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Espluga Llorna

Espluga Llorna

A 221 m long cavity in the Serra de Lleràs, known since time immemorial and surveyed in 1966, 1973 and 2015.

Tremp • Pallars Jussà 221m 33m

A 221 m long cavity in the Serra de Lleràs, known since time immemorial and surveyed in 1966, 1973 and 2015.

Characteristics

Location

Its large entrance is visible from the village of Castellet. To reach it, take the track towards Espluga de Serra, leaving the vehicle at the Font dels Capellans. Behind the spring a faintly marked path starts; go uphill parallel to the barranc de Sant Miquel, inside an oak wood, as far as an old, now abandoned, cultivated field. There are brambles, but they will not hinder progress. Follow this field to the right to its end and head for a gully that will be seen as you approach and that will allow you to climb a first cliff with a relatively easy scramble, without having to rock climb. After the gully, go left and uphill, where the cave will be seen, as the way is the most obvious one. From the car it is about 45' approximately.

Note that there is a certain difference between the coordinates of the lower entrance taken in recent years (especially in height), probably due to the presence of the cliff where the cavity is located, which can hinder the accuracy of the GPS device.

Map

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

  1. Boca Inferior

    Elevation: 1424 m

    42.276108, 0.847786
    UTM 31T (ETRS89) 322476 4682677
  2. Boca Superior

    Elevation: 1456 m

    42.277065, 0.847786
    UTM 31T (ETRS89) 322530 4682782
Download all entrances as GPX

Photos

Espluga Llorna - Photo, Tremp, Pallars JussàView image
Click to enlarge

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

Image 1 of 7

Description

Morphology

The entrance is 7 metres wide by some 17 high and gives way to a gallery that for 30 metres keeps dimensions of 7x10 metres, while the rest of the cavity maintains an average section of 7x3 metres. From 40 metres from the entrance, the gallery begins a steep slope gaining height, until reaching a chamber 25 metres wide by 14 high. From there the slope becomes gentler until it ends in a short crawl.

A draught coming from this crawl (2015) suggested a continuation and, after removing stones until a passable opening was made, it turned out to be an ascending crawl of about 10 metres in length. This small corridor emerges, through a hole 1 x 0.50 metres, in the floor of a fairly wide gallery that opens to the outside. This gallery is 23 metres long, and the ceiling starts at the crawl and rises up to the entrance, where it reaches 5 metres in height. This upper entrance is about 5 metres wide, and on the right there is a small ascending chimney, through which a possible continuation can be seen by applying climbing techniques.

The vertical range is now -33.50 metres (from the upper entrance to the lowest point of the entrance gallery via the lower entrance) and the total length becomes 221 metres.

Progression

To reach it, take the track towards Espluga de Serra, leaving the vehicle at the Font dels Capellans. Behind the spring a faintly marked path starts; go uphill parallel to the barranc de Sant Miquel, inside an oak wood, as far as an old, now abandoned, cultivated field. There are brambles, but they will not hinder progress. Follow this field to the right to its end and head for a gully that will be seen as you approach and that will allow you to climb a first cliff with a relatively easy scramble, without having to rock climb. After the gully, go left and uphill, where the cave will be seen, as the way is the most obvious one. From the car it is about 45' approximately.

On 12 July 2015, members of the GE Badalona and of the GIEM Montblanc and SIS de Terrassa, during a visit, cleared the final crawl and reached a gallery that emerges at an upper entrance.

History

Very well known to the people of the area since time immemorial. In the appendix to his Catàlech (1897), Font i Sagué includes this citation: Espluga Llorna. 313): Cova d'Espluga d'Escorà.- A mitja hora al SE del poble. We believe that here there was an error of interpretation between Font and his informant. The name Espluga Llorna is attributed to the village, when in reality they should have been referring to Espluga de Serra. The place name Espluga d'Escorà is totally unknown to us, but it is possible that it is a reference lost today and that it is in reality the same cavity.

The first concrete data were provided by members of the SIE – CEA who visited and surveyed the cave on 24 September 1966. In 1973, again members of the SIE – CEA, made a new, more detailed survey. Finally, on 12 July 2015, members of the GE Badalona and of the GIEM Montblanc and SIS de Terrassa, during a visit, cleared the final crawl and reached a gallery that emerges at an upper entrance.

Bio

Coleoptera

  • Stygiophyes latebricola (type locality)

User Comments (1)

Francisco Guerrero

September 5, 2025

40 minutos andando desde la fuente, seguir puntos verdes.

Difficulty:
Easy to find:
Technical level:

Registered Explorations (1)

Francisco Guerrero

Exploration date: September 5, 2025

Aproximación (40 min a buen ritmo) un poco perdible desde la fuente dels capellans pero si sigues los puntos verdes llegarás. Explorada hasta antes de la gatera

Difficulty:
State:
Wetness:

Bibliography

  1. Folch,M.; Victoria,JM.;Ferro,A.(1967).-”El Karst de la Sierra de Lleras” Espeleosie (1):16-21. SIE-CEA. Barcelona.
  2. Tomàs i Corretgé, Xavier.(1973).-”Descripción y estudio de los fragmentos ceramicos hallados en la cueva Espluga Llorna” Espeleosie (14):35-45. SIE-CEA. Barcelona
  3. Victoria, J.M.;Iñigo, G;Rovira, J.(1974).-”Karstificación en los conglomerados del margen derecho de la Conca de Tremp.(Lérida). Espeleosie (16):71-120. SIE-CE Àliga. Barcelona.
  • Dades, coordenades i fotos de Julio Serrano i Montse Roca, extretes del blog espeleobloc.blogspot (apunt del dia 22-9-2012).
  • Revisió coordenades i actualització de dades, topografia (2015) i fotografies zona superior, extretes del blog: cavitatsdecatalunya.blogspot (de Jordi de Valles). Apunt del 3-9-2015. Autors fitxa: E. Porcel (GEB) i J. Pallisé (GIEM / SIS).

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