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.
05 VALL DELS SENTITS
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
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.
You will find information boards with a map of the county’s trails in every village or city integrating the network.
+INFO: www.itinerannia.net www.turismegarrotxa.com
SANT MIQUEL DEL MONT, A VIEWPONT OVER LA VALL DE BIANYA Moderate
3h.
SANT MIQUEL DEL MONT, A VIEWPONT OVER LA VALL DE BIANYA
Start at Itinerànnia signpost G174 Hostalnou de Bianya and head towards ‘Santa Margarida de Bianya’. Walk along the road as far as signpost VB12, where you should turn right towards ‘Santa Margarida de Bianya’ and then on to signpost VB13 Santa Margarida de Bianya right outside of the church itself.
ITINERÀNNIA NETWORK ROUTE ROAD-TRAIL RIVER TOURIST SERVICES (See website) VERTICAL SIGNPOSTS OF THE NETWORK
Continue straight on, then bearing left just behind the church and entering into the woods. Pass through three electric fences before reaching the spectacular oakwood of La Torre de Sant Pere, one of the few pedunculate oakwoods in La Garrotxa that preserves trees of such magnificent size. Here you reach the signpost VB14 Roureda de la Torre, where you should continue straight on up the track. You very soon pass by a spring, La Font de la Torre, an ideal place to rest and gather strength before starting the climb up to Sant Miquel del Mont. Continue up the track for 250 m and, just before a bridge over the gully, turn left on a path off the track that will take you up to the pass at Coll de Bastons. Start to climb. Turn right on the first track you come to and then almost immediately continue up steeply to the left on a footpath. You head up into a mixed oak and beech forest on the north face of the mountain of Sant Miquel del Mont and eventually come out at Coll de Bastons and the good dirt track that from here heads up to the summit. Turn left but then after just 40 m pick up a path on your right that heads up into the woods and on towards the church of Sant Miquel del Mont. First you reach the ruins of the house of Cal Menut and the dirt track again; however, here you should keep to the left of the electric pylon and follow the footpath right up to the summit and the beautiful Romanesque church that crowns it. If the weather is clear, once on top there are magnificent views north to the L’Alta Garrotxa and the Pyrenees.
G174 VB12 VB14
VB13
ROUTE SPECIFIC INFORMATION Time: 3h Distance: 8 kms Max. height: 759 m Min. height: 364 m Difficulty: Moderate
G20
ACCUMULATIVE SLOPE
Total climb: 453 m Total descent: 453 m
Altitude (m)
759
Editorial Alpina
562
A circular walk that provides spectacular views of L’Alta Garrotxa and the Pyrenees as it passes through woods of ancient oaks.
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From the church, take the path that leads down to the left of a stone boundary marker indicating the boundary between the municipalities of Vall de Bianya, Olot and Riudaura. Head down along the top of the ridge of Serra de Sant Miquel, with the electric fence always on your right. Continue alongside the fence until you find a plastic handle on the wire and a green sign on an oak indicating ‘Sant Andreu del Coll’. Follow this path and continue dropping gently down through the holm-oak forest until you come to a track. Continue along this track until you come to another green sign with a left-pointing arrow that indicates the path to follow. Here, the path steepens and takes you down to the track again. Continue downhill until you come to another track, this time in better condition as it leads to a house, Els Saiols. Cross straight over and you come almost immediately to a spring, Font dels Saiols, a good place to relax and have a quick drink of water. Don’t forget to replace the stick that acts as a stopper! Continue on past the spring and come to the Romanesque church of Sant Andreu del Coll. From just in front of the church door, take the footpath that heads towards Castell del Coll down to a track, where you should turn left. Keep straight on at the first junction and then in a few minutes you will come to Castell del Coll, a fortified medieval house dating back to the eleventh century. One hundred metres past the castle you come to a sharp bend in the track, where you should continue straight on (don’t carry on downhill) to the signpost G20. Here, following the indications towards ‘Hostalnou de Bianya’, you come out into a field, where a yellow mark on a post sends you right along the field edge and towards the forest. Start to descend gently through a forest of oaks, ashes and maples. Eventually, you come to an electric fence: use the plastic handle to open and then close the fence after you. Continue until you reach the impressive house of El Colomer and then downhill along the minor road as far as signpost VB12 again. Continue straight on and come to Hostalnou de Bianya and signpost G174 from where the walk started.