Starting-arrival point: Pasarela (Vimianzo)
Route: circular
Distance: 8 km
Approximate duration 3 h
Difficulty: medium
Os Penedos de Pasarela e Traba (the crags of Pasarela and Traba) is one of the most astounding natural spaces in Costa da Morte, and was declared a Protected Landscape in 2009.
Start the route in the centre of Pasarela on a track that starts in O Penedo and walk towards the mountain. After leaving the hamlet, take the trail to the left that goes to the Explanada da Ferida, where attempts were made to open a quarry and where A Pedra do Barco is, at the base of the peak of A Cachucha. Now take the track that took you here; on a curve to the right take the trail on the left that goes to the first group of rocks with anthropomorphic and zoomorphic shapes, situated to the north of the top of A Cachucha (208 m). We recommend following the information panels that guide you to each stone. Here you’ll find the figures of O Cantor (the Singer), O Camelo (the Camel), O Coello (the Rabbit) and O Paiaso (the Clown). Further on to the north east you’ll see A Pedra Multiforme (The Multishaped Rock), one of the most unusual rock formations. Depending on what angle you look from, you’ll see a hand, an eagle, a spaceship and a royal throne. Pedra do Fígado (the Rock of the Liver) is also close by.
Leave this first area and return to the first track, and take the one on the left that goes to A Galla de Pena Forcada. Pass by A Pedra Abaladoira, a flat rock that weigh several tons but moves when two or three people stand on it. Then go up a steep slope and at the top you’ll see a vertical stone block that looks like the silhouette of a North African or a raised arm with a clenched fist. At the top of the slope, you´ll see the imposing split block of A Galla de Pena Forcada (258 m), the highest summit on this massif, which marks the border between the municipalities of Vimianzo and Laxe. Now you’re in the second area, where you’ll be amazed by rock formations as extraordinary as A Esfinxe (the Sphynx) or A Dama de Costa da Morte (the Lady of Costa da Morte) and A Zafra de Ferreiro (the Smith’s Anvil) or A Osa (the Bear), depending once again on where you look from.
As you walk down into the municipality of Laxe, you’ll see two beautiful natural sculptures on your right: A Tartaruga-Peixe (the Turtle-Fish) and O Xigante (the Giant). The track joins up with a forest trail. If you turn left, you´ll have the chance to see other unusual rocks such as O Bico (the Beak) or O Monólito (the Monolith), but your objective now is to take the trail to A Torre da Moa, and to do that you turn right, and then further ahead you take the trail on the left that goes to the third and final area on this route. The last part of the trail is more difficult than the previous one, but the effort is richly rewarded when you see the extraordinary views from the top of A Torre da Moa (244 m), the best vantage point for seeing the entire natural space of the beach and lagoon of Traba de Laxe. Another attraction here is the giant outcrops of rounded rock below at A Cova dos Mouros and the other rocks nearby such as A Cachucha do Porco (the Oig’s Head) or O Can Enfurruñado (the Angry Dog).
When you return to the trail, turn left and then turn right when you get to the tarmac path. Walk a short distance until you come to the dirt track on the right. Follow it down and you’ll be back in Pasarela, where you started.
