Independent trail guide

GR 221 Ruta de Pedra en Sec

Two trails in one section. The mapped line starts at the ruined Trappist monastery of La Trapa above Sant Elm, climbs onto a dry ridge of low scrub and rock with no shade at all, and then, near the Coll de sa Gramola, drops onto the Ma-10 and walks the tarmac for roughly 2 km. What follows, up over the shoulder of Mola de s'Esclop and down to Estellencs, is the roughest and least trodden ground on the whole route: a thin path on loose limestone that tall grass hides for much of the year, fully exposed, and long. Everything after Estellencs is different walking. From there to Esporles the route runs on marjades, the terraced hillsides above Estellencs and Banyalbufar with their channels, cisterns and stone-paved lanes of Islamic origin, and villages come every 7 km or so. The last climb, out of Esporles over the ridge into Valldemossa, is steep and partly on estate roads through the houses at Son Cabaspre, which is the one place on this section where the route's own managers admit the signing stops.