Stage 12: Armenteira to Pontearnelas

Published Friday, September 25, 2026

Data: 8.39 miles, 410 feet elevation gain, 3.25 hours moving time, 4.24 total time.
Hotel: O Legado De Ramira

A selfie of six smiling pilgrims with packs in a stone-paved square, a granite church on the hillside behind them.

Two hikers with poles descending old stone steps beside a moss-covered wall in the forest.

A leaf-covered trail curving down toward a small wooden footbridge in a green wooded valley.

A narrow stream with a small cascade winding between mossy tree trunks and ferns.

A roofed stone mill building beside mossy stone steps, a hiker climbing the path behind it.

The same stone mill doorway from the side, a hiker peeking out from behind the wall.

A woman in a pink jacket standing on stone steps among mossy boulders and tall trees.

A crumbling stone mill wall with a small wooden name sign, ivy and trees growing around it.

Two hikers with packs walking a wide dirt path under an arch of mossy trees beside a low stone wall.

An empty dirt path curving through a tunnel of moss-covered trees.

A small stone mill house with a tiled roof, its walls half covered in ivy among dense greenery.

A stream with a small waterfall running through a fern-filled forest.

Picture Sherwood Forest, Bilbo Baggins’ and Gandolf’s stomping grounds, and the color green. Today’s hike was all that and smelled, sounded, and shone every green hue imaginable. Green mosses blanketed logs and trees, while ferns grew indiscriminately on branches, forest floors, and stony ledges. Water trickling over stones thousands of years old and pooling in sandy troths beside old mills. Dappled sunshine softened the darker shades of green and provided a peek into the abandoned mill quarters.

A small waterfall spilling between moss-covered rocks into a clear pool, ferns all around.

A stream running over mossy stones beside a leafy path lined with ferns under tall trees.

Grinding wheels lay solid and impervious to time, but offering a glimpse of life long ago. I imagine the bags of corn, wheat, and millet flour ground on these ancient wheels. His grinding wheels were a major industrial game changer, enabling a multitude of people to make bread and feed their families without grinding the grain themselves.

The moss-topped stone doorway of an old mill with a wooden name sign, a round millstone visible inside.

It was almost impossible to stop taking photos of this fairyish hike with waterfalls, stone mills, and the feeling that hobbits, gollum, and trolls would magically appear. We hiked at our absolute slowest pace during this stage—snapping photos and appreciating this Misty Mountainesque wonderland.

A waterfall tumbling between large moss-covered boulders into a dark pool beneath the trees.

Two pilgrims, one wearing bunny ears, peeking out of an ivy-covered stone doorway.

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