Nascentes de Santo António

Nascentes de Santo António follows the streams that give this north-coast parish its name, cutting down the slope from the road above to the coast at Santo António. The path drops by a concrete lane to the picnic area at Fonte Grande, with an optional there-and-back detour to a set of old washing pits, recently restored, where villagers once did their laundry.

The route continues down a dirt track that once served the local watermills, known as the Moinhos da Cruz or da Rocha, now reduced to small water-catchment tanks feeding the public supply; giant reed lines much of the way. The descent ends at a house holding an old hydroelectric plant, bought from the French company Société d'Électricité Alioth in 1908 by a local industrialist to power a new mill and a handful of homes.

Past a waterfall, an optional detour leads to a pebble shore looking along the north coast toward Capelas, before the path climbs a cliff — vertigo-prone walkers should take care here — and continues along the clifftop to a pasture, then drops to the old fishing harbour of Santo António.

The way rounds Ponta de Santo António past the harbour to the Rosário bathing area, where conditions allow a swim in the Atlantic, and on past a picnic spot and the Ermida do Rosário chapel. At under 3 km and about 90 minutes, with roughly 215 m of climbing and nearly 300 m of descent, it finishes on the asphalt road by the Church of Santo António, where the parish's settlement began.