia Fluvial do Penedo Furado as stated in the previous driving route from Coimbra.
Overall, this drive would also take us about 90-120 minutes depending on traffic (since Nazaré can definitely see a lot of congestion as it gets increasingly popular).
For context, Vila de Rei is about 84km (over 60 minutes drive) south of Coimbra, about 145km (over 90 minutes drive) southeast of Aveiro, about 113km (under 90 minutes drive) east of Nazaré, about 117km (over 90 minutes drive) northwest of Marvão, about 205km (over 2 hours drive) southeast of Porto, and 170km (about 2 ours drive) north of Lisbon.
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Video starting off with a contextual view of the first of the waterfalls (called Fonte Cristalina) before panning at the upper tier
Video starting from the top of the steps leading down to the view of the Bica Negra (2nd of the waterfalls) before getting a lower look at it
Video pretty much showing the Bica Negra waterfall and its surroundings from near the bottom of its stepped viewing area
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