{"id":34090,"date":"2023-01-11T12:59:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-11T11:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travesiapirenaica.com\/?p=34090"},"modified":"2023-01-11T13:24:56","modified_gmt":"2023-01-11T12:24:56","slug":"collserola-route","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travesiapirenaica.com\/en\/ruta-collserola\/","title":{"rendered":"Route through the Collserola mountain range, between the west of Vall\u00e8s and the east of Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"

This linear itinerary between two towns linked by public transport allows us to discover the two sides of the mountain range in a single day. The shady inland side dominated by the holm oak and oak woods of the Font Groga nature reserve. And the sunny side with its pine forests and its view of Barcelona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Collserola mountain range is part of the Catalan coastal mountain chain.<\/strong>. Its 11,100 hectares are protected as a natural park and are framed by the Bes\u00f2s river to the north, the Llobregat river to the south, the Vall\u00e8s depression to the west and Barcelona and its metropolitan area to the east. It is 17 km long and 6 km wide. The relief is modest, with the highest point being Tibidabo, at 512 m. The slope is steep in the eastern part and gentler in the west.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The river network is basically made up of the Vallvidrera stream, a tributary of the Llobregat, and the Sant Cugat stream, a tributary of the Bes\u00f2s. However, this natural space is criss-crossed by many streams, which, together with the high water retention of the forest cover and the slate soil, means that there are around 200 springs throughout the territory. The vegetation consists mainly of holm oak, oak, strawberry tree, heather, durillo, etc. forests in the shady areas. And pine forests of white pines, stone pines, rockroses, prickly pears... in the sunny areas. There are also well represented the gallery forests of hazelnut trees, alders, elms, ferns... and areas of herbaceous and shrub vegetation with rosemary, gorse, gorse, gorse, grasses... in the stonier and warmer areas. We can still find some crops and farmhouses dedicated to agricultural exploitations. This mosaic landscape means that we have a varied presence of fauna, clearly distributed according to the habitat. Forests with genets, squirrels, wild boars, badgers, jays, hoopoes, blue tits, ladder snakes, salamanders... Open land and crops with foxes, goldfinches, magpies, kestrels, kestrels, ocellated lizards, bastard snakes, common toads, runners and midwives... Aquatic habitats with red-tailed barbels, damselflies, aquatic insects, southern frogs, water snakes... The great availability of food resources in the containers and rubbish bins, together with the absence of predators and the behaviour of some people, has led to a large increase in the wild boar population. It is common to see them in broad daylight and without any fear of human presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Female
Female wild boar with her young, feeding oblivious to human presence. Photo Rafa L\u00f3pez Mart\u00edn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We start the route in the town of Sant Cugat in the Vall\u00e8s region.<\/strong>. The first part of the trail will take us to the Can Borrell farmhouse and then to the first reservoir on the route. After passing the hermitage of Sant Medir, we will enter the most spectacular section of the route, the Font Groga reserve<\/strong> with its lush woodland and the spectacular Salamandra stream. After passing several springs, we reach the hermitage of Santa Maria de Vallvidrera and the second reservoir on the route. We go up the Espinagosa spring stream and gradually enter the sunny area with its white pine and stone pine woods. Accompanied by the views of Barcelona, we finish our route.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Map<\/h2>\n\n\n\n