Vale do Guadiana Natural Park

Vale do Guadiana Natural Park follows the middle stretch of the Guadiana river in the Baixo Alentejo, from just upstream of the Pulo do Lobo waterfall to the mouth of the Vascão stream. Created in November 1995, it covers almost 70,000 hectares of the municipalities of Mértola and Serpa, in the district of Beja, and includes the historic town of Mértola itself.

The landscape has three main parts: wide plains of dry farming with rockrose scrub and holm oaks; the quartzite ridges of São Barão and Alcaria, where the park reaches its highest point at 370 metres; and the deep valleys of the Guadiana and its tributaries, lined with cliffs and Mediterranean scrub that is close to the original vegetation of the region. This is one of the driest and hottest parts of Portugal, so the streams almost dry up in summer and fill again in winter.

The area is protected at several levels: besides being a natural park, it is a Natura 2000 Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area for birds, and the Vascão stream is a Ramsar wetland. The valley is home to the Iberian lynx, the eagle owl, the stone-curlew and the saramugo, a rare fish of the Guadiana basin. The park is co-managed by a commission chaired by the mayor of Mértola, which brings together the national conservation institute ICNF, the municipality of Serpa and local organisations.

Most visits start in Mértola, where the park has its head office and visitor centre in the Casa do Lanternim. Nine signposted walking trails explore the riverbanks, the oak montado and the steppe, and one of them leads to Pulo do Lobo, where the Guadiana drops about 20 metres through a narrow rocky gorge. Going down the river by canoe is a cooler alternative in summer, when walking in the midday heat is best avoided. The old São Domingos mine and the walled town of Serpa are also worth a visit. Mértola is on the N122 road between Beja and the Algarve.