Stage 1 River spring - Quadrazais

This stage starts near the Côa river spring, at Serra de Mesas.
The trail goes down the mountain through dirt tracks until it reaches Fóios, passing by large blocs of granite and extense areas of shrub and woodlands, agriculture and pasture fields.

During this stage of GRVC, some parts overlaps the Small Route of Côa Spring PR3 Sabugal, marked with yellow and red stripes). After Fóios, the trail goes across the left border of the river, surrounded by wetlands and grazing fields. After climbing up to Cruz Alta and starting the descent to the village Vale de Espinho different watermills can be seen. Azenha da Peça is the place where you cross the river and there it is also interesting to see Moinho do Engenho.

Between Vale de Espinho and Quadrazais you will walk through the right border of Côa until Moinho do Rato (watermill), where you will cross by the walking pontoon, surrounding then Cabeço do Colmeal and Alto da Vinha. In this section you will so dozens of watermills and pontoons, and you can get the opportunity to refresh in Côa at the river beach of Vale de Espinho and Quadrazais.

Finally, to reach the final destination, you should follow the detour to Quadrazais, outside the GRVC, 1,2km of non-marked trail