Greenway of Iron and Coal

Old railway station in San Juan de las Abadesas. Source: Xevi F. Güell - Consorci de les Vies Verdes de Girona.

Greenway of the Iron and the Coal Ripoll - San Juan de las Abadesas - Ogassa

The Greenway of Iron and Carbon (Via verda del Ferro i del Carbó), alluding to the important tradition of the forges in the Lower Ripollés and the extraction of coal in the mines of Ogassa, follows the old route of the railroad along its 12 km of track. The railway line between San Juan de las Abadesas and Toralles worked until the closure of the mines, in 1967. The section of San Juan de las Abadesas to Ripoll, in turn, remained active until the year of its centenary, in 1980 . The route connects Ripoll, at 682 meters altitude, with San Juan de las Abadesas (775 m). It is asphalted in all its route and flanked by vegetation, its total slope is of 160 meters and there is a gentle slope of 1%. The road crosses the Ogassa road and begins to ascend smoothly through the Malatosca valley, a tributary of the Ter river that is born in the Cavallera mountains. About two kilometers from San Juan is the loader of Toralles, which received coal from the mining railroad of Ogassa. The coal mines of Ogassa (975 m) are located just four kilometers from the San Juan de les Abadesas station and thirteen kilometers from Ripoll.

The Natural Way of the Greenway of the Iron and the Carbon is included in the National Network of Natural Paths within the Program of Natural Paths of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment.

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