In the footsteps of the dinosaurs: The dinosaur track trail in Cabo Espichel

Walking in the footsteps of the dinosaurs in Cabo Espichel (Portugal)

Pistas de Dinossauros — Cabo Espichel


Just 40km south of Lisabon, Portugal lays the Cabo Espichel.

It’s a fairly deserted place in the middle of nowhere and with the Arrabida Natural Park just around the corner.

That means that there plenty of splendid and dramatic views in the neighborhood.

But hidden away from most visitors you can actually find footsteps from dinosaurs on the cliffs and in the ground.

These footsteps are from the Jurassic dinosaur era and are identified as the big Sauropod dinosaurs and Theropod dinosaurs.

Read more about the types of dinosaurs and some touristic information on the Sesimbra Portugal website.

For the story behind the discovery, read the PDF from the university of Lisboa.

Cabo Espichel dinosaurs photographs.

But once you are are on the Cabo Espichel, you can’t see the largest set of footsteps very well.

if you look very closely, you can find the tracks on the wall side, as footsteps going almost horizontal


To see the dinosaurs footsteps up closer and personal walk a little bit more along the track and there you can see the other steps much better.


The Dinossaur Track trail from Dos Lagosteiros — Hidden away from the view, but better reachable and impressisve.



And they are much bigger then what you would expect from the beginning:



In short, it was a great way of discover a little bit of our history and the ways other animals have behaved on our planet way back in the days.

If you are close to Lisabon and are looking for a quick walking track, don’t hesitate to take this nice dinosaur track trail on Cabo Espichel. We very much enjoyed it, although in the beginning we where a bit disappointed because the first set of steps where very far away.

And please take care for the nature if you walk. On our way back we collected plenty of garbage, left on the track by others. Take care of our nature so we can enjoy the beauty of it in the far future as well.