Adventure bike routes in Catalonia
Text reviewed on October 16, 2026 · OpenStreetMap data from October 8, 2026
Catalonia has 96,848 km of mapped dirt track and 149,953 km of unpaved ways: 76 % of its network is dirt, mostly easy or medium difficulty. The good adventure-bike country is the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees of Lleida, the Garrotxa and Ripollès in Girona, the Berguedà and Bages in Barcelona, and the Priorat and Terra Alta in Tarragona. OpenStreetMap figures from October 2026.
By province:Lleida Tarragona Girona Barcelona
What the terrain is like
Four provinces, four kinds of terrain. Lleida has the most dirt track and the highest: the Pallars, the Alt Urgell and the Solsonès are mountain valleys with tracks climbing to nearly 1,800 m, torrents across them and villages with little fuel; the Segrià and Garrigues plains are full of flat farm lanes. In Girona, the Garrotxa and Ripollès are green and damp, with a stream every few hundred metres. In Barcelona, the Berguedà and Bages have forest and ridge tracks. Tarragona is lower (elevations barely pass 1,400 m) and is vineyards, olive groves and ranges such as Montsant, Prades and Els Ports.
One key point of Catalan law: only paved tracks or those 4 metres wide or more, and authorised lanes, are open to motor vehicles (Decret 166/1998). The figures below are what is mapped, not what you may ride: always check the comarca's track inventory before you set out.
A little over half of the dirt-track kilometres have no surface tagged in OpenStreetMap: the difficulty of those lanes is an estimate from neighbouring tracks and the planner flags them as unknown. There are 47,169 km of singletrack, which the planner leaves out of the route.
The terrain in figures
What is mapped in OpenStreetMap as of October 2026, scored with the same difficulty model the planner uses. Ways that cross the boundary count only for the part inside.
- Unpaved ways (dirt tracks, lanes and singletrack)
- 149,953 km
- Paved roads and streets
- 48,240 km
- Share of the network that is dirt
- 76 %
- Of which, dirt tracks
- 96,848 km
- Very firm dirt track4,925 km
- Firm dirt track13,225 km
- Rough dirt track15,852 km
- Very rough dirt track9,374 km
- Barely passable dirt track2,876 km
- No surface data50,596 km
- Other dirt lanes (rural, service)
- 5,936 km
- Singletrack and footpaths (almost always off-limits to motorbikes)
- 47,169 km
- Easy59,962 km
- Medium27,203 km
- Hard15,305 km
- Expert315 km
- Mapped fords
- 13,476 (12,471 points and 1,005 sections)
- Elevation (terrain model, approximate)
- from 0 to 3,040 m
- Fuel stations
- 1,522
- Bars and restaurants
- 22,510
Dirt tracks by surface (as tagged in OpenStreetMap):
Difficulty of tracks and lanes, singletrack excluded · average 28/100
Each way's difficulty comes from its surface, grade, condition and the real slope from the terrain model, in the easier direction; singletrack is left out of that average because on a motorbike it is almost never an option. Fords are the ones somebody has mapped in OpenStreetMap: there are more. It is all public, crowd-sourced data: it may not match what you find.
Routes to get started
Four routes with no singletrack, one per province: Tremp → Sort through the Pallars (Lleida), Falset → Gandesa between the Priorat and the Terra Alta (Tarragona), Santa Pau → Besalú through the Garrotxa (Girona) and a two-and-a-half-hour loop from Berga (Barcelona). Each province's page has more options.
Calculated with Corally's planner with no singletrack and at the level shown; times are riding time at adventure-bike pace, no stops. They are saved: the link does not expire.
Maxitrail level · take it easy
Santa Pau → Besalú
Through the Garrotxa: 26 km between Santa Pau and Besalú with 19 fords. Easy track (max 25/100) and lots of water: made for a quiet morning and, if it rains, for another day.
- Distance
- 26 km
- Time
- 38 min
- Dirt
- 59 %
- Max. difficulty
- 25/100 · Medium
- Climb
- +333 m
- Warnings
- 19 warnings · 19 fords
Maxitrail level · take it easy
Falset → Gandesa
From the Priorat to the Terra Alta: 52 km, 43 % on easy dirt track (max 35/100) and 22 gully fords.
