Among all fantastic places the northern coast is like nowhere else in Mallorca. Over the centuries poets and painters mystics and musicians, philosophers and free spirits have all come here lured by the majesty and the mystery of its sea and its mountains. Along the enchanted coast from Valdemossa to Deia to the golden valley of Soller to the monestary of Lluc and the great gorge of Torrente de Pareis, the mountain range of the Sierra de Tramuntana curves up the Costa Nord like a great dragon sleeping
Outdoor Mallorca aims to introduce you to the island of Mallorca through a series of hikes or walks, which have been designed for both experienced and inexperienced hikers. The hikes are based mainly in the Sierra Tramuntana, in a nature that is still not yet spoiled by human interference.
Sierra Tramuntana stretches more or less all the way from Andraitx in the south-east to Formentor in the north-west and reaches heights over 1,000 metres in many places, culminating in the Puig Mayor at 1,445 metres. Many of the mountain tops are almost bare of vegetation and its rough, rocky peaks seem to stretch from the deep sea to the high skies above. Between these rugged peaks lay lush green, sparsely settled farmland and alpine lakes with an aqua green surface, which gives a stark contrast to the Tramuntana mountains shifting colours from tightly grey-black to warm golden-yellow.
The many hundred of the footpaths that criss-cross the Tramuntana were built as trade routes by the merchants who needed access from the small mountain villages to the bigger market places in the cities on the plains. They were also used by farmers who needed access to their terraces of olive trees, and by the pilgrims who wanted to reach the remote holy places and the many mon- asteries in the distance mountain valleys.
The result is a wealth of opportunities for hikers seeking to explore the heights and enjoy stunning views of rocky peaks and deep blue seas. There is a varied flora including dense evergreen forests, marquis and garique in the arid zone, sub alpine flora on the approach to the peaks, and an enormous number of beautiful flowering shrubs, which give an extra dimension to many hikes.