There are places which seem made to demonstrate that geology also knows how to be poetic. THE Fageda d’en Jordà is one of them: a beech forest which does not grow on conventional fertile land, but on an ancient tongue of volcanic rock. Beneath the leaves and roots is a flow coming from the Croscat volcano which thousands of years ago advanced into this valley and today is home to the only volcanic beech from all over Spain.
The result is a landscape that is a little confusing when you walk around it: the ground is not completely flat, but rather a succession of rounded mounds – the tossols– formed when red-hot lava encountered wetlands and water boiled underneath, pushing up the surface. Beech trees were installed on these volcanic mounds, thus creating a beech forest dense shadows, thick silence and a touch of unreality, especially in autumn, when the ground turns red and gold.
THE Fageda d’en Jordà is part of the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Parkwhich protects around forty volcanoes and more than twenty natural reserves. It’s one of those postcards widely shared on the networks which, for once, wins live: the contrast between the violent origin of the terrain and the current calm of the forest is really understood when you explore it on foot following a few hiking route tag.
A beech forest born of a volcano
To understand why this place is so special, we have to go back a little further in time. Croscat, the youngest volcano in Garrotxa, erupted around 17,000 years ago and erupted again a few millennia later. From these eruptions was born the lava flow on which today Fageda d’en Jordà: a river of lava which, once solidified, became a rock platform of approximately 20 km².
The combination of this volcanic substrate with the humid climate of the region – mild winters, numerous cloudy days, abundant rains – allowed a beech forest at a relatively low level, around 550 meters, while it is usual to find these trees in high mountain areas. This altitude-climate mismatch is one of the keys to why there is so much talk about the uniqueness of this region. volcanic beech.
In addition to its natural values, the Fageda d’en Jordà It also has a symbolic weight in Catalan culture: it was a source of inspiration for Joan Maragall, who dedicated a poem to it today engraved on a monolith next to the start of one of the most popular routes. The text, which speaks of the mystery and isolation of the place, has almost become the sentimental gateway to this part of the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park.
Enjoy the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park
Although the environment has a magical point, the visit is quite simple. The most common option is to reach the Can Serra area, next to the road between Olot and Santa Pau, where there is regulated parking and an information point. From here begins route 2 of the park, a circular route of approximately 30 minutes which enters the Fageda d’en Jordà on wide and marked trails. It’s a hiking route short, without major slopes, suitable for most visitors.
Those looking for more walking can take route 3, which connects Olot to Fageda d’en Jordà in approximately 4 kilometers, or on foot from Santa Pau via a route of approximately 5 kilometers. These are all options hiking route inside the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Parkwhich insists on a clear message: motorized access inside the reserve is restricted, and the entry of vehicles with prior authorization is only authorized in cases such as a proven disability.
This regulation takes on its full meaning when you set out on the trail: the feeling of calm is part of the attraction of the place, and it would be easily lost if it were full of cars. This is why it is recommended to respect the signs as much as possible, not to leave the paths, not to collect plants or moss and to avoid noise. Ultimately, the pact is simple: in exchange for being able to cross a volcanic beech single, over a stream which is still there under the leaf litter, it must pass with the minimum possible impact.
A walk on lava that doesn’t seem like it
The one who arrives for the first time Fageda d’en Jordà It generally focuses on the light filtered between the awnings, on the down of dry leaves, on the silence broken only by footsteps and a bird. It’s hard to imagine that in this tranquil setting there was once a river of molten rock over a thousand degrees flowing down the valley. This contrast is part of the charm: walking through this beech forest It’s actually walking on dead lava.
He Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park takes advantage of this paradox to explain, through panels and guided tours, how a landscape marked by fire can become over time a sanctuary of shade and humidity. And that’s where the real hook lies: beyond the perfect fall photo, the Fageda d’en Jordà Let us remember that territories also change their skin and that, sometimes, the traces of a volcano are better read by listening to the rustling of leaves than by looking at a crater.
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