The route starts in Campins, a pituresque small village at the foot of the forested Montseny mountains and great restaurants. From Campins we take a series of forestall footpaths and gravel roads to the village of Gualba.
From Gualba the uphill ascent starts by passing via a forested trail parallel to the Riera de Gualba (river) and arrives at a small hydro electric power station with a small waterfall. From here there is the option of making a short diversion to the viewpoint of the Salt de Gualba, a waterfall with a 130 metre drop over various levels.
At the Power station the trail continues up via a forested trail Taking a right turn into dense forest with a hidden ruined farmhouse. This trail crosses with a river with a beautiful waterfall surrounded by trees with bright yellow leaves in the autumn. To the left of the waterfall the footpath continues up next to the river and follows the river bed via a rocky path as it curves round a headland with a metal cross on the top, La Crau Gran.
When we get within sight of a smaller metal cross, La Creu petita, we will see another large waterfall called Salt de Gorg Negre and we turn left a short way after this into a forested path that climbs up to another hydro electric power station called Central de Dalt. From here we get some views down into the valley.
Continue climbing the path to the right of the power station up through the forest until it joins a rural road / wide path that snakes up the mountain through the forest.
As the rural road gets closer to Santa Fe, it runs next to the Riera de Santa Fe (river) with amazing colours on the trees and small mountain cascades on the river.
After some effort, the path levels out and arrives at the Panta de Santa Fe (reservoir). We can take small diversion here to walk along the top of the reservoir to the centre and admire the view of the lake and mountains.
To finish the trail, continue a gradual uphill path to the Montseny Santa Fe hostel (It looks like a Gothic stone monastery) and then to the Centre d'Informacio Can Casades. Avet Blau Hostal Restaurant can be found behind Centre d'Informacio Can Casades and serves great food.
This is the end of the route. to return to Sant Celoni train station there is a Sagales bus, with the last bus departing at approximately 18:00h on a weekend. Consult the bus timetables in the documents section of this page.
Panta de Santa Fe reservoir and hotel (now a hostel) was built at the beginning of the 20th century by Ramón de Montaner Vila, a publisher from Barcelona, who was building a hotel in the area. He bought the Santa Fe valley in the Montseny Range from the Alfaras family of Sant Celoni and construction of the hotel began in 1912 with a small dam being built to provide water. It soon became apparent that a larger dam was needed.
Ramón tried to pass the project onto his nephew, Lluís Domènech i Montaner (famous Catalan architect who's most prominent works are the Palau de la Música and Sant Pau Hospital). The project went to architect Pere Domènech i Roura, sone of Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The Current dam is built from local granite and was completed in 1935 creating a storage reservoir of capacity 899 thousand cubed metres, providing hydro electricity for the nearby town of Gualba.
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I recommend this route as day 1 of a weekend in Montseny with overnight accommodation in Santa Fe in Aven Blau or Santa Fe hostal and day two being A hike from Santa-fe de Montseny to Riells i Viabrea-Breda.
Alternatively, it can be done as a single day activity getting the Sagales 573 bus to Campins and returning via the same bus route from Santa Fe de Montseny.
Allow 6-8 hours to complete this route depending on personal fitness, it is uphill most of the way.
This is a medium-hard walking route in the Montseny mountains. I always do it with a small rucksack of the essentials and first aid kit. Emergency waterproof jacket is recommended.
Take 2 litres of water. Additional water can be found in the natural springs along the route.
Pack a spare pair of socks in case that you get your feet wet while crossing one of the rivers.
Address: Parc Natural del Montseny, Campins. 08472
Start: Campins de Montseny, reachable from a Renfe Rodalies R2 train from Barcelona to Sant Celoni station and a Sagales route 573 bus to Santa Fe de Montseny.
End: Santa Fe de Montseny, 573 bus to Sant Celoni Renfe.
Note that the Sagales 573 bus only runs on weekends.
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16Km medium-hard linear uphill autumn hike via Santa Fe & Gualba rivers, waterfalls, forests & a reservoir. Option to stay overnight in Santa Fe.
Distance: 15.81 Km
Difficulty: Moderate
Return Travel Fare: €10.80
Transport Network: Rodalies + Bus
Mountain Forecast weather for Montseny
