The Small Geological Walking Trail begins and ends at the information panel located at the Morais Geological Interpretation Center, in the village of Morais. The trail climbs up to the Morais Fault, marked by an information panel, and continues to the next panel dedicated to the Morais Holm Oaks. It continues to a plateau with lots of undergrowth, visiting the ‘Sobreiros de Morais’ panel and, on the way back, the panel dedicated to endemic species. It retraces part of the route already taken, towards Morais, deviating from the outward route to enter and cross the village of Morais. The village of Morais is around 800 years old, as can be read on the panel next to a chapel bearing a coat of arms, supposedly that of the Morais family, and is known in geological terms as the ‘navel of the world’ because it was there, millions of years ago, that two continents collided and created the current constitution of planet Earth. This short route is fully integrated into the Morais Site of Community Importance (Natura 2000 Network), which stands out as one of the largest continuous units of serpentinite (metamorphic rock) in Portugal, as well as being home to the largest population of Iberian wolves in the country, making it of great geological, botanical, and faunal interest.

START POINT

Morais (41°29'29.71''N I 6°47'02.74''W) (41º 29' 26.78" N; 6º 46' 34.66" W)
41º 29' 26.78" N
6º 46' 34.66" W

TYPE

SHORT ROUTE

EXTENSION

6.5 KM

DURATION

2H

DIFFICULTY

EASY