Percurso Verde

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Follow the green arrows and use shoes suitable for walking in sand. Know Medos National Forest (“medos” means dunes), in a quiet and calm environment and see the dominant plant species, the Stone Pine (Pinus pinea). Under its canopy, there are several shrubs, the most important being the Phoenician Juniper (Juniperus turbinata), whose unusual size, together with the centenary Maritime Pines, led to the classification of this forest as a botanical reserve. This was planted by order of King João V to avoid the advance of sand dunes towards the interior agricultural lands. The forest has isolated examples of Maritime Pine (Pinus pinaster) and Aleppo Pine (Pinus halepensis). In terms of shrubs there are also Kermes Oak (Quercus coccifera tolerant to dryness), Mastic Tree (Pistacia lentiscus), Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo), Mediterranean Buckthorn (Rhamnus lycioides subsp. oleoides) and aromatic myrtle (Myrtus communis). In a lower stratum appear the Salvia Cistus (Cistus salviifolius), a rockrose (Cistus crispus) and the Butterfly Lavender (Lavandula luisieri). There is a firebreaker, a strip without vegetation, to protect forest from fires, where you can see rabbit’s dropings. At the end of the firebreaker is a viewpoint, from where you can see the coast as far as Sintra, as well as Costa de Caparica, beaches and woods with Jackson wattle, an invader acacia from Australia (Acacia saligna). Admire also the fossil cliff, so designated, because it is no longer bathed by the waters of the sea and, therefore, no longer functions as a cliff (i.e., a high margin of the coast). In fact, the epithet "fossil" has to do with this fact and not because it has fossils.