RIPOLLÈS

ENG

AROUND BEGET ANDROCABRUNA THROUGHSMUGGLERS PATHS

5h.Medium

17ITINERÀNNIA, NETWORK OF TRAILS“Itinerànnia” is a network of trails, with over 2,500kilometres between the neighbouring regions of“Ripollès”, “Garrotxa” and “Alt Empordà”.

A network of hiking trails is like a road map, but withfootpaths, allowing the hiker to get from any onepoint to another.It retrieves the old historic roads between the villagesto reach many small places.The network offers many different hikes dependingon the time or difficulty and your interests over nature,architecture or culture. Each route that we proposeis just a little taste of an extensive network of trailsthat you can walk to discover the Ripollès, Garrotxaand Alt Emprdà counties.

THE SIGNSAll the trails of the network are marked regularly overthe paths with horizontal painted yellow signs.

The marks are placed approximately every 300 metrespainted on tree's bark, stones or using and othermedium already deployed in the area.

In the cross roads you will find signposts indicatingthe nearest four villages in each direction with timeinformation. (a maximum of 6 hours)

If the same village or town appears more than onceon different signs of the same signpost, you will needto read the description below the town. If there is nodescription below the place name then you arelooking at the shortest route to the town or village.If the indication says “Per...” (I.e via) it means that thisis a longer alternative route to get to the same place.

Each signpost has a small plaque that shows thename of the place where it is located, the altitudeand the UTM coordinates.

WRONG

PATH

PATH'S

MARKS

(3 x 10 cm)

TURN

LEFT/RIGHT

+INFO:

In the Ripollès county you will find 18touch screens located in different towns

containing tourist information.

www.itinerannia.netwww.elripolles.com

Aquesta actuació està subvencionada pel Serveid’Ocupació de Catalunya en el marc del Projecte “Treballa les 4 Comarques” i cofinançada pel Fons Social Europeu.

L'FSE inverteix en el teu futur

Unió EuropeaFons social europeu

You will find information boards with a map of the county's trailsin every village or city integrating the network.

Time: 5h.

Total distance: 14 km

Highest altitude: 1.141 m above sea level

(Coll de Malrem)

Lowest altitude: 531 m above sea level (Beget)

Accumulative slope ascent: 760 m

Accumulative slope descent: 760 m

Difficulty: Medium

AROUND BEGET ANDROCABRUNA THROUGHSMUGGLERS PATHS

SPECIFIC INFORMATION

JUST TO PERSUADE YOU:A route through old paths that will bring you closer to the natural

heritage of the upper Garrotxa county with wild landscapes, shady

waterfalls and ponds, and also to its cultural heritage, with the

ruins of the Rocabruna castle and the Romanesque churches of

Beget and Rocabruna.

The route begins in the parking lot at the entrance of Beget.Before starting the hike, the church of “Sant Cristòfol” and itsmajesty from the twelfth century are worth a visit. From theR78 sign Sant Cristòfol de Beget you must head towards thevillage crossing the bridge over the river and climb the steepJosep Duñach street where at its end, just outside the villageyou will see the R79 sign Camí de Can Reguer.

Head towards the “Coll de Malrem” pass through the GR83 thatfollows the old path, used for hundreds of years, to communicateBeget with the neighbouring French town of Menera in theVallespir county. This path, known as the smugglers route,climbs rapidly to the rocky “Del Grau” pass offering breathtakingviews over Beget and the mountains of the upper Garrotxa.

You will arrive at the chapel of “Sant Antoni de França” locatedat the “Coll Golofreu”, an open area of pasture fields. You mustcross a track and follow a path to the fields of Bocabartella. Ina few minutes a pathway going uphill will lead you to the Collde Malrem hilltop, R83 sign, from where you can enjoy acurious view of the Comanegra peak and “Torres de Cabrenys”already in the Vallespir French county.

Leave the GR83 marks to follow the white and green marks,first along the ridge and then descending gently to theBocabartella pass. A few meters below you can see thefarmhouse that names this path. While going downhill througha rocky path you can see the Rocabruna castle perched on ahilltop just in front of you. The path ends up in a field whereyou will see some old quarries. At this point, pay attention andkeep walking straight to find another path that, through anarrow pass between rocks, will lead you to the Rocabruna'sroad. To avoid a stretch of the main road you can follow theold path that you will find on the right side of a ruined house.

After rejoining the road you will arrive at the R80 sign CanTadeu. From here, you can visit Rocabruna and its Romanesquechurch within minutes.

From the R80 sign continue the route following the white andyellow marks that will lead you to the Rocabruna castle, standingright in front of you on a hilltop. This castle, documented in theeleventh century, played an important role during the“Remences” (a Catalan name for those who were serfs) revoltin the fifteenth century. Leave the castle following a little pathgoing around the hill which will take you to the Rocabrunastream. Follow the stream on its way down until arriving at theMolí d'en Sorolla, sign R76.

Continue following the GR11 path parallel to the stream towardsBeget running between oak trees. As you go forward the valleyand the views to the mountains of the upper Garrotxa widens.After crossing the road the path follows the stream of Begettaking you to waterfalls and pools. The path gets shady andrather narrow while running parallel to the road. After crossingtwice the main road the path rapidly descends to Beget, rightwere you started this circular route.

Contents, illustrations and photographs are property of CEA Alt Ter (www.alt-ter.org)

ITINERÀNNIA NETWORK

ROUTE

ROAD-TRAIL

RIVER

TOURIST SERVICES(see website)

VERTICAL SIGNPOSTS OFTHE NETWORK

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