Mafra: MFR PR4 (Discontinued) - Serra do Socorro Hills Loop

First thing to note is that this is no longer an "official" route, maintained by any local authority. Quite the opposite: they seem to have tried to rub it out of existence as much as possible. It is a shame since the walk is very nice, with the hill providing some great views of the surrounding landscape. I assume it was various farmers that whined enough that it was eventually discontinued, since some of the pathways have dubious "private" signs on them now. So if you are afraid of grumpy locals with their sad little "private" signs on what clearly is public land, this walk might not be for you anymore.

If instead, however, you feel that nature ought to be able to be enjoyed by everyone, this walk will offer some nice views, beautiful scenery and some insight into proper farming; I think I counted at least 10 different agricultural products being grown in the vicinity, from apples to chilli peppers. Of course be mindful to keep a distance to any active farming activity.

The first bit of the walk is simply a stroll down the hill of "Socorro". I think that previously this was a bit more adventurous, but now it is mostly on a newly paved road. Fortunately the path becomes a bit more rustic once down from the hill and onto dirt paths.

The path is essentially one long loop around the woods and cultivated fields south of the hill.

Along the whole route there are an enormous amount of dogs, most of whom are either on a leash or inside garden walls. They tend to bark like mad and in some cases it can get rather comical to have the whole of a village's dog stock barking at you. What is not so comical, however, is when the dogs are not reined in at all. There is one obvious part of the path map about 75% of the way through where I had to backtrack because of two loose dogs were getting a bit aggressive.

That made me backtrack and take a more direct route up the hill again, which was quite steep. The path was also not cleared so this part of the route was quite difficult.

In summary a nice route but dogs and various "no entry" signs made it more difficult than it ought to have been. The whole dog issue can be quite problematic in places that are a bit more remote from Lisbon like this route. I can only recommend equipping yourself to counter a real dog problem.