The Estacas Canyon is a small river gorge, tributary of Agualva stream that goes through the village of Lomba. It is part of the hydrographical basin of the river Teixeira, like the neighboring Agualva and Macieiras streams. Erosion has carved on the rock a cliff valley, taking advantage of the weaknesses of the flaws in shale. The Macieiras stream is dominated by large boulders, some showing dramatic folding contours. The Agualva stream, which initially runs in granite and then precipitates in the soft shales formed, on its banks, one of the most beautiful forests in the region. The steep slopes of these valleys multiplied cascades and waterfalls all over the river course.
Embedded in these valleys of the Teixeira basin, each river has got its particularity. The Macieiras stream is dominated by the rock, with rupicolous plants like pedunculated anarrhinum, plants that take advantage of the water that runs off the rock as the shield leaved saxifrage and the rare carnivorous lusitanic butterwort. By the Estacas stream, we find the twilight kerry slug, protected species that along the water line gets to be common. In the Agualva stream develops a magnificent deciduous forest where we can find the rare and protected european chain fern, but still having the presence of shrubs such as blackthorn and the plymouth pear. The Iberian wolf finds refuge in these valleys, reflecting a wild and unexplored nature, where this elusive predator persists.
The steep slopes of the Estacas stream and tributaries were the main cause to build more than 8 shale mills, blending in with the landscape at all. Many are also next to waterfalls and giant kettles, adapting well to its shape and creating a great beauty scenario, in which human settlements harmonize and merge with nature. The laborious terraces complete this picture, with the slopes being worked step by step by the people making a decent worth living.
