New hiking trails in the forested hills around Monchique are offering an alternative Algarve experience while boosting small communities in the region’s precious, rural hinterland.
Look closely, and the forest reveals itself as a playground. A brook appears from between dense branches, blanketed white by mats of water-crowfoot flowers: a pool for two basking turtles, a slide for hundreds of pond skaters. Above a bush of wild mint, dragon- and damselflies court in a waltz of wings, while a nightingale warbles in the canopy. We rock hop to the other bank. “It’s a paradise for everyone,” says guide Francisco Simões as we hike on.
Unlocking this potential is the aim of the Via Algarviana, a long-distance trail that runs for 186 miles along the interior of the region, from the Spanish border to the Atlantic — and it’s still a work in progress. Inaugurated in 2009, it’s been expanded over the years with a series of side trails, from shorter half-day hikes to paths between more well-connected towns.
Rerouting visitors from the coast, the Via Algarviana hopes to create more opportunities in rural outposts like this one, mitigating the mass exodus of local youth and, in turn, helping to preserve the local way of life. There are small signs the project is slowly starting to make an impact. An information centre near Alferce Castle — once a Moorish fortress, now an archaeological site — is in the works.
Yet, it’s the unassuming cork oaks he’s most passionate about. “It’s just cork, but it has a big story,” he says. Endemic to southwestern Europe, they’re the national tree of Portugal, protected by law since the Middle Ages. The moss tinting the high branches green, Francisco explains, attracts insects, which attract birds and so on up the food chain.
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