The cascade of Cabreia is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the Rota da Água e da Pedra (Water and Stone Route), crash landing from a height of approximately 25 meters originates a spectacle of great beauty. The gap originated by different resistance to the erosion of the rocks that make up the river Mau’s bed, with the granitoids up stream of the waterfall being harder to resist erosion, and the softer downstream shales to be easily eroded over the course of millennia. The cascade shows the contact between the geological formation of S. João de Ver and the Pre-Ordovician rocks characteristic of this region. The white-throated dipper is the guardian of this cascade. Its connection to water is so close that the offspring of dipper learn to swim before learning to fly.
The riparian gallery is here completely mature, with black alders, ash and grey willow accompanied by an understory rich in fetuses and shrubs, among which are the royal fern, the butcher’s-broom or the exquisite european chain fern; this species is a priority for conservation in Europe, constituting a relic of subtropical forests that once covered the region. The otter, mammal trickster that travels through kilometers of river every day in search of food has got here exceptional conditions to develop. Among the invertebrates, the highlight is the protected stag beetle, a large scarab that develops in mature oak woods. Finally, in these so wet ecosystems, we easily find iberian endemics such as the gold-striped salamander, the iberian newt and the iberian emerald lizard. The fire salamander is also very frequent in the woods beside the river Mau, eating supplies of slugs and small insects. The park of Cabreia, well equipped and with good access, is a must for all visitors, allowing the contemplation of the waterfall and the biodiversity of river Mau.
