Although the predominant climate in the Catalan part of the Pyrenees is continental Mediterranean, plant cover varies drastically depending on altitude, slope orientation and distance from the sea. Thanks to this, the deciduous forests most typical of the Atlantic climate also grow, transforming them into a chromatic orgy in autumn.
Here are four places to enjoy this phenomenon.
Coll de Jou (Vall de Ribes)
A narrow five kilometer road leads from Ribes de Freser, in the Ripollès region (Girona), to the small village of Bruguera. The route, which continues uphill, is already a feast of colors thanks to the green tunnel that surrounds it. But the real show comes a couple of bends before entering Bruguera, when the stone houses of the urban complex and the forest that covers the entire side of the Cavallera mountain range make up a palette of ocher, reds and greens that is difficult to match. The Scots pine at medium altitude and the black pine at high altitude mix with the oak and beech woods, which in this period are an intense red. Birch, alder and hazel from the more humid areas add yellow notes to the scene.
The best way to enjoy this mixed forest is to follow the signs for Coll de Jou that you see at the entrance to Bruguera. A concrete track suitable for all types of vehicles goes up through the woods; You can leave the car in a place out of the way and walk among the trees or continue climbing and reach some high pastures where the cattle are found and where the trees disappear to make room for majestic views over the entire Ribes valley.
Sierra de Milany (Vallfogona de Ripollès)
The road that goes from Olot, in the Garrotxa, to Ripoll runs parallel to the Milany mountain range, a pre-Pyrenean transition area, with an average altitude of around 1,500 meters and a forest cover which in these autumnal periods is another chromatic wonder of nature. The road has little traffic (most follows the N-260, a little further north) and passes three mountain passes: Collada de Coubet, Coll de Santigosa and Coll de Canes.
In each of the three it is worth stopping, getting out of the car and delighting in the boundless blanket of beech and oak trees that paint the middle and upper area of the mountain range with its ocher tones. From the village of Vallfogona de Ripollès there are paths that enter the mountains and lead, for example, to the Font de la Tosca, the Castell de Milany or the Torrent de la Masica gorges.
Fageda d’en Jordà (La Garrotxa)
This is also not a typical high mountain landscape. But this enormous beech forest, several centuries old, is a classic of every itinerary that passes through La Garrotxa, a pre-Pyrenean region of Girona famous above all for its ancient volcanic cones. La Fageda d’en Jordà can be reached along the road that leads from Olot to the small and pretty village of Santa Pau. There is a car park where the paths begin that enter this jungle of chiaroscuro and ocher, yellow and reddish tones in autumn. The special humid microclimate of the area has allowed the existence of large beech trees at very low altitudes. You can explore it on foot along some of its paths and also by bicycle along the same track where the horse-drawn carriages for tourist tours that are rented right there circulate.
One way or another, you immerse yourself in a world of nuanced light, among straight beech trunks growing on ancient lava flows from the Croscat volcano. A fascinating and mysterious landscape. The Catalan poet Joan Maragall dedicated a poem to him in which he praises the peace and isolation that the place conveyed to him.
The Aigüestortes National Park (Lleida)
Although black pine and fir predominate in Catalonia’s only national park, forests of oak, beech and other deciduous trees grow in the lower, humid and shady areas. One of the best places to see it is the Nutria trail, a route along the Sant Nicolau river valley that begins in the Palanca de la Molina car park, between Boí and the Caldes de Boí spa, at the western entrance of the park, across the Alta Ribagorça. The path is well signposted and climbs parallel to the river bed to an area of high pastures next to Lake Llebreta. The elliptical lagoon is surrounded by beautiful areas of pastures, waterfalls and a broad-leaved forest which explodes in a thousand shades in autumn.
The other access, the eastern one, through the Pallars Sobirà, also offers incredible autumn landscapes. Long before reaching the entrance to the park, and even before the town of Espot, the slopes of the Ecripta river appear walled in by a dense forest of fir and black pines in which leafy high mountain trees, especially beech trees, but also birch, ash and hazel trees stand out, as if they were beacons of yellow light. In the surroundings of Estany de Sant Maurici, yellow deciduous groves animate the most famous image of this side of the National Park at the moment: the one that forms the lake and the twin peaks of Els Encantats. To get to Estany de Sant Maurici you need to leave your car in the car park at the entrance to the park and walk for an hour slightly uphill. Bicycles are also allowed.
