Fisgas de Ermelo

The Ribeira de Olo does not leave the Alvao plateau in one drop but in a staircase of them, sliding and plunging down bare rock for a few hundred metres of height until the water reaches the valley floor. Locals call the whole sequence the Fisgas de Ermelo, and it ranks among the tallest waterfall systems in Portugal. Two approaches exist: a marked path climbing from the schist village of Ermelo through terraces and oak scrub, and a rough track from above that ends at a viewpoint over the top of the falls. Neither is a stroll. The reward is a gorge of polished granite with pools stepped down it, loud in spring and reduced to threads by August.

What you actually see

• The cascade staircase - water sliding down bare rock in stages rather than one fall.
• The polished pools - rounded granite basins caught between the drops.
• Ermelo village - schist houses, terraces and old watermills below the trail.
• The Alvao plateau - heather, boulders and grazing country above the gorge.

When to go

Spring is when the falls justify the walk, roughly April to June, after the winter rain and before the flow drops away. By late summer there is little water and a lot of bare rock. Start early in warm months, because the lower trail has almost no shade. Skip the days right after heavy rain, when the granite turns treacherous.

Honest expectations

The granite here is lethally slippery when wet, and people have been badly hurt scrambling near the water. The upper access road is unpaved, rutted and unkind to low cars. The trail from Ermelo is a real climb with a hot, exposed return leg. Signposting is patchy, and in high summer you may find more rock than waterfall.

Nearby

Mondim de Basto, the Senhora da Graca hill above it and the Tamega valley.