The balcony of Mieres. Route 1 Mieres
This route runs from Mieres towards Collet de la Devesa and Coll de Palomera. It was used by local people to go to the annual festivities up on Serra de Finestres.
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Modality
- By foot
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Region
- Garrotxa
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Towns
- Mieres
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Time
- More than 4 hours
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Difficulty
- Medium/ High
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Estimated duration
- 4h25min
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Distance
- 12,18km
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Hide elevation maximum
- 765m
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Hide elevation minimum
- 277m
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Ascent
- 535m
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Descent
- 522m
This route runs from Mieres towards Collet de la Devesa and Coll de Palomera. It was used by local people to go to the annual festivities up on Serra de Finestres. From Coll de la Palomera, you can continue as far as La Talaia, an excellent vantage point over the area around Mieres. From here, return to Mieres via Oratori del Freixe, a wayside shrine, along a path that was also once used to return from the festivities on Finestres.
Leave the car-park at Mieres along Carrer de la Font where you will find the signpost G159 Mieres-L’Hort del Truc. Pass through the main square (Plaça Major) and pick up Carrer Nou, which will take you to the edge of the village. Cross a stream, El Merdençà, on a footbridge, La Palanca d’en Marcé. From here, take the dirt track that follows a small gully, Rec de Pinsac, upstream. Pass next to a farm and a house, Ca l’Aulina. Here, you come to a small metalled road that runs from Mieres towards the mountain ridge of La Serra de Finestres. Turn right but after just around 60 m, turn left onto another small metalled road that heads now decidedly towards La Serra de Finestres. Ignoring turns off this road, follow the yellow waymarking until the tarmac ends: here continue along the dirt track up to a house, La Casica de l’Obrador.
Leave the track (that heads for Collveí), and take the well-marked footpath to the left of the house that runs into the forest and on towards a small pass, Collet de la Devesa, and then up to La Serra de Finestres. The path climbs through a thick holm oak forest and brings you to a couple of natural springs, Font dels Pobres and Font de l’Arbre, that these days only gush after heavy rains. A while after passing the second of the two springs, you reach Collet de la Devesa and signpost M1 Collet de la Devesa. Here, turn left and continue uphill along the ridge until you reach a small clearing known as Pla de Pallers de Baix. Continue along a forest track until you reach a footpath off your right. Take this path and gradually the holm oak trees give way to beech with an understorey of box bushes.
Walk until you come out on the broad track that runs from Mieres to Sant Aniol de Finestres at signpost G91 Coll de la Palomera. If you turn left along this track you will reach La Talaia, an excellent viewpoint over Mieres and its surrounding area. Once you have enjoyed the views, return to G91 Coll de la Palomera and pick up the path that drops straight down into the holm oak forest. Cross over an area of bare rocks that local people call Les Pedres dels Mocadors (‘the handkerchief rocks’).
Continue along the path until it turns into a forest track. Eventually, you come back out on to the main track; here, turn left and climb gently until at the first bend you find a path that heads of the right. Follow this path along the ridge top until you meet the main track again at a pass, Collet de Pedres Picades. Cross over a cattle grid and take the track on the right that will lead you to signpost G95 Oratori del Freixe. Here, turn left and head down towards Mieres on the Camí de les Marrades, a path that was much used in the past by the mules and horses that transported the charcoal produced in these forests. Zigzag downhill until you reach the dirt track that leads to a house, Mas de la Muntada. Turn right and continue to follow the yellow waymarking until it takes you to the right again, leaving the track and entering into an area of pastures with a number of electric fences that you must close after you walk through. Cross over the pastures and come out onto the small metalled road that links Mieres to the hamlet of Ruïtlles at signpost M2 Samontà de Baix. Turn left, continue along the metalled road and after a little while Mieres hoves into view. A few minutes later you will end up back at the starting point of this walk.
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