Santa Coloma de Farners (SCF) sits in the forested granite hills of Girona province, just 30 minutes inland from Girona city. With elevations under 1,500ft and a mild Mediterranean climate, the area offers year-round riding — on a clear day you can see the sea in one direction and the snowy high Pyrenees in the other. The network covers 60 miles of trail spread across multiple low-elevation peaks, with most descents offering 500–1,000ft of vertical drop over large boulders, bedrock, and sandy soil. Make no mistake: there are no machine-built flow trails here. These are primarily hand-cut trails interspersed with granite faces, no big berms, and no sculpted landings. Think less remote Buffalo Creek, but with steeper rock slabs accompanying the familiar kitty-litter-like soil.
SCF divides naturally into three trail zones from north to south: Farners Castle, the Caseta, and Argimon Peak. The Farners Castle zone features six named descents with a more northerly aspect — all of them difficult to very difficult. The Caseta, or "little house," is the largest zone and offers the most variety, including Spiderman, a fast and flowy trail rumored to have over 70 small jumps — and nearly zero proper landings. Also below the Caseta sits Shambala, one of the most famous slow-tech trails in northeastern Spain: almost entirely irregular rock slabs with deep cracks and crevices, tight, steep, and unforgiving. The most remote zone, Argimon Peak, offers rawer, more traditional trails with fewer slabs and even more rough, unmanicured terrain — expert-only riding throughout.
The best time to ride SCF is during the wetter, shorter days of winter. Due to the sandy soil, riders can literally ride in the rain and still stop on the steepest rock features. Avoid July and August — a sand-dust patina forms on rocks and roots in the dry, turning everything into something closer to ball bearings than trail surface. It seems counterintuitive, but the wet is when SCF truly rides best.
