Route of the hydroelectric stations Section 1: Ribes-Fustanyà. Route 15 Vall de Ribes

A route that will transport us through the history of Vall del Freser. All the hydroelectric plants we visit in the valley have great cultural and historic interest; in each we will find a brief information panel.

  • Modality
    • By foot
  • Region
    • Ripollès
  • Towns
    • Queralbs
    • Ribes de Freser
  • Time
    • Less than 3 hours
  • Difficulty
    • Medium
  • Estimated duration
    • 1h55min (anada)
  • Distance
    • 4,5 Km
  • Hide elevation maximum
    • 1.175m
  • Hide elevation minimum
    • 920m
  • Ascent
    • 430m
  • Descent
    • 190m
  • Thematic
    • Vall de Ribes routes

A route that will transport us through the history of Vall del Freser. All the hydroelectric plants we visit in the valley have great cultural and historic interest; in each we will find a brief information panel. Fustanyà is a small rural settlement belonging to the district of Queralbs, where we will visit the church of Sant Sadurní de Fustanyà.

This is a linear route up the River Freser, exploring its history. We start at the castle of Sant Pere, at the R123 crossing, and follow the route of the power stations and Ventaiola. After a few metres we come to the RF3 crossing, above the castle of Sant Pere, and around 50 minutes later we reach the Rialb power station.

We walk up the Ventaiola path and pass though a wire fence to walk alongside a pasture. A few metres later, along a well-trodden path with a progressive ascent, we find many sections running between stone borders, a sign of the former importance of this path. After some 15 minutes we reach the RF11 Ventaiola crossing, from where we continue towards the power station until we reach Can Cerdà, a ruined farmhouse, from which we can walk down to the left to the Rialb power station, crossing the River Freser by the metal footbridge. Then we turn back to can Cerdà and continue towards Fustanyà.

Around 15 minutes later we come to the RF12 camps d’en Quintana crossing, where we meet the Itinerànnia basic network, and continue towards Fustanyà via the Cinc Estreps (“five buttresses”) cave. A little later we leave the basic network again at the RF13 pla de Rialb crossing and continue towards Fustanyà, arriving there in just 25 minutes.

In Fustanyà, the R116 signpost indicates the return path (the same as the one we took earlier), which we can do in less than two hours. From this crossing we can also continue along section 2 of the route.

Additional information