EN
ITINERÀNNIA, NETWORK OF TRAILS “Itinerànnia” is a network of trails, with over 2500 kilometres between the neighbouring regions of “Ripollès”, “Garrotxa” and “Alt Empordà”. A network of hiking trails is like a road map, but with footpaths, allowing the hiker to get from any one point to another. It retrieves the old historic roads between the villages to reach many small places.
02 MONTAGUT I OIX
Garrotxa
The network offers many different hikes depending on the time or difficulty and you interest over nature, architecture or culture. Each route that we propose is just a little taste of an extensive network of trails that you can walk to discover the Ripollès, Garrotxa and Alt Empordà counties.
THE SIGNS all the trails of the network are marked regularly over the paths with horizontal painted yellow signs.
PATH’S MARKS (3X10cm)
TURN LEFT / RIGHT
WRONG PATH
+INFO: www.itinerannia.net www.turismegarrotxa.com
Moderate
The marks are placed approximately every 300 metres painted on tree trunks, stones or using and other mediums already deployed in the area. The vertical signs is located at crossroads. The basic network signalling (banners with red tip) indicate the 4 nearest population in each direction and time needed. The banners of the itineraries of the municipalities, as the one you have in your hands, have a green tip shows the name and direction of the route. Each signpost has a small plaque hat shows the name of the place where it is located, the altitude, the UTM coordinates.
You will find information boards with a map of the county’s trails in every village or city integrating the network.
GRAU D’ESCALES
Ajuntament de Montagut i Oix www.montagut-oix.cat
3h 40min
GRAU D’ESCALES
Start at the church in Oix; go down the steps and then turn left on the road to Beget. Almost immediately after crossing a stream, turn right down a path that follows this stream downhill. Cross it twice before you come to a larger river, Riera d’Oix. Turn left and continue along the riverbank as far as the medieval bridge, known as the ‘Pont Romà’. Cross the bridge, keep left and enter into an area of pastures. Continue along this path between the pastures and forest, always following the yellow Itinerànnia waymarking. Cross another stream, El Torrent d’Aiguavella, after which you come to a house, El Pla d’en Pei. Pass by the house and pick up a path that heads for a holm oak wood. Follow the path as it gently undulates to reach signpost MiO4 El Pont Trencat. Here, continue along the main track, cross the bridge and come to signpost MiO5 Carretera d’Hortmoier. Turn right down a path that will take you to a bridge, Agafa l’Ase. Cross the river, Riera de Beget, and start to climb up into the holm oak woods on the other side. Almost as soon as the path flattens out, you will come to signpost MiO6 El Puig: turn right and you will soon reach the church of La Mare de Déu d’Escales. If you carry straight on the path heads gently up to El Grau d’Escales, the mountain pass where the Hortmoier valley begins. Take care here because some parts of this section are slightly vertiginous.
ROUTE SPECIFIC INFORMATION Time: 3h 40min Distance: 10,4kms Max. height: 451m Min. height: 349m Difficulty: Moderate
Editorial Alpina
ITINERÀNNIA NETWORK ROUTE ROAD-TRAIL RIVER TOURIST SERVICES (See website) VERTICAL SIGNPOSTS OF THE NETWORK
ACCUMULATIVE SLOPE
Total climb: 483m Total descent: 483m
Altitude (m)
451
Grau d’Escales is a relatively easy pass (grau = ‘pass’ and escala = ‘step’ in Catalan) between two abrupt cliffs from where there are good views of the Salt dels Lliberals (Liberal’s Leap).
400
349 0
3,5
7,5 Distance (km)
10,5
Continue along the path as it rises and falls alongside the cliff before dropping down to signpost MiO7 La Palanca del Samsó. Here, if you turn right, an hour’s walking will take you to Talaixà, one of the most recently abandoned villages in Catalonia. If you choose not to go to Talaixà, turn left and walk down to the bridge – La Palanca del Samsó – that crosses the Riera de Beget. At the track from Oix to Hortmoier, turn left and soon you will see – over the other side of the river halfway up the cliff – the path you have just walked along. Follow the track until you reach signpost MiO5 Carretera d’Hortmoier again and then signpost MiO4 el Pont Trencat. Here, instead of returning by the path you came along, continue along the track that gradually climbs up to the metalled road to Beget. Once here, follow the yellow waymarking and in a few minutes you will be back in Oix.