Caves of the Ripollès

The Ripollès contains 147 recorded cavities: 103 caves and 44 pits. Together they total 7177 m of passage and reach a maximum depth of 96 m. The comarca has 15 subsidiary entities.

Among the longest cavities are the Cova de les Encantades, 865 m, on the south slope of the Puigmal, with galleries, shafts and subterranean rivers, known since time immemorial and explored in 1960; the Baumes del Borrasser, 764 m, in Molló, with three entrances, galleries, crawls, shafts and chambers such as the Sala d'Espera, the Sala del Llac and the Sala Juderias, known since ancient times and with remains from the Bronze Age and Medieval period; the Sistema dels Forats Nº3 I Nº4 de l'Embut, 542 m, in Núria, known since remote times and explored speleologically since 1953; the Cova de Rialb, in Queralbs, 501 m of passage and 38 m of vertical extent (+12/-26), known since time immemorial and studied by speleologists since 1910; and the Escletxa Gran de Corrubí, 445 m, in the Rasos de Tubau, in a conglomerate stratum over plastic materials.

The deepest cavities are the Forat del Miquelet, 96 m, in Ogassa, discovered in 1990, with about 294 m of passage and shafts, ramps, galleries with concretions and a widened narrow passage; the Forat de Sant Ou, 67 m, in Gombrèn, with two shafts, explored by Norbert Font i Sagué in 1901; the Sistema dels Forats Nº3 I Nº4 de l'Embut, also 67 m; the Escletxa Gran de Corrubí, 63 m; and the la Tomba del Sitjar, -54 m, in Camprodon, structured around an 18 m ellipsoid shaft and currently almost filled by dumped waste. The lithologies present include limestones (99), sandstones (17), conglomerates (9), marbles (8), granites (4), travertines (4), schists (2), gypsum (2), dolomites (1) and slates (1).