Geossítio 23 Hell’s Gate and Claw
As narrow as the abyss,
this is that mythical place in the mountains where silence reigns and the landscape is overwhelming to the eye. A panoramic geosite, it is a narrow passage between two steep and rugged slopes that separates the municipalities of Arouca and S. Pedro do Sul. The site has always been a steep passageway that for a long time frightened all those who passed by. The schist slopes have been carved by the Covas do Monte (to the east) and Palhais (to the west) streams since time immemorial. To the west, the “Garra” stands out in the landscape, a mountain slope sculpted by water lines, reminiscent of a gigantic bird of prey’s claw. Spring is the season when the view is most spectacular, as the “Garra” seems to be painted yellow and pink due to the flowering of the carqueja and heather. This geosite is the stage for the “Ultra Trail da Serra da Freita” race.
Informação Geológica
During the upper Miocene, around 10 million years ago, the Freita and Montemuro mountain ranges began to form as a result of a system of faults which, in turn, gave rise to differently leveled blocks due to successive compressive thrusts. The last thrust occurred 2 million years ago and defined the current structures of these mountain ranges. The schist and grauvaque rocks that outcrop there are the oldest rocks in the Arouca Geopark. They were formed around 600 million years ago at the bottom of a paleocean, the sedimentation of which gave rise to the sequence of rocks that make up the Dúrico-Beirão Supergroup, historically referred to as the Schist-Grauváquico Complex.
Interesses
Geomorfológico 
Natura 2000
Uso
Educativo 
Turístico Relevância
Regional 
