Km 0

The Iron and Coal Greenway starts out from Ripoll train station. Before leaving the platform it is worth taking a look over on the other side of the tracks at the beautiful station building serving the railway line to Puigcerdá.

If we look northwards from the platform we can see the old line to Sant Joan de les Abadesses, the basis for this Greenway. We leave the station by the main door and turn left along Carrer del Progrés, which runs around the outside of the station precinct. From there we take the first street on the left, Carrer del Ter, and barely 20m down this street we turn into Passeig de Sant Joan which is part of the old railway route.

After meeting the Carrer del Progrés again on our right, we continue along the Passeig de Sant Joan until we come to a roundabout. Here the traffic density increases dramatically due to the presence of the C-151 bypass which occupies 2 kilometres of the former rail bed of the railway.

This is where the Iron and Coal Greenway proper begins. A tarmacked cycle path flanked by two strips of grass runs parallel to the road on its left hand side. The heavy traffic that required cyclists to take care when negotiating the roundabout is no longer a problem. When the path crosses over to the other side of the road a few hundred metres further along, we use an underpass built specifically for our Greenway.

The Greenway is for the exclusive use of cyclists and walkers, and there are barriers to keep motor vehicles from driving onto it. The kilometre posts that mark the route are the original ones from the old railway which took Barcelona, not Ripoll, as its starting point, so we should not be surprised when the first kilometre post we see says 108 km.

Km 4

The Greenway now makes its solitary way eastwards. To our left, the powerful waters of the river Ter provide an impassable barrier separating us from the traffic travelling on the opposite bank. With the distant hum of the traffic on the far side of the river in the background, we enter a rural landscape of meadows and patches of woodland that cling to the sides of the Cabezo de las Fosas. Just before Km. 109, some 4 kilometres out of Ripoll, we leave behind the first area of forest and arrive at a bridge where the railway passes over the river Ter.

Once on the other side, the trail runs once again between verdant meadows that only change colour when they are covered in a blanket of snow during the cold winters. After this area of meadowland the old railway line squeezes into a narrow space between the river bank and the steep valley side. The space is so narrow and the hillside so unstable that the railway engineers were forced to build a false tunnel, 49m long, to protect the line from landslips.

Km 6

At the other end of the tunnel the Greenway takes its leave of the river for a short while. Here the entire width of the track has been tarmacked to enable rural vehicles to get to some nearby estates. Motor vehicles may also use the magnificent iron bridge that used to take the railway high over the river Ter. The low railings and, more importantly, the fact that the old parallel service bridge no longer exists, means that we need to take care when crossing as we will be sharing the bridge with other traffic.

Once safely on the other side, the trail runs alongside and then crosses a busy road. The crossing point used to be a real “black spot” until relatively recently. Now an underpass allows us to pass safely under the road.

Once past this intersection the trail regains its normal peacefulness and runs between meadowland and the wooded valley side. We gradually rise above the level of the road, which continues along bottom of the valley. The old railway track climbs lofty embankments to gain enough height to cross a ravine cut by the Torrente de Púdol. It is worth stopping here a moment to admire the view of the Sierra Caballera which rises imperiously to the north. From here our Greenway makes a straight line through dense woodland before crossing the Torrente de Ginebrosa just 500m later.

Km 10

We are now 10 km from Ripoll. The old railway line enters the precinct of Sant Joan de les Abadesses station which, stripped of its railway tracks, presents a somewhat naked aspect today. But this air of nakedness is partly offset by the refurbishment of the main station building as an attractive restaurant whose décor evokes its railway past.

Although the railway station is in the upper part of the town, a trip down to the town centre is a must. We cross the river Ter by a spectacular gothic bridge, with its typical pointed arch, and from there we can lose ourselves in a maze of streets steeped in Roman history.

The route towards Toralles crosses the Ogassa road right after leaving the station. From here we climb gently through the Malatosca valley. The Malatosca river is a tributary of the Ter which rises in the Sierra Caballera, an omnipresent mountain range lying to the north, where our Greenway is heading. About 500m further on the old railway crosses the road again, but the intersections with this road are much less dangerous than those we encountered some kilometres back.

Km 12

Finally, about 2 km from Sant Joan, the Greenway comes to an end at the loading facility known as the Cargadero de Toralles.

Under the title "The Secrets of the Green Way" Consortium Girona Greenways trails edited guides on the Greenways del Ferro i Carbó, Carrilet Carrilet I and II. With Girona Greenways as an axis, the guides will also propose alternative routes that invite to discover the natural and cultural resources near greenways. These products are sold in the points and route information on the web www.viasverdesdegirona.org.