Els Cortals d'Encamp, the valley of barns above the village

When someone asks me for an easy mountain afternoon from Encamp, my answer is Els Cortals. You wind up a mountain road above the village and swap the traffic of the CG-2 for meadows, stone barns and mountain pine. Andorra Tourism calls it a unique setting, and on this one I won’t argue.

An area, not a village

Els Cortals d’Encamp isn’t on the council’s list of settlements, which stops at six. It’s a mountain valley reached by the CS-220 road that the council marks on its map as a place. What it does have is farming history. At the viewpoint, Andorra Tourism explains the difference between a borda and a cortal. The borda, built of stone, timber and slate, stored cut hay and sheltered livestock; the cortal was a cluster of barns far from the village, lived in by farming families from spring until autumn.

The Cortals viewpoint stands at 1,923 m, between kilometres 6 and 7 of the CS-220. Besides the barns it looks over mountain pine forest, which grows between 1,700 and 2,400 m, with rhododendron, bilberry and juniper beneath. It’s fitted with Braille, tactile relief panels and QR codes with sign language.

Picnics, a bridge and a via ferrata

At km 7 you’ll find the picnic site that Andorra Tourism rates among the largest barbecue areas in the country, with 11 cooking spots and 21 round stone tables. There’s a stream and a fountain, but the water isn’t treated. In 2022 the council added that public toilets open from May to October and that there’s no dedicated car park, so on summer weekends I’d get up there early. In August, Encamp’s village fiesta holds its fishing contest here.

Further up, in the Baronia area, the Cortals Aventura climbing wall rises 17 m with 800 m² of outdoor rock. Next to it starts the Encamp suspension bridge, just under 50 m long and 4 to 5 m off the ground. A few metres on, the Clots de l’Aspra via ferrata is a beginners’ route adapted for children, 150 m long with 70 m of ascent and free to use with your own kit. Other options around the country are in via ferrata in Andorra.

How do you get up to Els Cortals?

By car, on the CS-220 from the edge of Encamp towards France. On a road bike it’s a proper climb. Andorra Tourism gives 8.9 km from the roundabout (1,329 m) to the Cortals (2,083 m), with 754 m of ascent at 8.5% on average, a 10.2% start and an easier stretch near the Bordes de Rigoder; Grandvalira’s ski area begins at the top. More climbs are in road cycling in Andorra.

Without a car, the summer option is the Funicamp. Its mid-station sits at the end of the Cortals road, and from there you can join walks, mountain-bike trails and the via ferrata. On 1 May, Sant Jaume’s day, the council also runs a bus up for the feast.

Walks from the Cortals

For walkers with some experience, the best is the route to the Emportona and Meligar lakes, which Andorra Tourism starts at the Funicamp mid-station, 2,087 m up. It’s 3.37 km with 317 m of climbing to a lake of clear water, but you’ll need route-finding skills, as much of it is marked only with stone cairns. Andorra Tourism’s safe window for routes this high runs from late June to late September, stretching into May or October only if snow and weather allow.

Heading down, the Camí de les Pardines leaves from the Pardines area in the Cortals themselves and leads to Engolasters lake, past the shrine of the Virgin of Ecology, a glazed tile image by Ramon Argilés from 1999. The official Madriu website also lists the Cortals as one of the ways into the UNESCO valley from Encamp.

Sant Jaume and the Lloc Pagà

The church of Sant Jaume dels Cortals dates from 1999 and was designed to blend into the landscape, with a large window facing the valley. Fifty metres away is the Bosc de les Llaus viewpoint and, nearby, the Lloc Pagà sculpture by Irish artist Michael Warren, three tall totems half hidden in the vegetation. Its feast day is 1 May, with Mass, drinks and sardana dancing.