The best MTB trails around Gualba

The parish of Sant Andreu is already documented in 1083, but this church is not that one: the current one began to be built in 1825 and was inaugurated in 1848 because the town had grown and the medieval temple had been left away from the center. The curious thing is inside: it preserves a 16th-century baptismal font, probably from the old church. And the image of Sant Andreu that currently presides over the altar is also not the original: it is from after the Civil War. So the building is about 200 years old, the font about 500, and the parish almost 1,000. One of those places that seem to have nothing special until you start to scratch a little.

If you pass by the Can Valls path, it's worth stopping to look at these three strange structures. They are not modern kilns: they are traditionally dated to the 9th–10th centuries, and one of them is still practically whole. Here, pine and oak stumps and wood were slowly baked to obtain "pega", a kind of vegetable tar used to waterproof boats and containers, and also for lighting. What's curious is to think that more than a thousand years ago, people were already working this forest and exploiting its resources right at this spot. A small stop that, if you don't know what you're looking at, goes completely unnoticed.

This small hermitage has more lives than a cat. During the Civil War it was looted and reduced to practically three walls. The image of the Virgin had better luck: the farmers of Can Preses hid it during the war. Then came the most surreal thing: abandoned for decades, its ruins ended up serving as a home for charcoal burners. In 2009, the local people got tired of seeing it die, gathered money and work, and managed to rebuild it. And just when it seemed the place was regaining its calm, in 2010 a storm with winds of over 100 km/h felled the gigantic two-hundred-year-old oak tree that stood in front. They even tried to clone it so it wouldn't disappear completely. A hidden Virgin, a looted hermitage, charcoal burners living within its walls, and a cloned tree. For a small chapel lost in the Montnegre, quite a few things have happened here.

Can Bac no era una barraca perdida: hay constancia de este mas desde al menos 1356 y durante siglos hubo aquí una casa de payés con tierras y actividad agrícola. Todavía se distingue la gran era delante de las ruinas. Hoy queda poco más que paredes, piedras y vegetación tragándose lo que un día fue una masía con vida. Si pasas en bici, baja un momento el ritmo y fíjate bien: es fácil atravesar Fuirosos pensando que siempre fue este bosque solitario, cuando hace unos siglos esto estaba lleno de masías, campos y gente trabajando.

This place has it all: 5,000 years of history, witches, and even a 19th-century reconstruction that nobody really knows how closely it resembles the original. For centuries, the legend said that the witches of the region used to meet here for their covens. What we do know is that in 1855, Josep Pradell decided to restore the dolmen and replaced the enormous top slab. It was, none other than, the first known restoration of a dolmen in Catalonia. So when you arrive by bike and see that kind of enormous stone table in the middle of the forest, stop for a moment. Prehistory, legends, and a good deal of mystery concentrated in a few meters. And if you arrive at dusk and see someone circling the stones... I wouldn't ask. I'd keep cycling.

conjunt arquitectonic de pedra molt ben trebalada , era un hostal i restaurant , ara tancat , semble ser que es propietat de la periodista Mercedes Milà, val la pena fer-hi una ullada, tot i que algu pot pensar que potser es propietet de la Familia Adams.

This footbridge allows you to cross the river and enjoy the view of its course in all seasons. The river changes each season according to its flow and always offers an interesting view.

Sant Martí de Montnegre Una església aïllada dins del Parc Natural del Montnegre, de gran valor per la seva integració en el paisatge forestal. És un punt de referència en les rutes de l'interior.