Getaways and things to do in Montnegre i el Corredor Natural Park

The Sierra de Montnegre i el Corredor Natural Park encompasses roughly 15,000 hectares of the Catalan Coastal Range, between the Maresme and Vallès Oriental counties, about 50 kilometres northeast of Barcelona. The two massifs that give it its name are separated by the Vallgorguina and Arenys streams: El Corredor reaches 633 metres at the sanctuary of the same name and Montnegre peaks at 760 metres at Turó Gros. Over 95 per cent of the area is forested, making this one of the most extensive continuous woodland blocks on the Barcelona coast. The Special Protection Plan was approved in 1989 and the site has been managed since then by the Barcelona Provincial Council's Natural Parks Network.

The vegetation displays an unusually varied gradient for a coastal sierra. Lower elevations and south-facing slopes are covered by Mediterranean holm oak forest with lentisk, strawberry tree and heather understorey. As altitude increases on Montnegre's north face, extensive cork oak groves appear — remnants of a cork industry active until the mid-20th century — and, in the dampest shaded areas above 600 metres, woodlands of African oak and small beech stands that rank among the southernmost beech populations in Catalonia. The smell of damp earth and leaf litter in these beech groves feels more like a Central European forest than the Mediterranean coast just 10 kilometres away in a straight line.

The fauna mirrors this mix of influences. Among forest mammals, the pine marten, edible dormouse and garden dormouse — species typical of mature Central European forests — find their southern limit here. Wild boar and common genets are more abundant at lower levels. Among birds, the northern goshawk uses the cork oak groves as breeding territory, the green woodpecker works dead trunks in the holm oak forest and jays are a constant presence along the paths. In the streams, the viperine snake and palmate newt complete the vertebrate community.

The park's trail network covers over 100 signposted kilometres. The SL-C 80, starting from the Can Bosch del Far farmhouse, is a circular route passing the Mare de Déu del Corredor sanctuary and the Ca l'Arenes dolmen, combining dense woodland with megalithic remains dated to around 2500 BC. The SL-C 103 leaves from the church of Sant Martí de Montnegre and offers simultaneous views of the Vallès, Montseny and the sea from ridge clearings. For longer outings, the GR-83 traverses both massifs end to end. The park is also a reference point for mountain biking, with wide forest tracks linking the scattered farmhouses across the interior.

The territory spans thirteen municipalities — including Dosrius, Sant Celoni, Vallgorguina, Arenys de Munt and Pineda de Mar — and retains a rural heritage of farmhouses, Romanesque churches and lime kilns that document centuries of farming and forestry. In 2022, Quiet Parks International certified Montnegre i el Corredor as Spain's first Urban Quiet Park, recognising its natural silence levels despite the proximity to the Maresme urban areas.