Planetskier: Catalonia Caves II

It was a hard days night, a long day of skiing but I was NOT satisfied. I also wanted to visit a cave. Grottocenter gave me multiple hits within a half an hour's dive from the hotel and fairly close to the road, but ... it was a challenge. I couldn't be sure I had found the first one, or maybe I did but then it didn't match the description. And the second one I did find but it was an easy but unnerving and unsecured climb away, 4-5 meters up on a cliff face.

The first cave, Balma de la Paret in El Compte, was supposed to be right by the road. Close to the designated coordinates there was a small but intriguing hole too high to reach, another unnerving climb and also blocked by thick and sharp bushes. Several other candidate hole-like things may have also been on the wall higher up.

But these holes also didn't match the map and description from Espeleoworld, as it was supposed to be covered by a man-made front wall. Some 50 or 100 meters down the road there was an intersection with man-made rock walls that I investigated on second pass through this area, but it also didn't seem to have any cave hole.

The coordinates for this cave were expected to be N 42.3337385 E 1.0654971. More information here.

Photos of the location and my main suspected cave hole, the one I couldn't reach:

The second cave was Cova del Mirador de l'Infern in Solduga-Esplugues. It is easy to find, you can even see it from the hike up. But closer to it I actually missed the cave initially, passing right under it first as I kept trying to find it on my level rather than looking high up enough. I ended doing a sketchy climb on steep animal path until I realized I must have passed it and returned.

There's a small parking lot by the road and even a sign for the cave and other hiking paths through the area. There's a good path leading up, maybe a 10 minute climb from the parking lot to the cave. When you get close to the massive cliff wall, turn right to head towards the cliff face. There you find some climbing spots and even some ropes left by climbers.

The first thing you''ll notice is about a two meter deep shelter cave under the cliff. The actual cave is above it, on the right side. However, to reach it one has to climb about four meters on the cliff face. There's some hand holds and a ledge to step on, but ... it is high and the consequences of falling down on bushes and the steep hill are severe. Plus I was alone and the night was coming.

Oh well, enough excuses. I was afraid. The coordinates for this cave are N 42.2852392 E 1.0357393. Read more about the cave here and here.

One photo of this cave is in the opening picture of this article, others below:

On the same path you could also reach a more famous nearby cave, Forat del Serpent (cave of the Serpent). The coordinates for this cave are N 42.280975 E 1.034601. You may alternatively (and that's probably the recommended approach) access it further south from the pedestrian road that bypasses the next tunnel. In any case, this cave is much higher and requires at least half an hour hike. More information about this cave here, here, here, and here. Note that I have not been to this cave and there seems to be some confusion about the location of the cave. Google and Grottocenter give a different location, and in addition there may be two different caves, Forat del Serpent and Cova del Serpent.

Sign from the same parking lot as from the previous cave:

This article has also been published at Planetcaver.net here. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.

This article was originally published in the Planetskier Blogspot article series.