Route of the solitary pine in Roda de Berá

From the Plaza de la Sardana at the end of the Camino de los Carros

We start from the Plaza de la Sardana, we take C / Juan Carlos I to the right, we turn left onto C / Marinada, we cross the bridge over the road, and just cross it, we turn right onto Avenida de la Sima; We will continue straight on until we reach a small roundabout that we will find at the level of C / Josep Carner, we go up this street, we turn right onto C / WA Mozart, until the end, we cross the C / Narcís Monturiol to enter the right by C / Mercader where the main Roman quarry of the municipality is located: La Pedrera del Elías, from which the stone was obtained for the construction of the Arch of Berá and the facade of the parish church. The quarry was also intensively exploited in the 19th century to the point of building a railway siding, as the trains arrived to load the stone.

The detour was located near the quarry, at the beginning of the current avenue de la Sima. At the entrance to the quarry, you can still see a 200-year-old lime kiln. After visiting the quarry, we continue along C / Mercadé until we reach Plaza de Austria, there, at the beginning of C / Meritxell, we find a small cul-de-sac that overlooks some carob plantations, we enter and pass by the edge so as not to damage the fields, we take the path of the Corrales de Xim. In this part of the route we will also find the yellow arrows of Route 3: the Plana de Xim.

Then we enter the wooded road of Los Carros, so called because there are traces of the passage of cars that transported coal and firewood for the furnaces and weaving plants in the rocks, between El Vendrell and Bonastre. At the end of the wooded section, we will come to the path of La Sima, an extension of C / de Santa Coloma, traced over the old Santa Coloma ravine. This route was used to lower the flocks of sheep from the Pyrenees and Santa Coloma de Queralt to Roda, both to spend the winter here due to its milder climate, and to be shipped to other countries through the natural port of Pie de Bará.

From the Camino de la Sima in the Cueva del Duran and the Barraca del Magí

On the way to La Sima, we turn left along this kind of "dirt highway" that the AVE works have turned the road into. We pass by the small water tank that supplies the Barà Mar urbanization and by the ruins of the Masieta del Virgilio or Masía de la Cueva. On the right we are accompanied by the bottom of the Cave and the Sierra Larga, the limit of the term of Roda and El Vendrell. Before we see the line of the AVE and the mouth of the tunnels that cross the Sierra.

At the next fork in the road, we take the road to the left, we go through the AVE tunnel, and we see that at the exit the road begins to narrow and become wooded.

Shortly after, we find the signs that lead us to the Duran cave and the Magí barrack. To the right, the Cueva del Duran that has a wide entrance of about 3 meters and a spacious room below.

At the same height and to the left, we see the path that leads to the barraca del Magí; a one-piece barrack, with a very pronounced roof, which is preserved in good condition.

From the Cueva del Duran in the Cisterna del Pelosa

After the cave, up to the right, we will continue along a stony path where, about a hundred meters from the beginning of the path, to the right, on the stone wall, we can see the steps that the peasants used to go from one stop to the other.

From the Cisterna del Pelosa to the Solitary Pine

We continue climbing until we reach the fence of the La Piedra Gorda estate, we turn left and continue walking parallel to the fence. After walking a stretch, we have before us the first of the three climbs, all of them smooth, that we will do on this route before reaching the Solitary Pine. Upon reaching the top, we see a group of Mediterranean pines, and further on we come across Route 3, yellow: The Plain of Xim.

They run a section together, until we leave it to the right and down and we keep going. We cross the old posts, making the last ascent until we reach the top from which we can already see the Solitary Pine, a small pine on the edge of the mountain, the only one that was saved from the fire of the seventies.

Del Pino Solitario in the Plaza de la Sardana

We walk along the edge of the mountain and later we begin to descend by the side of the sea, along a steep, narrow and stony path, which we will travel with caution. Afterwards, the road begins to be flat for a long way, as we walk through the mountains until we reach the paved road that goes up to the Colina de la Morella. To return to the village, a 186-step staircase goes down the hill.

If we choose to continue, we will take the road, to the left and down until the height of the AVE bridge where we take a dirt road to the left, we cross the bridge below and we ascend a piece along this road until we reach the new urbanization of the Martorella.

We turn right at the first street, C / Ramon Casas. To the right at the bottom of the stream, we see a tall and slender pine, which grows in a place known as the Fossar de Burros. At the height of the cemetery, we descend the stairs that lead us. At the end of the stairs, we turn right in the direction of the stream and here we continue to the Plaza de la Sardana from where we have started.

Source: Town Hall of Roda de Berà