Matagalls from Collformic (GR 5.2)

Matagalls is the mountain you see from all over the Vic plain: a round dome, bare at the top, with a cross on the summit. At 1,697 m it is the third highest point of the Montseny, behind the Turó de l'Home and Les Agudes. It can be climbed in a morning because the path leaves from a pass already at 1,145 m. From the Collformic car park, on the BV-5301 road that runs from Sant Celoni to Vic via El Brull, the park signposts the climb along the GR 5.2, the path of the Montseny summits, with white and red marks.

Uphill from the pass

It is 3.6 km to the summit and about 550 m of ascent, always climbing. The path leaves the pass across meadows and heather scrub and climbs the ridge to the crest; there are almost no trees to give shade, so in summer it is best to set out early. The park's volunteers have been closing the shortcuts that people opened by coming down in a straight line, because the slope is eroding: follow the marked path even if you see shorter traces. Allow between an hour and a half and two hours to climb, depending on your pace, and a bit less to come down the same way. With stops, the morning goes in about three and a half hours.

The park rates the route as high difficulty because of the continuous slope, not because it has delicate passages. It is a good first summit for teenagers who like walking; with small children it becomes long.

The Matagalls cross and the Vic plain

At the top is the cross you can see from Vic. To the north the Osona plain opens out; to the south, the rest of the massif, with the crest of the Turó de l'Home and Les Agudes opposite and the Tordera valley in between. There is no refuge or fountain on the summit: bring water and warm clothing from below, because up there the wind chills far more than at the pass.

Parking at Collformic or leaving the car in El Brull

The Collformic car park, at km 26.4 of the BV-5301, is free and has about 20 spaces; 500 m away there is another for 40 cars. The information point opens on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 9:00 to 14:00 and has a defibrillator. On weekends in October and November the pass fills up early. In autumn 2026, from 10 October to 8 December, the park opens a welcome point at the entrance to El Brull, with free parking and a Bus Parc to Collformic; you can also walk up from El Brull along the SL-C 85 path.

Without a car, Bus Parc line 484 runs up on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from Vic and from the Balenyà-Tona-Seva station, on Rodalies line R3. The special all-day ticket costs €2.65, is paid in cash and under-12s do not pay.

After the summit

Viladrau is about twenty minutes by car: the Xalet La Coromina serves meals at weekends and has rooms if you want to stay. If the summit seems too much for the group, the Turó de Tagamanent is a half-hour climb on the same side of the park.