Walk 106 Monte de Charneca Circular. 14k Ascent: 300m
Extension: 3k
GPS: 37/ 14. 06. 83 8/ 13. 38. 65
The hamlet of Monte de Charneca lies on the N124 main road between Messines and Alte. It has a bar, where the walk begins, but no obvious shape or centre. The walk starts with a leg to the north, then turns back to the 124, crosses it and wanders through lowland to the village of Monte Brito. The return leg has alternatives. The main one cuts through agricultural terrain back to the start, while the extension takes a line through scattered housing to the edge of the A2 motorway before turning back to Monte de Charneca. There is a small bar at Monte Brito, but no guarantee that it will be open. Please note. There is a tricky descent into a narrow gorge at one point on this walk. Easily negotiated with care.
Directions to the start.
From the south, take either the IC1 or the A2 to Messines and follow signs to Alte and Salir. Pass through Messines de Baixo and come to Charneca after another kilometre. The bar is on the left after a road hump. From the west, take the 124 from Salir or Benafim. Pass through Alte. Charneca is 5k further on. Find the bar on the right towards the far end of the settlement.
The Walk.
With your back to the bar, (1)turn left and walk along the road for 400m. Come to a lane on the left with a green rubbish bin and a set of post boxes, and turn up it. Walk for just over 1k to a T junction and turn right.(2) Follow the road for 240m, round a bend, and find a narrow footpath on the right leading off south-west. Follow this across open land for 400m to a wider track at a T junction.(3) (Alternatively, you can follow the road for 400m to Fonte Santa and turn right at the T junction to walk a further 500m along the track to point 3.)
Turn right, and follow this track for 570m to a T juntion. Turn right, and continue for 1.3k, going through two quite tight bends, to emerge on a main road (124). (4) Cross the road and turn left. After a short distance, come to a track on the right at an acute angle to the road, and walk along and gently downhill on this track for something over 900m, with orchards on the left for much of the way. See a track on the left leading down between orchards (5), and follow it to a stream crossing on a sharp left-hand bend. From the crossing, start to climb gently, and after 130m turn right and climb steeply uphill between orchards. At the top (6), turn left and immediately right to pass through a gap in a wall. Now follow the track as it heads slightly uphill to start and then gently downwards over the next 2.2k, to emerge on a tarmac road in the village of Monte Brito. The road winds through houses and ends at a wider road in the centre of the village (7). The small bar is about 100m along to the left.
From point 7, turn sharp right along the road, and walk for 670m. Soon after rounding a left-hand bend, find a wide track on the right (red and white hunters signs to right and left a few metres in) (8), and walk along it for 500m to a T junction. Turn left. The next section is a little complicated, follow directions carefully. Walk along the track for 180m, and find a narrow path between sections of orchard on the right. (9) Walk along this, and when the orchard ends, go straight ahead over rough ground for a short distance to drop into a track running across your way. Turn right and walk to the top side of a bank of rocks on the left. Turn left and walk the path along the top side of the rocks to a junction. (10). Turn left and walk downhill for 100m, turning right on a narrow path at the top side of another orchard. At the next corner, go straight ahead and over rocks onto a large open area. Walk downhill on the same line, coming to a bank of rocks, with a steep descent into a narrow gorge ahead of you. (11).
Look to the right for a descent over the rocks into the gorge, and climb out the other side, with the help of a well-placed tree. Cross over the meadow ahead, keeping more to the right, and pick up a track at the far side bearing right. The track turns left and starts to climb quite steeply towards a settlement on the hill. 300m from the valley floor come to a tarmac road and turn left. Shortly afterwards come to a road junction and turn left again (12). At the crossroads turn right, and at the next junction bear right (13) (This is where the extension route starts, for which bear left.)
Now walk along the tarmac for 750m. Towards the end, pass the entrance to an estate on the left, complete with wall and gates. At the far boundary of the estate, take a track on the left (14), and follow this for 1.3k, ending at another tarmac road (the extension ends here). Turn right and walk for 140m, turning off the road onto a track on the right (15). After 820m, the track dog-legs between narrow orchards (16). At the following junction (17) turn right onto a track leading to a house on the right. Pass by as the track becomes narrower and heads east along a tree line. Three hundred metres from point 17 come to a hard surface by another house and walk to a junction, with another building facing uou. Turn left here (18), and walk for 360 up to the N124, with the start point of the walk diagonally across the road.
For the Extension
From Point 13, bear left and walk along the road past properties for almost 300m to a junction. (1a) Turn left past a house, and before reaching the next property, bear left along a narrow field track. Foolow this as it crosses rough land, then divides an orchard before reaching a wider track at a junction after 350m. (2a). Turn left and walk towards a house, passing to the right of an outbuilding and turning left in front of the main house. Continue along to a right-hand bend (3a) and turn through it to pass by a house on the right. At the T junction turn left, and follow the track round a curve to pass to the right of another house. Take the next right (4a), and follow this track as it winds between houses and orchards over the next 600m, ending at a junction with a main road. (5a). Cross over diagonally, and take the track on the opposite side, which leads after 500m to the side of the A2 motorway. Turn right alongside the motorway, heading north for amost a kilometre. At the path division fork right(6a) and shortly come to a tarmac road. Turn left and rejoin the main route close to point 15.