Guilleries hills Singletrack Traverse

The Guilleries hills rise abruptly from the Girona plain, a dense, rumpled mass of cork oak and granite that feels a world away from the city’s café terraces. This half-day traverse is our most rewarding escape for riders who want a proper taste of that wildness without committing to a full day in the saddle. It’s a moderate route, demanding a confident handlebar and a willingness to work for your descents, but the payoffs arrive in quick succession: loamy switchbacks that coil through the dappled shade of ancient cork oaks, the sharp, clean scent of resin and sun-baked earth, and the rhythmic chatter of tyres on packed singletrack. If you can climb steadily for twenty minutes and descend with controlled enthusiasm, this ride is yours.

We begin at our Girona bike centre on Carrer de la Rutlla, where your guide will set up your bike and read the morning’s conditions. A short shuttle takes us to the hills’ eastern flank, saving your legs for the good stuff. The opening kilometres are a gentle warm-up on forest roads, a rolling preamble that lets you find your rhythm before the trail tilts upward. Then the real Guilleries appear: a ribbon of singletrack that climbs in a series of tight, technical switchbacks, where roots cross the path like knotted veins and the cork bark peels in soft, spongy layers. Your guide will call out the best lines, and when the gradient hits its steepest pitch, we’ll stop for a brief skills coaching session—a chance to refine your weight shift and pedal timing on terrain that rewards precision over power.

From the summit at Coll de Sant Roc, the character of the ride changes. The trail narrows and drops into a long, flowing descent that weaves between boulders and ancient walls, the surface shifting from hardpack to loose stone and back again. It’s the kind of terrain that makes you feel like a better rider than you are, each corner opening into the next with a natural, unforced rhythm. We emerge from the trees near the village of Monells, a perfectly preserved medieval hamlet of stone arcades and a quiet square, where the pace slows and the chatter begins. A short spin brings us to a viewpoint over the Baix Empordà plains, and on a clear day the Medes Islands hover on the horizon like a row of sleeping whales.

The final act is a mellow, rolling traverse along forest roads and wide singletrack, the kind of riding that lets you soak in the landscape rather than fight it. We pull into Draps Cafè, a local institution tucked into the hills, for a proper coffee stop—espresso, perhaps a slice of almond cake, and the satisfying ache of legs that have earned their rest. The descent back toward Girona is smooth and fast, a last celebration of momentum before we roll into the city’s outskirts. In three hours of riding, you’ll have covered 59 kilometres and climbed over a thousand metres, but the numbers matter less than the arc of the day: the shuttle’s easy start, the focused climb, the whooping descent, and that quiet, coffee-scented pause in the middle of it all. This is a ride for those who love the texture of the trail as much as the views from the top.

Ride highlights

• Loamy switchbacks under cork oak canopy
• A shuttle-assisted climb to skip the fire road
• Technical singletrack through Guilleries hills
• A skills coaching stop on the steepest section

How the day unfolds

1. start

   Bike fit and briefing

   Meet your guide at Girona bike centre, Carrer de la Rutlla, dial in saddle height and run through the route for the day.

2. +30m

   Out through Guilleries hills

   A steady warm-up along quiet lanes into Guilleries hills.

3. midpoint

   Draps Cafè stop in Monells

   Coffee and a snack at Draps Cafè in the heart of Monells.

4. final

   Back to Girona

   A gentle return leg with the best light of the day behind you.

What is included

On the road

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