Walking along the Puig d'Estela mountain range in Vallfogona. Route 15 Ripollès

  • Modality
    • By foot
  • Region
    • Ripollès
  • Towns
    • Vallfogona de Ripollès
  • Time
    • More than 4 hours
  • Difficulty
    • Medium
  • Estimated duration
    • 4h25min
  • Distance
    • 12,65km
  • Hide elevation maximum
    • 1295
  • Hide elevation minimum
    • 937
  • Ascent
    • 398
  • Descent
    • 398

The route begins at the R3 sign Vallfogona del Ripollès located in across roads at the entrance of the village. It is advisable to visit the old medieval town of Vallfogona with its narrow streets. The route heads north towards Sant Joan de les Abadesses. After crossing the main road you must follow a path that will lead you to the farmhouse of Can Costa. The path passes by the house and enters into a pine and oak forest constantly climbing uphill to the north. As the forest starts to open up you will pass by the Orri spring. A little further up you will arrive at the R5 sign Collet de les Fonts de l'Orri.

Head east towards Riudaura first following a wide track and then a littlepath going gently uphill to the Coll de la Creu de Can Sibat. From this important pass between Vallfogona del Ripollès and Sant Joan de les Abadesses you can enjoy splendid views over the mountains of the area. From this point follow the watershed climbing up to different wooded peaks. You will arrive at the Coll de Comaformosa or Cal Pollastre according to the maps, where you will find a track that crosses the pass.

Take this track to the left and a few meters ahead leave it for a little path that will take you along the ridge. Soon afterwards the path widens and you will pass by a pond, just where you can see a track. Follow it towards the east while going round the hill of Puig Alegre through the shady side amid a beech forest to arrive at the Collet d'en Roca or Ramada pass.

It is a crossroads, from where if you have spare time, you can climb up to the summit of Puig Estela (following the yellow and white marks) . If you decide to climb up to Puig Estela, allow twenty minutes to reach the summit and ten minutes of sharp descend through the forest until you find again the track that leads down to Coll de Canes. The summit of Puig Estela is a natural viewpoint to the mountains in the southern Garrotxa, with Puigsacalm and Santa Magdalena standing above them.

Our proposition go down directly through the track that through a beech forest to Coll de Canes.  The track rapidly descends to Coll de Canes where you will see the G14 sign. Head west towards Vallfogona parallel to the road. This track was the old road that linked Ripoll with Olot passing by Vallfogona and Riudaura. Follow the track passing by different farmhouses: El Pinós, Els Plans, L'Esperó...among others.

The last steps of this route go by the road until arriving at the first set of houses of Vallfogona. At this point, the path goes left passing next to the old rectory and the church of Sant Julià. A few meters further down you will arrive at the R4 sign La Salut. To finish you must follow Puig Estela street until the entrance of the village, right where this circular route started.

Additional information