Faia Brava Côa Valley
Trail description
The walk starts in the village of Cidadelhe, passes the Poio do Gato viewpoint and follows a path down into the Área Protegida Privada Faia Brava, ending at the Faia rock-art site beside the Côa. Faia Brava was recognised in 2010 as Portugal's first private protected area; it lies within the Vale do Côa Special Protection Area and the Côa Valley Archaeological Park and is managed by Faia Brava – Associação de Conservação da Natureza, formerly the Associação Transumância e Natureza (ATN). Unlike most Côa rock art, which is engraved on schist, the Faia site has engravings and paintings on granite, the paintings preserved in shelters formed by the granite. The route is about 3.0 km one way and drops from about 490 m near the village to about 245 m by the river, so the walk back means a climb of roughly 245 m.