Walk in the Shoes of Dinosaurs

This is a 16-kilometer hike on Portugal’s west coast, from Bicas Beach to Cabo Espichel. Bicas is known for its vast, unspoiled sands and big Atlantic waves, and the climb out of it is the first real test of a moderately challenging trek. From there the trail follows the clifftops and drops to hidden coves with natural pools. Along the way you pass Foz, where a stream meets the sea below a huge cliff. The layers themselves tell a story: at Bicas they hold the best continuous record of Miocene seabed in the Lisbon region, some 20 million years old and rich in fossil shells and even whale remains; by the time you near the cape, the ground underfoot is over 100 million years older. The route continues through the Arrábida Natural Park, whose native plants and wildlife change with the season. The pinnacle is reaching the dinosaur footprints at Cabo Espichel, a window into the Jurassic era’s giants and a fitting end to a day on foot.

Past Bicas, the sand stops at the cliffs, and several of the beaches below can only be reached by a steep climb down. That keeps them quiet. At Foz, the rock walls block the wind, making it a good place to stop for a break and, if you’ve brought a swimsuit, a dip. Come in spring and the headlands are covered in wildflowers: gum cistus, heather, and the corriola-do-espichel, a small bindweed that takes its name from the cape. It grows nowhere outside Portugal, and it’s endangered. The ground is uneven, and in places the path runs close to the edge, so it helps to have a guide who knows the route and the landscape well. You get to enjoy the view instead of watching every step, and hear the stories that go with it. The final stretch crosses a bare, windswept limestone plateau with almost no shade. Then you reach the giant prints at Cabo Espichel, and by now you really have walked in their shoes. Just offshore, the Portuguese fought what’s considered their first naval battle, in 1180.

Your host is Miguel or one of his fellow naturalist guides, who live on the Setúbal Peninsula and walk these clifftop trails throughout the year. With backgrounds in tourism, history, and geography, they help you read the landscape as you go: which rock layers you are crossing, which plants are in flower that season, and where the birds of prey hunt along the cliffs. They set a steady pace on the climbs, choose the safest way down to the coves, and match the day to the group and the weather.

Sturdy walking shoes. Weather-appropriate clothing. Sunscreen. Swimwear if you'd like.