Camí dels Matxos – Les Costes Hortsavinyà – Les carboneres – Riera de Pineda

Difficulty: Medium
Elevation gain uphill: 500 m.
Kilometres: 13 km.
Duration: 3 h. 38 min.

0:14 h.
We find a road again, that the forest has already half eaten. This time we follow it to the right, flat, until we come back to the bend, which then goes up again.

0:19 h.
The path goes back across a track and continues to climb.

0:23 h.
The narrow path opens up on another road where it ends. Here we take the wide road that is in front of us. At the end, on the right, we see the farmhouse of Can Riu, which is well preserved. We continue to the left, along a wide track that goes up towards the west.

0:30 h
We reach a fork in the road, with a roundabout, we continue to the right heading north.

0:39 h.
After passing through Can Plana, which we have left to the right along the way, we arrive at Can Soler de Montcal, an old manor house, today in ruins. In the early seventies, there was an attempt to turn this great forest estate into a residential area. Fortunately, it was a failure, but the evidence remains, a small group of houses and some huts, which are quite hidden in the middle of the forest. We will follow the road that goes around the house, heading east.

0:42 h.
The road comes to a cabin where it turns right towards the north.

0:44 h.
We turn left again, passing in front of a neighbourhood that is on our right and take a track where the “Camí de les Costes” (Path of the Slopes) begins. This path, one of the most well-known to get to Hortsavinyà, was one of the favourites of the great philologist Joan Coromines, who lived in Pineda for the last 30 years of his life, who really enjoyed walking in the mountains.

0:54 h.
On the right we find the blow holes, where hot air comes out in winter and cool air in summer. From here we will find a section of the original path, which has been able to save itself from the destruction caused by the forest road. It is very pleasant for hikers. It climbs snaking through the mountain, with gentle slopes, which can be climbed without much effort.

1:08 h.
At the bend, the Canal de Fresquet passes, which is known for the abundance of ivy on the edges of the road.

1:14 h.
The path crosses a forest road and continues to climb. Just above, we reach the site of Roca d’en Cona, which is now hidden by the forest beneath the left side of the road. Pay attention to a landmark of stones that we find on the left. From here we can get to Roques Perdigueres in 5 minutes, which is a magnificent balcony, especially on the upper course of the Pineda stream. We must clarify that there is no clear path to get there. We walk through the forest until we descend onto a forest road where we continue opening our way on the right for 40 meters in the middle of steppes and rosemary bushes. Here we will see a trail to the left where we will enter a holm oak forest, fairly clear, where we will carry on descending to the west, until we leave the forest and find the rocks. The view is extraordinary. We have at our feet the canal of the stream. At a glance we can see the two slopes, from its birth on top of Can Borra, which is the house that we see at the top, to Cal Ros that we see at the bottom in the lower part, near Pla de Cal Capitá where we left the car. At a glance we can contemplate the whole of the itinerary that we are describing. On the right-hand slope that is in front of us, we can see Can Terrades, located on top of the ridge and Can Buch in the middle. After enjoying the view, we will return to where we came from towards the “Camí de les Costes” (Path of the Slopes).

1:25 h.
We follow the path uphill, which soon passes through a tunnel of vegetation, shortly after the narrow path ends and the path continues after a track.

1:37 h.
We find a fork to the left that we will leave aside and continue uphill.

1:42 h.
Coming off to the right, are the last meters of the original Camí de les Costes (Path of the Slopes). The road ends and puts us in front of the beautiful picture of the parish of Hortsavinyà. We cross a picnic area, and we go to the information point building of the Montnegre Park, which belongs to Barcelona Provincial Council.

1:45 h.
We reach the information point. On Saturdays and public holidays, we can watch a video about the park. Leaving here we take the track that goes uphill to the left.

1:46 h In one minute the track brought us to Collet del Vent. In front of us we see some green milestones that we will follow. It is a road that the Provincial Council has adapted to take walks. It’s very nice.

