loulé btt q, 19 km

BTT Q Portela do Barranco
The mtb q circuit starts at Portela do Barranco, north of Salir, council of Loulé. An excellent chosen scene in a beautiful part of the Serra do Caldeirão, still dominated by cork farming. Probably the hardest part is at the beginning of the tour climbing a wide dirt road that starts where the tarmaced road ends right outside Portela do Barranco's café. With a few bits down hill to catch our breath the road continues to climb all the way until the wind mill and first houses appear. The serene village of Barrigões is tucked away high up in the hills and only seems to be accessible by dirt road. We turn west to enjoy the views and the descent after which we follow a track through the valley creating a lot of enthusiasm with the dogs of the farm we pass through at the California road. This road would have taken us right into Alentejo if we would not have turned south after the bridge. A beautiful old trail along one of the many creeks in this area and obviously this used to be an important connection for the pretty hamlet of Sobreira Formosa. A steep climb after the village takes us to the top of the hill. Overlooking the hills there are so many tracks to choose from. The one back towards Portela do Barranco crosses a few creeks, smaller hills and a reforested area with pine trees. We climb to the road at Cerro do Alganduro. A recommended option is to climb just a bit further through this village up to the wind mill where you can overlook the vast area of hills to the south down to Salir. After this all is easy. The road back to Portela do Barranco is quiet and relaxed this great ride comes to an end.

Distance: 19,30 km.

Accumulated ascent: 533 m.

Our rating:

• Technical difficulty: 2/5
• Physical difficulty: 3/5
• Scenery: 4/5

Points of interest:

• Caldeirão, Natura 2000 PTCON0057, http://www.icnb.pt/

Track author: Prof. Arménio, http://www.cm-loule.pt/

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