- Distance
- 52 km
- Time
- 1 h 8 min
- Dirt
- 43 %
- Max. difficulty
- 35/100 · Medium
- Climb
- +794 m
- Warnings
- 22 warnings · 22 fords
Trail level · a bit of spice
Bucle desde Berga
A loop of about two and a half hours from Berga: 97 km with two thirds on dirt track, 17 fords and 2,000 m of accumulated climbing.
- Distance
- 97 km
- Time
- 2 h 38 min
- Dirt
- 68 %
- Max. difficulty
- 56/100 · Hard
- Climb
- +2,007 m
- Warnings
- 19 warnings · 17 fords
Trail level · a bit of spice
Tremp → Sort
A long day from the Pallars Jussà to the Sobirà: 110 km, six in ten on dirt track, over 3,200 m of accumulated climbing and a high point around 1,700 m. It flags several steep sections and 18 fords.
- Distance
- 110 km
- Time
- 2 h 40 min
- Dirt
- 60 %
- Max. difficulty
- 60/100 · Hard
- Climb
- +3,274 m
- Warnings
- 24 warnings · 18 fords
Fords and crossings to watch
This region has 13,476 fords mapped in OpenStreetMap. The planner and the roadbook warn about them and tell apart the ones that carry water from the ones that may (ramblas and gullies that run dry most of the year).
Catalonia has a great many mapped fords and they cluster where the water is: the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees, the Garrotxa and the Berguedà. Nearly all are torrents and streams across the track, and after snowmelt or a storm they run far higher than the map suggests.
The planner and the roadbook flag every ford, tell the ones that carry water from the ones that may, and group consecutive ones. If you can't see the bottom, don't cross; and in spate, go back by road.
What the rules say in Catalonia
- In Catalonia, Llei 9/1995 on motorised access to the natural environment and Decret 166/1998 only open to motor vehicles the paved tracks or those 4 metres wide or more, plus authorised lanes (art. 6); riding cross-country, on firebreaks, on skid trails and on livestock routes is banned (art. 7) and the speed limit is 30 km/h (art. 13).
- Each comarca keeps an inventory of tracks with an access traffic light (art. 11), group sizes are limited (art. 16) and in protected areas only the tracks set out in their plan are allowed. Corally does not check that inventory or the width of each track: a track on your route may not be open to motorcycles.
We don't have the rules page for this region yet. Meanwhile: public open tracks only, and signs and closures always win.
Base towns, fuel and food
The towns with the most climbing dirt track around them are in the Bages and Moianès (Súria, Navàs, Balsareny, Calders, Monistrol de Calders) and in the Terra Alta (Batea). Navàs and Balsareny have fuel and plenty of places to eat; Batea and Calders have a single petrol station. Fill the tank before heading into the Pyrenees.
Ranked by kilometres of hilly dirt track (sustained climb or descent of 6 % or more) within about 8 km. Fuel stations within 5 km and bars or restaurants within 3 km, according to OpenStreetMap. The region has 1,522 fuel stations and 22,510 places to eat mapped.
| Town | Hilly track (8 km) | Fuel (5 km) | Food (3 km) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Súria | 1,004 km | 2 | 4 |
| Batea | 855 km | 1 | 0 |
| Monistrol de Calders | 852 km | 0 | 4 |
| Navàs | 845 km | 3 | 13 |
| Calders | 840 km | 1 | 4 |
| Balsareny | 826 km | 2 | 15 |
Plan your own
Set a start and an end (or a loop by time) in Catalonia, pick your level and Corally gives you the route over dirt tracks with the difficulty of every section, the fords, the road exits for the group and the roadbook. You can try it without an account.
Page written by Corally with the figures from its database (OpenStreetMap and public terrain models) and routes calculated with its planner. It is public, crowd-sourced data: difficulty, fords and tracks may not match the ground. What you find on arrival, the signs, the closures and each region's rules always win.