1:52 h.
The path opens onto a road and on the right, we find Coll de Palomeres. On the left, next to a green sign, the Camí de les Carboneres (The Charcoal Pile Path) begins.
The charcoal industry was very important in the post-war period. From 1940 to the end of the 1950s, it gave employment to many woodcutters and coalers. In those years, in which we did not have oil, the forests were exploited extensively. The older generations remember perfectly the coal and charcoal sills that descended from the Montnegre, and that the coalers distributed all through the town of Pineda. On the upper slopes of the paths through which we now pass, there were many charcoal piles, and even today, the evidence of where they were located is clearly visible. History aside, it is a beautiful path, a pleasure for the hiker.

2:08 h. The path ends at a forest road, where we will descend to the west. Then we will cross a canal full of bushes and lianas, it is the birth of the Pineda stream. We will continue along the track that is now flat, it is very clean and has a very good footprint.

2:20 h.
We find a fork where we will descend towards the sea.

2:25 h.
We arrive at the main road in front of Can Pica, we will follow it to the right heading west.

2:30 h.
El Bitllador. We take the track that goes down towards the sea and that runs parallel to the canal of the stream.

2:32 h.
We pass by in front of Can Borra, the house we saw from the Roques Perdigueres. We keep going downhill, steeply.

2:35 h.
At a bend on the left, we find the Font dels Ocells.

2:40 h.
We go past the fork at Can Cua, a house located at the bottom of the canal and which has been recently restored.

2:42 h.
Pay close attention. We have to leave the road to take the narrow path on the left, which will take us to the bottom of the canal. This path passes by the side of Can Buch, another of the houses we saw from the viewpoint, which is to the right, but hidden by the forest. We will go down all the way along a metal fence.

2:43 h.
The path turns left after the fence. From here, we continues to descend a steep windy slope, Finally, we go along a track that ends up as a closed in path that is always full of bushes, which takes us down to the stream.

2:55 h.
At this point, the streams of Torrent de Can Buch and the one that comes down from Turó de Verinals meet, they join together and form a plain, full of Alders, Clover and Hazel trees. At the end, we will look for the path, which will now continue along the left bank of the stream, where we go down. At some points we will go through a certain difficulty, because the path has been eroded by the action of the water and in some places it has disappeared. This means that when the stream flows with abundant water, it is very difficult to pass without wetting your feet. Despite the difficulty it is worth risking, because the great beauty of these places deserves it. We will finally find a track that is in good condition and continues to be flat along the left bank of the stream.

3:05 h.
Attention, we will find a great stone landmark on the right that indicates a narrow path where we will come off, descending steeply.

3:06 h.
We find the stream once again, in front of a small waterfall. We continue down the path which is very steep and irregular. We will pass under a timber “hurling point” from where in earlier times, when the logging was profitable, they threw the trunks downstream. The path passes through rocks with fossilized plants, and it ends up downstream, in a section that is crumbled and has a steep slope.

3:10 h.
We cross the stream through a gangway of logs, and we turn slightly to the right to find the gulley el Sot del Salt. We find an impressive hollow. At this point the stream lowers suddenly, almost vertically, and the water falls in a cascade, forming what we popularly call Salt de l’Aigua. In the middle of the hollow there is a large stone, which fell in there a few years ago and that hikers use as a table, and seven very tall thorn trees, five belonging to the same strain. After visiting this place, we continue downhill down the right bank.

3:14 h.
The path crosses the stream over stepping stones. The canal is widening, and on the banks of the stream there is an abundance of sycamores and other riverside trees.

3:24 h.
There is a fork to the left that we will avoid, and we continue along the path that descends parallel to the stream.

3:25 h.
On the left-hand side we find the remains of the Can Mas mill, which was a considerable building. Then we go across the stream again and continue down the right bank.

3:32 h.
We will pass the stream for the last time and we will continue along the left bank.

3:38 h.
We arrive at Pla de Cal Capità where we have left the car. End of the route.