Rock Climbing in Central Portugal, by Matt Young
If you want to escape the norm and check out somewhere more adventurous, then the rock climbing at Redinha and Vale De Poios in Central Portugal could be for you!
Just 35 minutes’ drive south of Coimbra in central Portugal, the Serra de Sico has 3 main developed areas within close proximity of each other - we checked out 2 of these, spending a few days at each. They lie on a North-South line smack bang on the Coimbra-Lieria District border, with the most northerly of these being Senhora da Estrela (Redinha).
Rock climbing at Senhora da Estrela, Redinha
Redinha is actually the name of the nearby parish in the municipality of Pombal, which is a better bet for supplies than the closer village of Poios. When approaching the parking, the most obvious (and only) landmark is the church of Senhora da Estrela which sits overlooking Poios. On the road above it, a statue (presumably of the lady herself) provides a great viewpoint of the area and initial vantage point to check out the crag from.
The view of Redinha crag from the church of Senhora da Estrela which sits overlooking Poios.
The ‘walk in’ is barely worthy of the title, you could almost belay from the car sunroof The majority of the rock is heavily featured grey limestone, with a good range of grades from F3 to F8a+ spread over 7 bolted sectors of varying character, from easy slabby grade F3’s through to steep overhanging roofs. No need for a long rope here as the routes vary between 7 and 20 metres in length.
Redinha is one of the oldest climbing areas in Central Portugal but despite this many of the routes have been re-equipped with shiny new bolts and hangers, however we still climbed a few routes with some old rusting bolts but nothing that heightened the anxiety too much. The bolt spacing is generally good too - this is a fair assessment as personally I am not a fan of even slight run-outs!
Overall the climbing at Senhora de Estrela is a great introduction to the area, especially if you are short on time due to the approach and want short to medium length routes. The crag has solid rock, is well bolted and has a great outlook over the surrounding landscape.
Redinha crag where it is almost possible to belay out of the car sunroof.
Rock climbing at Vale De Poios
Just 5 minutes down the road from the climbing in Redinha, you arrive at the village of Poios. Go about 600m along a gravel track and you reach a parking area with space for about 10 or so vehicles. We were one of 3 pairs there on a Friday, with quite a few more groups there on the Saturday who had made their way from Lisbon (2hrs). There are a few hiking routes that pass through here, including the PR1 and GR26 - a 180km long distance circular route through beautiful scenery.
The various sectors are split across both sides of the valley heading south from the parking area. Just a 10-15 minute walk will see you reaching the first of these, situated on the sunny south facing slopes. Looking across to the opposite side, you start to appreciate actually how much climbing here there is! The North facing side would be a mecca for hot summer days as it sees no direct sunlight all day. Conversely the main sector on the sunny side is called Microondas (Microwave) which gives you a good idea of the summer time temperatures here!
During our visit, we met a number of people that would regularly make the 4 hour round trip from Lisbon on a weekend, which gives you a good idea of the appeal of the place - particularly when you consider how much climbing there is much closer to the capital city.
The routes we climbed were fairly well bolted for the bottom half of the routes with the occasional mid height run-outs in places to test the head! There really is a large amount of climbing here, especially if you are operating in the 7’s and plenty of options for those of us in the lower/mid grades with some great 5’s and 6’s on good quality pocketed limestone - I found myself repeatedly saying words to the effect of “if this crag was in the UK the rock would be super polished and busy as hell!”. Again there is no need for a long rope as the routes vary between 15 and 25 metres in length.
If you are planning to stay for a few days, which you should as one day will definitely not be enough to explore what this crag has to offer, then the parking area (no facilities) makes for a great overnight van spot if you are self-sufficient and offers a beautiful view to go with it.
An unknown climber powering through the overhangs of a route at Vale de Poios.
The Portugal rock climbing guidebook covers all the routes at Redinha and Vale De Poios, along with other areas within central Portugal. Buy the Portugal rock climbing guidebook from our shop.