PR23The Longal Chestnut Trail

The chestnut woodlands – Os Soutos

The route of this trail is something remarkable: there is scarcely a stretch that is not enveloped by soutos — in this case, predominantly of the longal chestnut. This is not a path that passes through a chestnut grove; it is a path that crosses soutos from end to end, many of them ancient, with trees whose trunks can measure one to two metres in diameter. The density of large-specimen chestnut trees is, in itself, the attraction, and it is this that sets the trail apart from yet another mountain path with views.

Pointing to a classified tree and explaining it is something any roadside sign can do. This route places the walker inside an entire woodland of such trees for five hours: it is not the exceptionality of a single specimen, but the extraordinary ordinariness of a territory where these trees have predominated for centuries.

Start and finish at the Centro Interpretativo da Castanha Longal

The route is circular and begins and ends at the Casa do Povo, on the Largo do Toural, in Vinhais, home of the Centro de Interpretação da Castanha Longal. The trail is the outdoor extension of the centre: one enters, views the exhibition, comes to understand the variety, steps out through the door and goes to encounter it in the field. In Vinhais, cafés, restaurants and parking are available within a few metres.

The Longal variety, up close

The Longal chestnut dominates the soutos of this territory and accounts for more than 70% of the production covered by the protected designation of origin Castanha da Terra Fria. It is an elongated elliptical fruit with a shiny reddish-brown skin marked by dark striations, yielding between 70 and 95 units per kilogram, and has an intense flavour. It is distinguished by its excellent keeping qualities and by being monospermic, which makes it the preferred variety for processing. In 2022, the Município de Vinhais and Arborea launched the Castanha Longal de Vinhais brand. This route translates that brand into experience: the harvest is gathered from the ground, without mechanical means, and that is something one can only truly understand on foot.

Sobreiró de Baixo and Sobreiró de Cima

The two villages lie on the western half of the loop — Sobreiró de Baixo with its fountain, Sobreiró de Cima with its chapel and a café. Between them and Vinhais, the soutos are already the norm.

The Santuário de Santa Luzia

The sanctuary is the highest point of the route, at around 875 metres, with a privileged view over Vinhais, and offers, in addition to the views, a picnic area. It lies between Sobreiró de Cima and Zido, midway around the loop, though here a visit to Santa Luzia is optional. Those wishing to visit the site and enjoy its singular tranquillity need only walk the short detour there and back, approximately 700 metres in total.

Zido

Zido is a quiet Trás-os-Montes village set in a peaceful valley where the soutos meet the agricultural land and the free-ranging livestock that wander unhurriedly through the area. From here there is a panoramic view towards the western face of the Serra da Coroa.

Lagarelhos and the ancient chestnut tree

At the entrance to Lagarelhos, the walker encounters the tree that encapsulates the entire route: the Castanheira, the centuries-old chestnut. It merits a long pause to appreciate the monumentality of this imposing tree that has outlasted the ages. The Capela de Nossa Senhora das Neves guides the way out of the village — the last before Vinhais on the northern side, around five kilometres from the town, along a route that remains entirely in nature, passing the Ribeira de Ladrões once more before entering the town. Seven strong points of interest across 17.6 kilometres give the walk an almost pilgrimage-like rhythm, entirely in nature, between quiet rural settlements.