Route Sant Miquel and Sant Grau (from Sales de Llierca). Route Parishes Alta Garrotxa

Sant Miquel de Monteia is a single-naved church with a pointed-arch roof dating from the end of the twelfth century or the beginning of the thirteenth.
Sant Grau d'Entreperes has all the characteristics of a twelfth-century church

0
  • Modality
    • By foot
  • Region
    • Garrotxa
  • Towns
    • Montagut i Oix
    • Sales de Llierca
  • Time
    • More than 4 hours
  • Difficulty
    • High
  • Estimated duration
    • 5h30min (anada)
  • Distance
    • 13,1km
  • Hide elevation maximum
    • 1.099m
  • Hide elevation minimum
    • 573m
  • Ascent
    • 1.033m
  • Descent
    • 237m
  • Thematic
    • Parishes Alta Garrotxa routes

From the church of Sant Martí de Sales and signpost AG3 Sant Martí de Sales begin walking as indicated towards ‘Església de Sant Miquel de Monteia’.

Initially, you walk along a minor road but you soon leave it for a dirt track. Following the paint marks, pass through fields as far as signpost G111 Can Tomet, from where you should head in direction ‘Església de Sant Miquel de Monteia’.

Continue along the track until just before the river Borró. Head left without crossing the river along a forest track that will take you out to a minor road. Turn right to cross immediately the Borró, and start to climb. At the first junction, keep right but straight away pick up a path to your left that climbs into the woods. This is the old trail that links Tortellà and Lliurona.

Follow this well-trodden path past a ruined house, Can Servosa del Racó. The path continues to climb and comes out on to a broad rocky track, which you should cross diagonally. On the next stretch of path you’ll encounter a number of huge boulders, dislodged when the track was being built. Just by a bend, you’ll see a cross – La Creu d’en Servosa – carved on a rock to the right of the path. Just past this cross the path climbs to meet the track again.

Continue along the track as far as the next bend, where a post indicates that you should head off to the left and back onto the path. At first the path is level but soon you drop down into a gully, Clot Fosc. Cross the stream and on the other side, begin to climb to reach a small clearing. Turn right and start up the Escaler de Can Bosc, a path that gains height thanks to the steps hewn out of the rock.

Once past the Escaler, the path levels out again as it navigates through a thick holm-oak forest to reach a prominent line of overhanging rocks, Les Baumes del Birol. Cross a stream and begin to loop upwards to regain the track. Here, turn left as far as a small pass, Collet Sespera, from where after just a few metres you leave the track and pick up a path on your left that heads back downhill.

Cross another stream and on the other side climb up to an area of pastures with a number of ancient olives trees and your first views of a restored house, Can Bosc. Continue on to the signpost G112 Can Bosch and then on towards ‘Sant Miquel de Monteia’.

Walk as far as a natural spring, Font de la Clau, where there is a signpost (AG4) of the same name. From here, head towards ‘Sant Miquel de Monteia’.

The next stretch follows an old track until you reach a path on your right, which will take you down to cross the river Borró. Once across, keep straight up the path that climbs through the forest to a small pass, Collet de Santa Maria. Keep on beyond the pass, always following the yellow paint marks, until you reach the broad track that links Sales de Llierca to a major farm, L’Orri. Turn left and follow the track and pass a house, Monteia, on your left. A few metres further on, head up to the right along a path.

Climb through alternating patches of Scots pine and holm oak to come out into a clearing and the church of Sant Miquel de Monteia.   

If you want to continue on to Sant Grau (about 2h), climb through the forest to the summit of La Calma (1,053m). From here there are spectacular views of much of La Garrotxa and a part of L’Empordà. Drop down sharply to a pass, Coll de Jou. Continue walking and then turn left to reach Coll Sabassa. Follow the path down through the holm-oak forest to the church of Sant Grau d’Entreperes. To return to Sales, simply retrace your tracks.