03 - El Llac de Graugés

Llac de Graugés is a circular route that starts and ends in Berga, which goes through the south of the city until it goes around the Serra de Noet, always on tracks bordering cultivated fields and scattered farmhouses, and finally reaches this unique agricultural colony. The general difficulty is not very great, although you will have to pedal and face some sections with a slight difference in level. In other words, it is not a route to suffer, but it does require patience so that the return does not take too long.

In any case, the trip is worth it to get to know the area of ​​Graugés, a small town that belongs to the municipality of Avià and which hides an interesting history that begins at the end of the 19th century. At that time, the Rosal family had already created a textile colony similar to many others located along the course of the Llobregat River. The Rosal Colony, however, would not be the last of the family, as they decided to build the agricultural colony of Graugés, which is still preserved today and which, in fact, is a much-visited leisure space. Undoubtedly, the restaurant and the lakes are the main attractions. And it is that with the creation of the colony and all its buildings, the Rosals also built a pond 18 meters deep and 100 meters wide that would serve to irrigate some traditionally dry land properties. With the closure of the colony, the large lake and the small lake have become recreational spaces where it is easy to see animals such as ducks and geese.

Without a doubt, Graugés deserves a stop for a walk and to observe the surroundings, with a riverside forest made up of poplars, willows, ash, alder or tamarisk. We resume the march around the large lake on its right and face the second part of the route, in the direction of the village of Avià without stepping on it. We pass by the Romanesque hermitage of Santa Maria and we leave in the direction of Berga. The Queralt mountain range is in front of us and to our left, while we go to look for the old road from Manresa to Berga, trying not to fall into the temptation of getting lost in a maze of paths and tracks where we could pedal for hours and hours.