Rutes » Torrent Ribalta

Ribalta Torrent

Download the leaflet: Solsona_Torrent Ribalta_ENG_FRA or follow the route on Wikiloc.

“A walk near the city”

The Torrent Ribalta route is a walk near the city in a natural setting. It is accessible to everyone and frequently used by the people from Solsona. It allows people to enjoy a riverside landscape while walking along trails of all widths and it takes you back to Solsona in a little less than an hour. One of its biggest attractions is the plethora of birds that can be seen, as well as the wide range of other species that can be observed throughout the year.

Route

Solsona is the starting point of this route (where the Black river and the Pallarès ravine meet). We have to follow the Black river until we reach the sewage treatment plant. We go under the Solsona Bridge, always escorted by riverside trees such as weeping willows, poplars and ashes. Soon, we have left the city behind, the buildings give way to gardens, and later on, these give way to fields. The road until the sewage treatment plant is flat and paved, suitable for elder people, families and even cradles. We get to see the typical agricultural landscape that can be found in the surroundings of Solsona. It’s a great option year round. In the spring and in the summer it’s full of shady places and birds singing. In the autumn and in the winter, you can enjoy sunny spots and watch as leaves fall.

Once we get to the sewage treatment plant, we leave behind the paved way and take a different trail, which is narrower but equally flat and walkable and which follows a small stream of water, the Ribalta Torrent after which this route is named. It’s here that the trail starts to zigzag. To our left, there is the stream, combining areas full of reeds with areas that are clear. We are surrounded by woods, to the south, and fields to the north. Along the way, we’ll find a willow of notable size. We need to get through a wide tunnel with enough space so that we don’t get wet. Some years we can see red-rumped swallow (Cecropisdaurica) nests hanging from the ceiling, which are made of mud and which have a particular entrance tunnel.

When we get out of the tunnel there is a nice trail flanked by towering poplars where we usually get to see great spotted woodpeckers (Dendrocopos major). The whole route is especially interesting during the winter, when we can see big flocks of small birds. Now that we leave Ribalta Torrent and we are getting closer to Solsona, we take a turn to our right. We go up a trail that goes across some houses and farms until we get to the south of Solsona, at Sant Jordi square, which is the end of the route.