Circuit of the cliff of Rocalba. Route 1 Sant Feliu de Pallerols

The Rocalba cliff is an excellent viewpoint over Sant Feliu de Pallerols. The holm and downy oaks take over the forest, but one can also find other species that grow randomly like poplars, willows, chestnuts and cherry trees.

0
  • Modality
    • By foot
  • Region
    • Garrotxa
  • Towns
    • Sant Feliu de Pallerols
  • Time
    • Between 3 and 4 hours
  • Difficulty
    • Medium
  • Estimated duration
    • 3h25min
  • Distance
    • 8,5Km
  • Hide elevation maximum
    • 806m
  • Hide elevation minimum
    • 475m
  • Ascent
    • 434m
  • Descent
    • 422m
  • Thematic
    • Brugent Protected Natural Area

Start at the old train station in Sant Feliu de Pallerols at signpost G993 and head towards ‘Sant Esteve d’en Bas (pel coll d’Úria)’.

Cross the river Brugent on a footbridge and quickly leave the town behind as you pick up the yellow Itinerànnia waymarking. Very soon on your left you will see a house, Casa Ambert, with its terraced fields.

Keep walking until you come to a line of cypress trees on either side of the track, which welcome you to a large house, Casa de la Fàbrega. Pass by the house and cross a gully, Torrent de Rebrugent, on a small bridge, after which you should turn left and continue uphill along a metalled road. Within a few metres the tarmac gives way to a dirt track.

Keep straight on until a left turn takes you to an all-but completely ruined farmhouse, Can Mates. Leave this farm behind and continue along the main track. Start to zigzag and quickly come to another farm, Mas Rebrugent, that, albeit uninhabited, is still reasonably well conserved.

Pass this farm and very quickly you will come to signpost G996 Rebrugent, where you should turn left to pick up a flatter path that once again takes you across Torrent de Rebrugent.

Once over the stream, you come to a spring, Font Grossa and signpost G997 Font Grossa. From here you can follow a short there-and-back path to another spring and a large sweet chestnut tree: climb a flight of wooden steps and then, once again, come to Torrent de Rebrugent. However, just before crossing, if you turn left you will see almost immediately some rocks with a hole through which water gushes. This place is known as La Mina (the Mine).

On the other side of the stream stands a majestic sweet chestnut with, at its foot, a wooden placard on which the words of a poem written in the tree’s honour are inscribed.

Once you have visited these two features, return to Font Grossa: back at the spring, turn right and begin walking along a fairly flat path.

After a while you come to another spring, Font de la Rovirola, where the water flows from a hole situated just above the original spout.

Continue past this spring and into a now much thicker forest. On the left you pass by the ruins of a house, El Vallac, from where there are excellent views of Puigsacalm, Sant Feliu and the mountains of Les Medes and Finestres.

Here you will come to signpost G998 Camí de la Salut. Continue straight uphill for a short while until the path flattens out again. Pass through a deciduous oak forest until you come out into a clearing.

Here you can walk – with care – to the edge of the cliffs of Rocalba, which offer wonderful views down the Hostoles valley. Continue along the edge of the cliffs, cross a gully and enter an area of pastures. Without leaving the cliff edge, continue until ahead in the middle of the pastures you see a signpost placed by La Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park. Here, turn left following the indications for the town of Sant Feliu.

You will then enter a deciduous oak forest and start to zigzag downhill until a number of sweet chestnut trees begin to appear. Soon you enter another area of pastures as the forest thins out. Follow the most obvious path downhill until you find another Natural Park signpost, which points you leftwards along a dirt track.

Continue downhill until you reach signpost G999 Escola Bressol, where you should keep straight on as far as the main square (Plaça Major) in Sant Feliu. Cross the square and then a bridge over the river Brugent, and you will come to signpost G80 Sant Feliu de Pallerols. Head for “Sant Esteve d’en Bas (2h 50 min)” and almost immediately you will find yourself back at the start of the walk.