ITINERÀNNIA, NETWORK OF TRAILS EN “Itinerànnia” is a network of trails, with over 2500 kilometres between the neighbouring regions of “Ripollès”, “” and “Alt Empordà”. A network of hiking trails is like a road map, but with footpaths, allowing the hiker to get from any one point to another. 05VALL DELS It retrieves the old historic roads between the villages SENTITS to reach many small places. Garrotxa The network offers many different hikes depending on the time or difficulty and you interest over nature, architecture or culture. Each route that we propose is just a little taste of an extensive network of trails that you can walk to discover the Ripollès, Garrotxa and Alt Empordà counties.

THE SIGNS all the trails of the network are marked regularly over the paths with horizontal painted yellow signs. SANT MIQUEL DEL MONT, PATH’S TURN LEFT / RIGHT WRONG MARKS +INFO: A VIEWPONT OVER PATH (3X10cm) www.itinerannia.net LA VALL DE BIANYA www.turismegarrotxa.com

The marks are placed approximately every 300 Moderate 3h. metres painted on tree trunks, stones or using and other mediums already deployed in the area. The vertical signs is located at crossroads. The basic network signalling (banners with red tip) indicate the 4 nearest population in each direction and time needed. The banners of the itineraries of the municipalities, as the one you have in your hands, have a green tip shows the name and direction of the route. Each signpost has a small plaque hat shows the name of the place where it is located, the altitude, the UTM.

You will find information boards with a map of the county’s trails in every village or city integrating the network. Start at Itinerànnia signpost G174 Hostalnou de Bianya and head SANT MIQUEL towards ‘Santa Margarida de Bianya’. Walk along the road as far as signpost VB12, where you should turn right towards ‘Santa Margarida de Bianya’ DEL MONT, and then on to signpost VB13 Santa Margarida de Bianya right A VIEWPONT OVER outside of the church itself. Continue straight on, then bearing left just behind the church and entering LA VALL DE BIANYA into the woods. Pass through three electric fences before reaching the spectacular oakwood of La Torre de Sant Pere, one of the few pedunculate oakwoods in La Garrotxa that preserves trees of such magnificent size. Here you reach the signpost VB14 Roureda de la Torre, where you should continue straight on up the track. You very soon pass by a spring, La Font de la Torre, an ideal place to rest and gather strength before starting the climb up to Sant Miquel del Mont. Continue up the track for 250 m and, just before a bridge over the gully, turn left on a path off the track that will take you up to the pass at Coll de Bastons. Start to climb. Turn right on the first track you come to and then almost immediately continue up steeply to the left on a footpath. You head up into a mixed oak and beech forest on the north face of the mountain of Sant Miquel del Mont and eventually come out at Coll de Bastons and the good dirt track that from here heads up to ITINERÀNNIA NETWORK the summit. Turn left but then after just 40 m pick up a path on your right ROUTE that heads up into the woods and on towards the church of Sant Miquel ROAD-TRAIL del Mont. First you reach the ruins of the house of Cal Menut and the RIVER dirt track again; however, here you should keep to the left of the electric TOURIST SERVICES pylon and follow the footpath right up to the summit and the beautiful (See website) Romanesque church that crowns it. If the weather is clear, once on top VERTICAL SIGNPOSTS G174 there are magnificent views north to the L’Alta Garrotxa and the Pyrenees. OF THE NETWORK VB12 From the church, take the path that leads down to the left of a stone boundary marker indicating the boundary between the municipalities of VB13 VB14 Vall de Bianya, and . Head down along the top of the ridge of ROUTE SPECIFIC Serra de Sant Miquel, with the electric fence always on your right. Continue INFORMATION alongside the fence until you find a plastic handle on the wire and a green sign on an oak indicating ‘Sant Andreu del Coll’. Follow this path and Time: 3h continue dropping gently down through the holm-oak forest until you Distance: 8 kms come to a track. Continue along this track until you come to another green sign with a left-pointing arrow that indicates the path to follow. Here, the Max. height: 759 m path steepens and takes you down to the track again. Continue downhill Min. height: 364 m G20 until you come to another track, this time in better condition as it leads to Difficulty: Moderate a house, Els Saiols. Cross straight over and you come almost immediately ACCUMULATIVE SLOPE to a spring, Font dels Saiols, a good place to relax and have a quick drink Total climb: 453 m of water. Don’t forget to replace the stick that acts as a stopper! Continue Total descent: 453 m on past the spring and come to the Romanesque church of Sant Andreu del Coll. From just in front of the church door, take the footpath that heads towards Castell del Coll down to a track, where you should turn left. Keep straight on at the first junction and then in a few minutes you will come to Castell del Coll, a fortified medieval house dating back to the eleventh 759 century. One hundred metres past the castle you come to a sharp bend in Editorial Alpina the track, where you should continue straight on (don’t carry on downhill) to the signpost G20. Here, following the indications towards ‘Hostalnou de Bianya’, you come out into a field, where a yellow mark on a post sends 562 you right along the field edge and towards the forest. Start to descend gently through a forest of oaks, ashes and maples. Eventually, you come to an electric fence: use the plastic handle to open and then close the fence Altitude (m) Altitude A circular walk that provides spectacular views of L’Alta Garrotxa after you. Continue until you reach the impressive house of El Colomer and the Pyrenees as it passes through woods of ancient oaks. and then downhill along the minor road as far as signpost VB12 again. 364 Continue straight on and come to Hostalnou de Bianya and signpost G174 from where the walk started. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Distance (km)