VOLTA TRES POBLES

This is an easy and good route to do a good quality training at high paces and with small elevation gain. It is ideal to start in the medium distance in the mountains and in the use of GPS since it is an easy route to follow and not very demanding. Also to make a varied and beautiful full day excursion. It can be done easily by mountain bike, but only until we reach the Sanctuary, almost at the end of the route, since from there we must take the road that, without losing any chance, will return us to Terrades in a few minutes.

We will pass through 3 small and well-kept villages: Terrades, Les Escaules, and Boadella d’Empordà. We go around the river La Muga and the Darnius-Boadella reservoir and we can stop at the Santuari de la Verge de la Salut. In short, a route varied enough to enjoy a good time running through these beautiful landscapes and get to know the surrounding villages, with the exception of San Llorenç de la Muga, which is already passed through on the Cirereta route.

We recommend avoiding the central hours of the day in summer because the heat can be difficult to bear. Crossing the villages we will find water sources and catering establishments, where we can get supplies if necessary; depending the hours, of course.

Some sections pass through streets and roads open to vehicular traffic, we will always run on the left, in single file and attentive.

We will leave the Parc de la Salut heading west to turn 150 m later heading north. We will continue to the right until we reach the road, which we will cross very carefully to continue along the asphalt following the indications of the GR-2 (white and red paint) that we will follow, gently rising, until we reach the road. We will turn right and continue 300 meters along the left arch to cross and take a track on the right. We will run through this for approximately 1.5 km, through the valley between the Serra de les Avalls and the Serra d’Eixarts. We will descend, always in the same path and with views of La Muga, which will take us to the first town on the route, Les Escaules, km 5.5. We will pass through its main street where there is a fountain, which normally gives water, and where we can cool off if we feel like it. We will leave the town going downhill and cross the road over the bridge that will leave us on the other side of the La Muga river and we will follow the signs to Boadella to the left. Here begins a beautiful and flat section through which we will go parallel to the course of the river in the opposite direction to the current. In this section we will find some wooden footbridges passing by the Molí de les Puces, a shaded picnic area, and the small dam of the reservoir. When we get to Boadella we will cross the bridge over La Muga and continue to the right to then go down the street that goes up on the left. Now we will follow signs to Pantà de Boadela along the GR. We will find another picnic area and, after passing over La Muga again, we will come out onto the road that we will follow towards Sant Llorenç de la Muga. The approach to the reservoir dam will be uphill and at km 12.5 we will be at the dam viewpoint with views that are worth stopping for a moment. We will continue down the wide track until we border the reservoir again at the Torrent de Canemars. We will now go along a flat track that will surround the Serrallonga forest, turning the direction of the route towards the east, back to Terrades. At the height of Cal Xec, the cultivated fields will offer us a visual spectacle depending on the season of the year. At km 15.5 we will leave the track and take a path that on the right hand side will take us for 1 km uphill to the Santuari de la Salut. The views from here are very nice and, depending on what time it is, we can take the opportunity to visit it or have a drink on the terrace of its bar (check opening hours because it is not always open). We will continue ascending for 400 m. following the indications to the Hermitage of Santa Magdalena, which we will not visit on this route as it is included in two more routes (Cirereta and Santa Magdalena Express). When we reach the rocky area, with views of Terrades, instead of going to the right (which would take us to the Hermitage in a few minutes, an option to keep in mind if we have never visited it) we will continue to the left along a rocky path until almost reaching the road, where we will turn right along a path that follows the power line and that in about 200 meters will leave us on the road, which we will cross with caution and undo the first km of the route until we reach Terrades.