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Cova Penjada del Torrent d'espinau

Cova Penjada del Torrent d'espinau

Petita cova penjada al cingle al torrent d'Espinau (Beuda)

Beuda • Garrotxa5m0

Small "cova penjada" (hanging cave) on the crag above the torrent d'Espinau, in Beuda, 60 m above the streambed and one kilometre west of the summit of the Mont (1124 m).

Characteristics

Location

Hanging in the upper part of a crag that drops abruptly over the torrent d'Espinau, on the left hydrographic bank, 60 m of drop above the streambed. One kilometre west of the summit of the Mont (1124 m). In fact, it is the lowest crag of all those found on the western spur of the Mont.

To get there, starting from Beuda we take the track, largely asphalted, in the direction of the house of Espinau and Lliurona. The track climbs the torrent d'Espinau along the right bank and about a kilometre and a half before reaching the turn-off to the house of Espinau it makes a couple of hairpin bends in order to gain height. We will have to leave the track some 120 m before reaching the second big left-hand bend and shortly after some characteristic rocks found on the right of the track. Here a narrow path, not very obvious, sets off, crossing the stream and climbing the other slope to reach the upper part of the crag, where the exact point to begin the descent with ropes down to the cave mouth must be found. This lies 5 m below the edge of the crag, which has a height of about 50 m in two sections separated by a narrow strip of woodland.

Mapa

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

  1. Penjada del Torrent d'espinau, Cova

    Elevation: 608 m

    42.260167, 2.695015
    UTM 31T (ETRS89) 474845 4678708
Download all entrances as GPX

Photos

Cova Penjada del Torrent d'espinau - Photo, Beuda, GarrotxaView image
Click to enlarge

Espeleoindex · CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ · Image © its author.

Image 1 of 4

Description

Morphology

Mouth facing west, 2.5 m wide by 1.8 high, well hung on the crag. It gives access to a relatively rounded little chamber in which we can stand comfortably upright, level floor. Depth of 5 m by a maximum width of 3.5 m.

Progression

One of the problems we had was access from the track to the top of the crag, since a scramble over craggy, wooded terrain is required. Fortunately, we found an old charcoal-burners' path that passes just a few metres from the point where the descent of the crag must begin.

On reaching the point, it is confirmed that there is a totally vertical drop down to the mouth. For this reason, only en Ferran Cardona will access it, as he has the material and the technique for vertical progression.

Other details

Inside the cave a small tree has grown with its trunk leaning towards the outside seeking the light.

On reaching the mouth, it is confirmed that the cave ends at 5 m, but the most surprising thing was to confirm that the cave had been used as a hiding place. Thus, there is a place for making fire among some stones, and there is even a perforated iron sheet serving as a grill. There is a small pile of firewood and also some rubbish which, judging by its state, seems old, probably years old. Also, inside the cave there is a very dry tree trunk that could hardly have arrived naturally by falling from above.

History

If we look carefully, the mouth is visible from the first big left-hand bend of the hairpin bends of the track and becomes visible again from the characteristic rocks mentioned earlier. This fact aroused the curiosity of l'Albert Sancho, el Manel Cortizo and l'Albert Sala, who began to study how to get there. By observing with binoculars, the bottom of the cave looked dark, which gave hopes of continuity, but in addition they saw what looked like a Catalan flag tangled in a branch of the small tree growing at the mouth. This fact showed that someone had reached it before, a fact corroborated by the residents of the house of Espinau, who knew that the cave had already been explored but had no data on its extent or characteristics.

Things being so, we prepared the trip for 11 October 2025. The logistics would be as follows: l'Albert Sancho, el Manel Cortizo and en Ferran Cardona would go to explore the cave, while l'Albert Sala and his friend Montse would stay at the characteristic rocks so that, with binoculars and a walkie talkie, they could guide the explorers to the most suitable point for installing the rope and accessing the mouth.

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Bibliography

Totes les dades, topografia i fotografies han estat extretes del web: geb.cat (del Grup d'Espeleologia de Badalona). Apunt del 28-10-2025. Dades: Albert Sancho, Manel Cortizo, Albert Sala i Ferran Cardona (ECM Barcelonès)

Source: Espeleoindex (espeleoindex.com), modified. CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/