The best MTB trails around Asseiceira

Salt is extracted from compartments – pits – made of cement or stone, of varying sizes and shallow depths, to which salt water is taken from a well through irrigation channels. Currently, the water is raised by means of a motor and distributed according to a system that is jointly accepted and respected (not always) by all the owners. The sewers, threshing floors and wooden houses for storing salt complete the set of what is called the Salt Mines of Rio Maior. According to technicians, a large and deep rock salt mine, crossed by an underground current that feeds a well, makes the water extracted from it salty, seven times saltier than that of the sea. The salt is obtained from its exposure to the sun and wind and the consequent evaporation of the water, deposited at the bottom of the pits, which is then placed in pyramid-shaped piles to dry until it is collected. The process is rudimentary and similar to that used in the salt mines on the seashore. The only difference is the picturesque valley that surrounds them, the well, the unique style of the sailors (as the men who work in the salt mines are known), the wooden houses and the country air that can be breathed.

Fantastic Single Track of low difficulty. This trail runs through a leafy forest, almost parallel to the Ribeira de Alcobertas. It can be done in both directions. During the rainy season it can become slippery and muddy in some places.

top to roll

old railway

In Fonte da Bica, the old school and the fountain that gives it its name mark the landscape. As you cross the village, you will be greeted by views of the salt pans and the typhonic valley, carved over millennia by the erosion of the salt deposited there since the Jurassic period.

Unfortunately someone who doesn't understand what a highlight is on Komoot, added dozens of photos (70) that have nothing to do with this place.

Arrouquelas Mountain Bike Trail. According to the information posted, this is a mixed trail (pedestrian and mountain bike) that is 11 km long. I only walked part of it, as I don't know the entire route. It is commendable that more and more local authorities are creating and signposting pedestrian and cycle trails.

A particularly beautiful forest trail that runs practically alongside the Ribeira de Almoster. In rainy weather, some parts of the trail may be muddy.