Montseny River Gualba Waterfalls to Santa Fe

About Montseny River Gualba Waterfalls to Santa Fe

The route starts in Campins, a small village at the foot of the Montseny mountains. From Campins we take a series of forestall footpaths and gravel roads to the village of Gualba.

From Gualba the uphill ascent starts by passing via a forested trail parallel to the Riera Gualba (river) and arrives at a small hydro electric power station with a small waterfall. From here there is the option of making a short diversion to the viewpoint of the Salt de Gualba, a waterfall with a 130 metre drop over various levels.

From the Power station the trail continues up via a forested trail Taking a right turn into dense forest with a hidden ruined farmhouse. This trail crosses with a river with a beautiful waterfall surrounded by trees with bright yellow leaves in the autumn. To the left of the waterfall the footpath continues up next to the river and follows the river bed via a rocky path as it curves round a headland with a metal cross on the top (La Crau Gran).

When we get within sight of a smaller metal cross (La Creu petita) we will see another large waterfall called Salt de Gorg Negre and we turn left a short way after this into a forested path that climbs up to another hydro electric power station called Central de Dalt. From here we get some views down into the valley.

Continue climbing the path to the right of the power station up through the forest until it joins a rural road / wide path that snakes up the mountain through the forest.

As the rural road gets closer to Santa Fe, it runs next to the Santa Fe river with amazing colours on the trees and small mountain cascades on the river.

After some effort, the path levels out and arrives at the Santa Fe reservoir. We can take small diversion here to walk along the top of the reservoir to the centre and admire the view of the lake and mountains.

To finish the trail, continue a gradual uphill path to the Santa Fe hostel (It looks like a Gothic stone monastery) and then to the Centre d'Informacio Can Casades.

This is the end of the route. to return to Sant Celoni train station there is a sagales bus, with the last bus departing at 18:00h on a weekend. Also there is the Avet Blau Hostal Restaurant behind Centre d'Informacio Can Casades.

Allow 6-8 hours to complete this route depending on personal fitness, it is uphill most of the way.

A litle History

Panta de Santa Fe reservoir and hotel (now a hostel) was built at the beginning of the 20th century by Ramon de Montaner, a publisher from Barcelona, who was building a hotel in the area. He bought the Santa Fe valley in the Montseny Range from the Alfaras family of Sant Celoni and construction of the hotel began in 1912 with a small dam being built to provide water. It soon became apparent that a larger dam was needed and Ramon tried to pass the project onto his nephew, Lluis Domenech i Montaner but the project went to Pere Domenech i Roura. The Current dam is built from local granite and was completed in 1935 creating a storage reservoir of capacity 899 thousand cubed metres, providing hydro electricity for the nearby town of Gualba.

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Visiting Montseny River Gualba Waterfalls to Santa Fe

I recommend this route as day 1 of a weekend in Montseny with overnight accomodation in Santa Fe in Aven Blau or Santa Fe hostal and day two being A hike from Santa-fe de Montseny to Riells i Viabrea-Breda.

Alternatively, it can be done as a single day activity getting the Sagales 573 bus to Campins and returning via the same bus route from Santa Fe de Montseny.

Accessibility, mobility & Clothing for Montseny River Gualba Waterfalls to Santa Fe

This is a medium-hard walking route in the Montseny mountains. I always do it with a small rucksack of the essentials and first aid kit. Emergency waterproof jacket is recommended.

Take 2 litres of water. Additional water can be found in the natural springs along the route.

Pack a spare pair of socks in case that you get your feet wet while crossing one of the rivers.

Small 30L Hiking Rucksack

Includes high visibility fog and rain waterproof cover in zip compartment at bottom of rucksack.

Compact First Aid Kit

Small lightweight first aid kit

Convertible Trousers

Lightweight convertible trousers that zip down to shorts

Gore-Tex Hiking boots

I prefer ankle high boots on mountain trails for the ankle support and increased stability over rocky trails.

warm Wool socks

With toe and heel reinforcements that give good padding.

Fleece jacket or Jersey

Light weight warm fleece

Phone Case for watersports

IPX8 waterproof floating and submersible case & Lanyard. Permits photos and touchscreen use.

Emergency Rain jacket

Small pouch lightweight Waterproof jacket for emergencies

Mid layer Top

Light weight cotton quick dry T-shirt

Getting to Montseny River Gualba Waterfalls to Santa Fe

Address: Parc Natural del Montseny, Campins. 08472

Start: Campins de Montseny, reachable from a Renfe Rodalies R2 train from Barcelona to Sant Celoni station and a Sagales route 573 bus to Santa Fe de Montseny.

End: Santa Fe de Montseny, 573 bus to Sant Celoni Renfe.

Note that the Sagales 573 bus only runs on weekends.

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