Itinerary through the Batlliu de Sort

A beautiful and pleasant circular excursion along historic paths that connect the towns of Sort, Olp, Pujalt, Enviny and Bressui.

A family-friendly route, a circular circuit with historical heritage.

Medium Difficulty

Cumulative elevation gain 720m

Total distance 12.8 km

Total effective time 3:50h

Maximum altitude 1,304m

Departure/arrival point Sort – Hotel Les Brases

Minimum altitude 700m

Nearest town Sort

A 12.8-km circular route visiting the small towns scattered across the mountain in the area known as Batlliu de Sort. The route starts and ends in the town of Sort. From Sort, we visit the following villages, in order: Olp, Pujalt, Enviny, and Bressui. The route is well signposted and runs throughout along well-maintained paths and trails, often defined by ancient dry-stone walls. From Sort to Olp, the route is uphill. The section between Olp and Enviny flanks the mountain and runs on flat or gently incline terrain. From Enviny to Bressui and Sort, the route is downhill.

The circular route through Batlliu de Sort takes us to a wonderful area steeped in history. We discover tiny clusters of houses perched on rocky crags, gently sloping meadows defined by traditional dry-stone walls, oak, hackberry, and maple forests, and enjoy sweeping views of the Noguera Pallaresa River valley and the Orri Tower. A beautiful route that allows us to discover a relatively unknown area of Pallars Sobirá that offers great natural, scenic, and historical interest!

We begin the route at the Hotel Restaurant Les Brases de Sort (0:00 a.m. – 700 a.m.), which is located just outside the village (northern end), on the same road. Itinerary through the Batlliu de Sort 1 Hotel Restaurant Les Brases.

We circle around Les Brases on the left and find ourselves on the street behind the hotel (which is parallel to the road). We begin walking along this street, heading north uphill to the right, until we come to a street that leads off to our left and heads uphill. Itinerary through the Batlliu de Sort 1 Street parallel to the road we are walking along.

We take a street on the left that goes uphill.

We walk up this street for about 50 meters and immediately see the path leading to Olp on the right. If we pay attention, we'll see several signs indicating where to go. Itinerary through the Batlliu de Sort 1 Turn right: this is the path that leads up to Olp.

At this point, the signage is somewhat vague, but the route is generally well-marked throughout. However, the signage along the route is heterogeneous: at the most notable detours, we'll find signs from the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan Government) and the Sort and Àssua Valley Nature Trail project; and throughout the route, we'll also find yellow signs—circular metal plaques or painted circles—that mark the route through the Batlliu de Sort. Route through the Batlliu de Sort 1 Yellow circle painted on a dry-stone wall.

Itinerary through the Batlliu de Sort 1 Yellow circular metal plate.

We continue along a path that gradually gains altitude. We pass a cattle fence and pass a farm behind us on the right. Throughout the route, we'll encounter all kinds of protections and fences for livestock. Livestock farming is one of the traditional activities in the Batlliu area, and the paths we follow are still used to move herds and access the pastures.

We began to gain altitude.

Farm that we leave behind on the right.

We continue along paths defined by dry-stone walls amidst beautiful surroundings. We reach a paved track, which we follow for about 300 meters until we reach another turnoff. We now turn left, always following the signs for Olp, which are clearly signposted at all the turnoffs.

Dry stone walls define the path.

Short section on paved track.

Lily (Iris xiphioides).

We advance through very pleasant terrain.

We gain altitude and reach the Fontanilles fountain or the Lleres ravine (1:00 a.m. – 985 m), a damp and shady place where there is also a wooden table.

Fontanilles fountain or Les Lleres ravine fountain.

We continue climbing and soon see, on our left, the first houses of the town of Olp. We leave behind the abandoned chapel of Sant Pere and finally reach Olp square (1:15 a.m. – 1,095 m), where we can admire the parish church of Our Lady of Candelaria of Olp (now the church of Our Lady of the Purification). Olp has two distinct parts: the lower part, where we are, and the upper part, which we see rising above us and is called La Força (which indicates the existence of an ancient castle or fortified tower).

We see the first houses of Olp on the left.

Abandoned chapel of Sant Pere.

We arrive at the center of Olp. In the background, high-rise houses belonging to the Força neighborhood.

Church of the Virgin of Candelaria of Olp.

We continue the excursion toward Pujalt, the next town we'll visit. We leave Olp along the Castellviny road (signposted). After about 80 meters, we leave the road and take a dirt track that turns right toward Pujalt.

We left the road behind and took a path towards Pujalt.

From now on, we'll skirt the mountain on flat or gently sloping terrain. After about 15 minutes, we cross a path that leads directly downhill to Castellviny, and we continue straight ahead toward Pujalt. This section of the route offers magnificent views of the Noguera Pallaresa River valley, the Torreta del Orri (2,439 m)—just to our left (heading east)—and, if we look back, the great peaks of the Vall Ferrera.

We flanked the mountain along a very pretty path.

Views of the valley of the Noguera Pallaresa river and the Torreta del Orri (2,439m).

Looking back: in the background we see the great snow-capped mountains of the Vall Ferrera, among which the characteristic pyramid of Monteixo (2,905m) stands out.

