El Forn, a small hamlet that shares its name with a ski area

El Forn is one of those names that causes confusion. Plenty of people look it up thinking of the gondola and Grandvalira’s family park, when in fact there are two places called El Forn. Here’s which is which, so you don’t end up in the wrong one.

A Canillo hamlet with a brand-new fiesta

The hamlet of El Forn lies on the south-facing side of the valley, between Canillo village and Prats. It doesn’t appear on every list of the parish’s villages, but the Comú de Canillo names it alongside Canillo, Soldeu, El Tarter and Ransol, and holds a residents’ meeting there every autumn in front of the cóm del Forn, the village trough. For 2026 it was called for 5 October at 17:30.

What has put El Forn on the calendar is its fiesta. The first was held on 20 September 2025 at the residents’ own request, and it unveiled the restored chapel of Cal Call, an eighteenth-century building whose owners lent it for the Mass. The Comú fixed the date for the penultimate weekend of September. The second, in 2026, had Mass in the private chapel of Sant Pelegrí, a sausage lunch and a children’s workshop at the Cóm del Forn. It’s a small neighbourhood party, and I like it for exactly that.

The Vall del Forn, at the top of the gondola

The other El Forn is higher up. Grandvalira explains that the eight-seat gondola from the centre of Canillo climbs to the Vall del Forn, the Canillo sector’s ski area, gentle and aimed at families and beginners. In winter there’s the children’s circuit; in summer, the Mon(t) Magic Family Park, with its zip line and the Màgic Gliss, plus the Xiringuito del Forn.

By bike you can ride up on Andorra Turisme’s route 01, which climbs from Canillo to the CS-251 at 1,915 m in the El Forn area of Grandvalira. It’s 5.2 km with 388 m of ascent at an average 7.5%, passing Sant Miquel de Prats.

A mountain hut at the end of the road

From the end of the El Forn road, the Comú suggests walking up the Ribaescorxada path, beneath the gondola, to the hut of the same name. It takes an hour with 170 m of climbing and is graded easy, following the markers of the sector’s snowshoe trail. The hut, at 2,075 m, is free and unstaffed, with six places, bunks and a fireplace. As a first mountain walk with children, it’s one of the most sensible options in the parish.