Fantastic 14Km circular route starting at the Ermita de Sant Serni del Grau (11-12th Century) mountain chapel parking area that is about 5 minutes drive from the centre of Sant Llorenç de Morunys. Vall de Lord is a two hour drive from Barcelona.
The route ascends via a rocky forest and shrubland to the Serra Larga ridgeline and Planella de Sóbol mountain plain farm ruins passing a cave. From this summit the route descends down via a narrow mountain ledge with cliffs to a forest and meadows with more from ruins and views of the Pantà de la Llosa del Caval reservoir.
from here we get great panoramic views of the reservoir and photogenic Mola de Lord rock summit as the path winds its way up the mountain and takes another cliff side ledge path with caves, Serra de Busa, to ascend the final section via a steep rock face in a ravine.
the plateau is home to a mountain plain with the Santuari de Lord monastery (11-12th Century) , the church of which is open to the public (current building 1870). the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lord was destroyed in 1836 during the First Carlist War and you will find a cannon commemorating the event.
The descent from the sanctuary is via an ornate monks path with more great views.
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The route starts from a gravel parking area in front of Ermita de Sant Serni del Grau. Once you have admired the stone chapel, follow the road towards the mountains. After walking about 400m along the road, on the right is another small parking area with a path leading into the forest on the Camí ral de Solsona trail.
After about 100m take the path to the left then the left fork after another 500m. Continue on the Camí ral de Solsona as it snakes up the mountain through forest, brushland and rocky outcrops offering multiple viewpoints down onto the valley below. When you start to see the ridgeline above, keep an eye out for a right fork in the path.
Camí ral de Solsona emerges onto a gravel road along the top of the Serra Larga ridge where you turn left and follow this trail taking the right fork. A little further ahead where the gravel road passes over a small unnamed summit there is an optional fork to the left to descend down to visit Balma del Fornó cave.
Once returned back to the gravel road continue following it into a mountain plain called Planella de Sòbol. In the middle of this mountain plain next to the gravel road is Ruinas de Sòbol farmhouse ruins. This is a good point to stop and have a break while exploring around the ruins.
Continue along the road and keep an eye out for a footpath forking off to the left. At the treeline Rasa de Vilamala the terrain changes from grass and trees to rocky shrubland as you descend down to a ravine footpath called Pas mal. Keep following the footpath down the ravine and along the ledge. Pay attention here because it is easy to loose the path and follow a dead end trail.
It is also in this area that you can take another short diversion to explore a small cave called Cova de les Esglesietes which has some interesting stalactites. Continue following the narrow footpath as it snakes round the mountain side with small cave formations in the strata. The path continues in low density forested terrain descending down to a small mountain plain with Torroella farmhouse ruin which has giant vines growing up the old stone walls.
continue along the path past the ruins crossing the normally dry river bed of Rasa de Torroella and a gravel road alongside the dry pebble river bed in the forest. you will start to see views of the Pantà de la Llosa del Caval reservoir before arriving at Mirador de la Trona viewpoint on a hairpin bend in the track.
Follow the left fork of the gravel track to through Camps de Solord meadow and on to Masia de Solord rural house. Take a left turn next to the house and ascend a footpath. If you follow the gravel road, it goes to the same place but is aa bit of a longer walk to Mola de Lord mountain. The path crosses the gravel road and continues up the mountain to Mirador Josep Cases viewpoint with a plaque and edge protection railings.
Here take the path along the cliff side, Balmes del Verger, of the mountain with views over Pantà de la Llosa del Caval reservoir and small caves in the cliff. As the path follows the cliff round to the right it will appear like a dead end but the route now involves a short climb up a 2 metre near vertical rocky face that has hand and foot holds in it. If this is too much of a challenge you can also back track to Mirador Josep Cases where you will find an alternative path up to Santuari de Lord.
At the top you will find a path called Camí de Sant Jaume that leads round Planella de Santuari plateau plain to the Santuari de Lord church. Here is another good place to take a rest while exploring inside the church.
When finished at the church, take the gate to the left of the front façade and follow the paved path to Ermita de Sant Pere Màrtir passing the cannon. you will find the winch here that is used to raise food and goods up to the sanctuary. If you walk up the rocks to the cabin by the cannon you will also find another great viewpoint of Pantà de la Llosa del Caval reservoir from Grau de Lord.
To return back to the parking area take the descending paved monks trail to the bottom where you will find the ground winch station. The road leads back to the parking via a small tunnel.
The route starts on an ascending forested and brushland footpath to serra Larga which in spring and summer, may contain poisonous Pine Processionary Caterpillars. Along the ridge and mountain top plain it is less likely to find Pine Processionary Caterpillars but be vigilant.
The descent down from the mountain top plain is in parts forestall and care should be taken where the cliff top ledges are. Ascending back up to get to the monastery, there is a section of the path that is a two metre scramble up an almost vertical cliff face using hand holds. Your dog will not be able to traverse this and you will need a dog harness to pull it up. An alternative is to back track a little where there is another path up to the sanctuary summit that is viable for a dog.
On this route there are no restaurants or bars and the only place to get food is in the town of Sant Llorenç de Morunys. I recommend any of the below bars or restaurants:
You can find parking on the edge of the town centre here.
Pack a normal mountain hiking rucksack. There are no places to swim along the route. Also take at least 3 litres of water because there is no place to top up a water bottle. These mountains are very dry.
Address: Santuari de Lord, Sant Llorenç de Morunys. 25282
Take the C16 motorway to Berga and shortly after passing the town of Berga take the C-1411z signposted to Berga North and Sant Llorenç de Morunys. Follow this winding mountain road for 1.4Km and turn right onto the BV-4241 following this winding road for about 35Km until it passes Pantà de la Llosa del Caval. After the reservoir continue following this road into the centre of Sant Llorenç de Morunys.
An alternative, slower and more scenic route is to take the C55 at Manresa towards Súria and then onto Cardona and Solsona. Take the C26 signposted to Berga and Sant Llorenç de Morunys. After 1.4km turn left onto the C-462 to Sant Llorenç de Morunys and follow for 22km to Sant Llorenç de Morunys.
To get to the start of the hiking route, continue following the BV-4241 (Carretera de Berga) through the town centre up the hill and turn left at the roundabout into Carretera de Solsona. After traveling 1.5km uphill at a hairpin bend is a small country lane signposted to Santuari de Lord. The parking area is 500, further up this country lane.
14km medium-hard circular route from Ermita de Sant Serni del Grau passing via Cingles de Vilamala caves & Santuari de Lord mountain top monastery
Distance: 13.93 Km
Difficulty: Medium
Return Travel Fare: €25.00
Transport Network: Car
