Fonte Benémola Springs Loop

Photo: CTHOE, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A year round stream in the dry Barrocal hills, ringed by a gentle signposted loop walk near Querença. Water is the rarest thing in the Algarve interior, and Fonte Benémola has it all year, welling up through limestone and sliding between willows, poplars and reed beds. The protected valley holds a circular trail of roughly four and a half kilometres, flat enough for children and shaded for much of the way. Terrapins bask on the stones, dragonflies work the pools, and spring turns the banks into a wildflower show. We rate it as the easiest proper nature walk in the central Algarve. Start from the small car park on the Querença side and walk the loop anticlockwise to keep the stream beside you early on.

Found by Adam

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