Panel on the road N338.

GPS: 40.348134, -7.561274

Hanging valley (access only on foot)

GPS: 40.342800, -7.583000

"Well preserved glacier valley, constituting the main glacier affluent of the Zêzere glacier, draining a large area of the western plateau. Inside the valley is Candeeira lagoon, a key geosite that allows the reconstruction of the paleoenvironments of Estrela Geopark since 14 thousand years ago "(source Geopark Estrela).

The Candeeira river valley , of glacial origin and at 1450 m, is hanging over the valley of Zêzere river, running perpendicular to it. At the confluence of the water lines there is a waterfall. When it is not covered with snow, this is a very humid zone, thanks to the waters coming from the melting of the upper plateau ice, where the Candeeira stream flows. There are several shrub species such as the Dwarf Juniper (Juniperus communis ssp alpina) and grasses such as Nardus stricta (known in Portuguese as cervum). During the winter, due to the snowfall, the Candeeira stream has a greater flow, sloping down to meet the Zêzere, creating several waterfalls on the slope of the valley, providing rare beauty scenery.

This valley presents glacial forms, such as glacial circuses, filled by small ponds, in sequences characteristic of this type of valley. In the place where the two arms of the glacier were located, in the downstream part of the river, was formed the moraine* known as Espinhaço de Cão.

Espinhaço de Cão (dog’s spine) corresponds to a ridge which, sloping down the slope obliquely to the Zêzere valley, next to the waterfall of the Candeeira, inflects, in its terminal part, following the alignment of the valley. Its constitution reveals a deposit formed by a set of different sizes elements, from blocks, gravel and even sand. Due to its shape and layout characteristics, it should correspond to a moraine resulting from the intersection between the glaciers of Zêzere and Candeeira, formed at the glaciation late stage. The small glacier that descended the Candeeira valley merged in the Zêzere main glacier, next to the present waterfall, carving its valley until reaching the balance profile corresponding to the level reached by the ice of the Zêzere glacier. With the glaciation end, the ice melting exposed all this forms, which today are beautiful testimonies of the glacier.

*Moraine – set of materials carried by glaciers. It can have different sizes, from large blocks to smaller ones.