Climb to La Morella from Garraf Beach

La Morella is 593 metres high and is the second summit of the Garraf massif. It does not impress by height, but because you climb it from the water's edge: you leave Garraf beach, at sea level, and you supply all the ascent yourself. It is a long out-and-back outing over open terrain, with the sea behind you on the way up and ahead of you on the way down, and at the top a cross and a panel naming what you can see.

From the Celler Güell to the Pla de Querol

You start in the village of Garraf, beside Gaudí's Celler Güell. You cross the C-31 and take the path marked GR 92. Soon you reach a viewpoint over the village and the coast towards Castelldefels, where the path turns north-west and enters a stone pine wood with kermes oak, rosemary and the odd dwarf fan palm.

Then you pass an active quarry, skirt a dog pound by a shortcut that avoids the road, cross the tarmac and continue along a botanical path, wheelchair accessible, to La Pleta, the Modernista farmhouse that is the park's headquarters. Up to here it is the same route as the GR 92 from the train stop. From La Pleta to the Pla de Querol car park, or Pitxot, it is about 2 km on tarmac: the most monotonous stretch and the one that tires you most.

From the radar to the cross

From the Pla de Querol an asphalt track closed to traffic continues, with the Vallirana radar in view. At the Campgràs pass the view opens towards Barcelona and Collserola. Then you skirt the former Vall d'en Joan landfill, now turned into meadows, and by a dirt track and a last path of about 200 metres you reach the summit.

At the top there is a cross and a panoramic panel. On clear days you can see Barcelona, Collserola and the Serralada Litoral, La Mola, Montseny, Montserrat and, beyond, the snow-capped Pyrenees. Mallorca is only guessed at on some very clear winter days.

The descent, with two detours

You return the same way, with two changes suggested by the Diputació: before the Pla de Querol, a detour passes the Asensio pothole, 84 metres deep; after La Pleta, you walk the other half of the botanical path. Then the morning's shortcut as far as the quarry, and the GR 92 to the Celler Güell.

What it costs and when not to go

It is free and done independently. Allow about five hours there and back. There is no fountain along the whole route and no bars inside the park, and the shade ends when you leave the pine wood. In summer, the sun on the white rock makes it very hard: go only first thing or, better, from October to May. If you want to cut it in half, start at the Pla de Querol car park.

On the way down, the village of Garraf has a beach and a table: les Casetes beach and El Chiringuito de Garraf, open all day.