Located on the banks of the Arda river, the Croca of Arda has a curious name, possibly related to the geomorphology of the site, remembering a cavity in the landscape that contrasts with the steep slopes of the river. The Arda river is born in the fertile valley of Arouca by the confluence of several rivers, traversing part of the municipalities of Arouca and Castelo de Paiva until flowing into the river Douro, in Pedorido. The Croca of Arda is an excellent place for leisure activities. Here one can go through the river banks and enjoy the huge landscape diversity, as well as the existing fauna and flora.
On the banks of the Arda river biological diversity is great. The iberian green frog, the fire salamander or the common toad are some of the amphibians that roam around here. Most elusive and discrete are the various mammals that roam the banks of the Arda, like the squirrel, the otter or the genet. Described by many as the rarest dragonfly in Europe, macromia is one of dragonflies that give life to this river and found conditions here to complete its long life cycle as well as the emperor and ringed dragonflies, or even the orange featherleg. Another presence that is also frequent around here is the enigmatic and beautiful common kingfisher. In terms of flora, along the Arda banks we can observe a wide variety of plants like the lote tree, cork tree, hawthorn, bay laurel, the dorset heath, various species of rush plants and other herbaceous species such as three bird toadflax and wild daffodils, or even vines such as honey suckle or black bryony.
