Walking in Catalunya - Girona Pyrenees: 35 hikes in Garrotxa, Cadí-Moixeró Natural Park and Ripollès

By Nike Werstroh and Jacint Mig

A guidebook to 35 graded day walks in Spain's Catalunya – Girona Pyrenees region. Walks are included for all abilities and can be walked between April and November, although some of the lower routes can be walked in winter as well.

The routes and range from 5 to 19km and take between 2 and 8 hours. They are graded from short easy strolls to more demanding walks and cover Garrotxa, Ripollès and the Cadí-Moixeró Natural Park.

• 1:25,000 or 1:50,000 mapping included for each route
• Detailed information on accommodation, public transport and parking
• Information given on local geology and wildlife
• GPX files available to download
• Sized to easily fit in a jacket pocket

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cicerone Press
• Release date: Jan 10, 2024
• ISBN: 9781787650442

Nike Werstroh

Nike and Jacint met many years ago on a long coach journey as they both travelled into the unknown to build a new life in a different country. It wasn't long before they became inseparable. Travelling quickly emerged as their favourite activity and now wherever they go they try to find the best trails. They would love to share their passion for walking with others. Nike went to journalism school and Jacint is a keen photographer. Nike and Jacint live in Guildford and when they are not walking in one of their favourite mountain ranges somewhere in Europe, they enjoy exploring the diverse trails in the Surrey Hills close to their home. And when they are not out walking they offer a personalised travel planning service, details of which can be seen on Nike and Jacint's website:  www.trailnotes.co.uk .

Book preview

About the Author

Nike and Jacint met many years ago on a long coach journey as they both travelled into the unknown to build a new life in a different country. It wasn’t long before they became inseparable. Travelling quickly emerged as their favourite activity: they had their first walking holiday in Madeira in 2008 and now wherever they go they try to find the best trails.

Nike went to journalism school and Jacint is a keen photographer. They really enjoy walking in the mountains and would happily spend every day on the trails.

The diverse scenery of Catalunya captivated Nike and Jacint and they were keen to collect the best walking trails and encourage others to explore this wonderful area. With their guidebooks (Walking in Cyprus, Walking in the Algarve, Trekking the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail, 15 Short Walks in the Surrey Hills, Walking in Catalunya – Barcelona and Walking in Catalunya – Girona Pyrenees) and photos, they want to share their passion for walking with others.

For other books and articles by Nike and Jacint, visit their author page at www.cicerone.co.uk/authors/nike-werstroh.

WALKING IN CATALUNYA - GIRONA PYRENEES

35 HIKES IN GARROTXA, CADÍ-MOIXERÓ NATURAL PARK AND RIPOLLÈS

by Nike Werstroh and Jacint Mig

JUNIPER HOUSE, MURLEY MOSS,

OXENHOLME ROAD, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA9 7RL

www.cicerone.co.uk

© Nike Werstroh and Jacint Mig 2023

First edition 2023

ISBN 9781787650442

Printed in Singapore by KHL Printing on responsibly sourced paper

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

All photographs are by the authors unless otherwise stated.

Route mapping by Lovell Johns www.lovelljohns.com

Contains OpenStreetMap.org data © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA. NASA relief data courtesy of ESRI

Updates to this Guide

While every effort is made by our authors to ensure the accuracy of guidebooks as they go to print, changes can occur during the lifetime of an edition. Any updates that we know of for this guide will be on the Cicerone website (www.cicerone.co.uk/1163/updates), so please check before planning your trip. We also advise that you check information about such things as transport, accommodation and shops locally. Even rights of way can be altered over time. We are always grateful for information about any discrepancies between a guidebook and the facts on the ground, sent by email to [e-mail] or by post to Cicerone, Juniper House, Murley Moss, Oxenholme Road, Kendal, LA9 7RL.

Register your book: To sign up to receive free updates, special offers and GPX files where available, register your book in your Cicerone library at www.cicerone.co.uk.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Catalan Tourist Board for their help and enthusiastic support during the research. Thank you to Aicard Guinovart i Marquès and the London office, and to everyone who helped with our research from the local tourist boards of Bagà, Ripollès, Berguedà and Alt Empordà.

Also a special thank you to Adriana Ramon from Itinerànnia for suggesting some amazing trails and areas to explore. Thank you for all the knowledge and tips that you shared with us during the research.

Thank you to Joe Williams and everyone from the Cicerone team who believed in this project and worked on this book.

Note on mapping

The route maps in this guide are derived from publicly available data, databases and crowd-sourced data. As such they have not been through the detailed checking procedures that would generally be applied to a published map from an official mapping agency. However, we have reviewed them closely in light of local knowledge as part of the preparation of this guide.