We reach a point where the trail meets the road that connects Olp and Pujalt. We walk along the side of the road for about 50 meters and almost immediately join a path again. From this point, we can enjoy wonderful views of the beautiful town of Pujalt, where we are headed, on the other side of the Estanyalga ravine.

We walk about 50m along the road and take a dirt road again (left).

Views of the Pujalt core from the other side of the ravine.

The path descends a few meters to the grassy meadows at the bottom of the ravine. We walk a few meters along the side of a stream, which we soon leave behind. We again gain altitude directly toward Pujalt.

Estanyalga Ravine.

We leave the bottom of the ravine behind and climb towards Pujalt.

On this uphill stretch, we find several panels with drawings and explanations of the area's butterflies. These are panels from the butterfly trail, a circuit promoted by the Pujalt Butterfly Museum of Catalonia, a leading research and education center for this insect (opening hours and more information: www.papallones.net).

Information panel on the butterflies in the area.

Finally, we reach the village of Pujalt (2:00 a.m. – 1,162 m), which is located on top of an elongated plateau with cliffs on its northern (N), eastern (E), and southern (S) sides. In Pujalt, we find the recently built parish church of Sant Pere and the Butterfly Museum, located in the building of the old Pujalt school, where some scenes from the 2009 miniseries Les Veus del Pamano, based on the novel of the same name by the writer Jaume Cabré, were filmed.

Parish Church of Sant Pere in Pujalt.

We continue the route: from the church of Sant Pere (entrance to Pujalt), we walk about 50 meters along the main street to the Ca l'Anton hostel. At this point, we turn right and leave the village on the paved road toward Enviny.

Ca l'Anton Hostel and the road that leaves the town towards Enviny.

We continue along the road for about 80 meters and turn off onto a dirt track that leads off to the right. We follow the signs for Enviny and the yellow signs for the Batlliu de Sort route.

We take the Enviny road (leaving the paved road).

Views of Pujalt, back right.

We alternate between sections of trail and sections of dirt track, gradually gaining altitude.

Section of trail.

Route through the Batlliu de Sort 1 Section of dirt track.

We reach a point where the entire Montardit Valley opens up. The trees give way to a more arid area, with bushes, scrub, and grass meadows. We continue along a path that flanks the mountain.

Views of the Montardit valley.

We reach a point where we find the detour (2:25 a.m.) of the trail that climbs toward the Sant Roc hermitage. We take it and in a few minutes we reach the remains of the Sant Roc hermitage (2:30 a.m. – 1,304 m); we will see that only the walls remain. From this point, the views of the Orri Tower (E) and the Montardit Valley itself are spectacular!

Detour to the Sant Roc hermitage.

Remains of the Sant Roc hermitage.

Enviny (right of the image) and Montardit de Dalt (left of the image).

From the hermitage, we retrace our steps until we reach the Enviny path we came from before. We continue along the mountainside until we reach the upper part of the village of Enviny (2:50 a.m. – 1,160 m). We skirt the first houses of Enviny on our left and enter its lonely alleys: the ruined chapel of Santa Llúcia, historic houses, magical corners, the wash house, etc. Some scenes from the 2009 miniseries Les Veus del Pamano were also filmed here. Finally, at the lower part of the village, we find the church of the Virgen de la Candelaria de Enviny (now the Virgen de la Purificación).

We circle the tall houses of Enviny on our left.

Church of the Virgin of Candelaria (or of the Purification) of Enviny.

We continue our excursion along the path that leaves from the left of the Enviny church cemetery, heading towards Bressui and Sort (it is signposted).

We take the street that goes towards Bressui and Sort.

Almost immediately, we come to the turnoff for Montardit de Dalt. We continue on, descending in a clear easterly direction. We gradually lose altitude, advancing through meadows, scrubby areas, fields supported by dry-stone walls, and the occasional holm oak forest. In some sections, we follow a path, and in others, a dirt track. We must always follow the signs for Bressui and the yellow markers.
/assets/cache/uploads/blog/700x0/1a6d1ad2159fc4f.jpeg?=s500 Descent towards Bressui.

1 We crossed a forest of oaks.

We reach the upper part of the Bressui neighborhood. We can go around it to the left—passing in front of a private house—or go down the paved road for about 100 meters and take the paved track that enters Bressui from the south. In either case, we reach the lower part of Bressui (3:30 a.m. – 840 m), where we find the church of Sant Miquel.

Upper part of Bressui.

We go down the road for about 100m and take the paved track on the left to enter Bressui.

Church of Sant Miquel de Bressui.

We continue along the route towards the town of Sort, which we can soon see through the trees.

We continue towards Sort.

We can now see Sort during the last stretch of the descent.

We reach Sort from its southern end, specifically the street that connects the C-13 highway with the upper part of Sort, where the school, the secondary school, and Sort Castle are located. We can choose to go down to the road and follow it through Sort, or we can go up a few meters to Sort Castle, go around it to our left (on the school side), and continue down the streets of Sort until we reach the Hotel Restaurant Les Brases de Sort again (3:50 a.m. – 700 m).

Sort Castle. We circle around it on our left.

+ info at http://www.rutaspirineos.org/rutas/batlliu-de-sort