The Moinhos do Rão (Rão watermills) are located at the confluence of the river Caima with a small tributary that runs between the villages of Gatão and Vilar, and that comes from the Arestal mountain. The river here flows in a embedded valley within very steep banks, alternating between fast and vertiginous rapids and clear water pounds. The lush vegetation grows on its banks, with a well-formed riverside gallery and a mixed forest with evergreen and deciduous trees. Among these stands out the common holly, very frequent, and became the dominant understory tree. To access this small paradise you need to follow the trail untill the Caima river, following the river in a green path with hundreds of holly trees within reach.
On the banks of the river Caima, taking advantage of the confluence of several tributaries extends for several kilometers, a mixed forest with deciduous and evergreen tree species. Here dominates the pedunculate oak, chestnut, cherry, bay laurel, the common holly, hazel, cork, laurestine and the strawberry tree. The flora shows the tutsan, the blue-eyed mary, columbine, the seal of solomon and primrose. The birdlife is abundant here, and the colorful bullfinch can be heard and sometimes seen among the foliage. Closer to the river gold-striped salamander thrives and the common kingfisher feeds on small fish. This is a land of mushrooms, with the tasty golden chanterelle grooving the dark earth of these humid forests.
The watermills of the river Caima combine traditional techniques and ingenious works of hydraulic construction whose activity have always had a great importance in the economy and life of the people around here. The watermill of Rão (now recovered) is a fine example of these ancestral knowledge, and may be serving as refuge to rare species of bats.