Front cover: Pedraforca views from the demanding steep trail to Comabona (Walk 34)

CONTENTS

Map key

Overview Map

Route summary table

INTRODUCTION

Geography and geology

Plants and flowers

Wildlife

Getting there

Getting around

Bases

Accommodation

When to go and what to take

Language

Waymarking

Using this guide

GARROTXA

Walk 1 Puig de Bassegoda

Walk 2 Muga Gorge

Walk 3 Beuda to El Mont

Walk 4 Sadernes to Salt de Brull

Walk 5 Volcà de Santa Margarida and Croscat

Walk 6 Puig Rodó and Sant Miquel del Corb

Walk 7 Salt de la Coromina and Camí Ral

Walk 8 Puigsacalm from Joanates

Walk 9 Puigsacalm from Coll de Bracons

Walk 10 Salt de Sallent

Walk 11 Oix to Santa Maria d’Escales

Walk 12 Castell de Besora

Walk 13 Gorg de Masica

RIPOLLÈS

Walk 14 Via Romana

Walk 15 Camprodon to Sant Antoni

Walk 16 Serra Cavallera from Camprodon

Walk 17 Camí de Carboneres

Walk 18 Gra de Fajol

Walk 19 Pic de la Dona and Bastiments

Walk 20 Seven gorges trail

Walk 21 Taga from Ribes de Freser

Walk 22 Queralbs to Font de l’Home Mort

Walk 23 Camí Vell de Núria

Walk 24 Puigmal

Walk 25 Pic de Finestrelles

Walk 26 Salt del Grill and Coma de Vaca

Walk 27 Falgars and Roc de la Lluna

CADÍ-MOIXERÓ NATURAL PARK

Walk 28 La Tosa

Walk 29 Penyes Altes de Moixeró

Walk 30 Els Empedrats

Walk 31 Via del Nicolau

Walk 32 Pedraforca Superior

Walk 33 Saldes to Gresolet

Walk 34 Comabona

Walk 35 Pedraforca 360

Appendix A Useful contacts and information

Appendix B Accommodation

Appendix C Glossary

Walking away from La Tosa (Walk 28)

ROUTE SUMMARY TABLE

The final stretch to the top of Bastiments is quite challenging (Walk 19)

INTRODUCTION

Views towards Pedraforca’s rocky sides (Walk 33)

Leave behind Girona’s medieval walls, narrow cobbled streets with cosy restaurants and riverside lined with colourful houses and you will find a network of trails twisting among the volcanic cones and meandering through rocky gorges with spectacular waterfalls in the Garrotxa. Or you can follow narrow paths that climb to long-forgotten ruins and hidden churches on the lush mountains of the Alta Garrotxa.

Dotted with charming villages, medieval stone bridges, fresh mountain rivers and rugged mountain peaks with far-reaching views, the diverse landscape of the Girona province provides endless trails to explore.

In the north, the majestic Pyrenees mountain range forms a natural border between Spain and France. Blanketed in snow in the winter, the many great ski slopes – attracting winter sport lovers – come to life.

The peaks may be snow-capped well into the spring, but when most of the white blanket melts away, fresh mountain streams race down the slopes, wildflowers carpet the meadows and hikers replace the skiers. Paths cross the boundless alpine meadows, noisy with cattle bells and the sound of the marmots. Trails climb with far-reaching, dizzying views and a breathtaking panorama greets hikers on any of the peaks on clear summer days.

Built at spectacular locations, manned and unmanned mountain huts give shelter to hikers who follow one of the several long-distance trails traversing the Pyrenees. However, there are countless delightful day walks to choose from if you want to explore the Girona Pyrenees.

The mountains of the Pre-Pyrenees may have a lower altitude, but they are just as spectacular as the high Pyrenees and offer a more varied landscape and snow-free walking trails earlier in the year. The iconic double peak of Pedraforca is thought to be one of the most photographed mountains in Catalunya. Painted with pink in the early morning and orange in the evening, blanketed with snow in the winter and wrapped in dancing clouds on summer afternoons, no two pictures of this fascinating mountain are the same.

Although proud of its own language and identity, Catalunya has been part of Spain since the 15th century, when King Ferdinand of Aragon married Queen Isabella of Castile. The region initially kept its institutions, but it was then integrated into the Spanish state until the 19th century, when a renewed sense of identity lead to the campaign for political autonomy. In 1931, when Spain became a republic, Catalunya was given broad autonomy. However, during Franco’s rule (1939–1975) this autonomy was revoked, and Catalan nationalism was repressed. After Franco’s death, Spain’s restoration of democracy started, and in 1979 Catalunya was given a statute of autonomy and recognised nationality. The Catalan language became a joint official language. Recent years have seen some struggles for independence, and the political situation can, at times, be complicated.

Catalunya is vast, and in this book we only explore parts of the Girona province, mainly the areas and mountain ranges of the Girona Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees, including the regions of Garrotxa, Ripollès and the Cadí-Moixeró Natural Park. Most of the trails can be enjoyed between April and October; however, the lower areas in the Garrotxa can even be attempted in the winter months, and they are easily accessible from Barcelona, Girona, Olot, Ripoll and Berga.

The ridge is a natural border between France and Catalunya (Walk 19)

Hiking and biking trails are well promoted, and active holidays are encouraged for the growing number of people who want to explore Catalunya beyond the Costa Brava. Some routes and areas see a great number of hikers, and recently there has been a great effort to guide visitors towards the more rural areas in Catalunya. However, you can certainly find quiet, lesser-used trails in each area covered in this book.

Catalunya can provide hikers with endless trails, from easy strolls to more demanding walks. The friendly locals welcome the growing number of people who want to explore the fascinating and diverse areas on foot.

Geography and geology

Catalunya lies on the Iberian Peninsula, south of the Pyrenees mountain range. Its eastern shores are washed by the Mediterranean sea, and its climate is shaped by the sea and the mountains. Catalunya consists of four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona. This book focuses on the Girona province.

The varied landscape includes the volcanic Garrotxa, the Alta Garrotxa and the Cadí-Moixeró range. These regions form part of the Pre-Pyrenees and the southern slopes of the Pyrenees, with deep gorges, waterfalls,