The Serra del Cadí is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

in the north of

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, part of the

Pre-Pyrenees The Pre-Pyrenees are the foothills of the Pyrenees. Description As a mountainous system the Pre-Pyrenees are part of the Pyrenees. They run parallel to the main mountain range in a west to east direction. On the French side the Pyrenees's slop ...

. Its highest peak is the

Vulturó Vulturó () is a mountain located in the Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarca'' of Alt Urgell in Catalonia, Spain. It has an elevation of 2,648 metres above sea level. It is the highest mountain in the Serra del Cadí mountain range, and in the Catal ...

, with an altitude of . It stretches from east to west between

Alt Urgell Alt Urgell () is a ''comarca'' (county) in Catalonia, Spain, a modern representation of part of the historic County of Urgell (''ca'' 789 - 1413), seat of the Counts of Urgell and the historic region of Urgellet Urgellet () is a historical te ...

and

Berguedà Berguedà () is an inland comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain, lying partly in the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees, and partly in the Catalan Central Depression. Geography The northern half of Berguedà, known as Alt Berguedà (“Upper Berguedà� ...

. The

Llobregat The Llobregat () is the second longest river in Catalonia, Spain, after the Ter. It flows into the Mediterranean south of the city of Barcelona. Its name could have originated in an ancient Latin word meaning 'dark', 'sorrowful' or 'muddy', or ...

River has its sources in

Castellar de n'Hug Castellar de n'Hug (, es, Castellar de Nuch) is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Berguedà in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the southern slopes of the pyrenean range of the Creueta. The Llobregat river has its source on the territ ...

at an altitude of 1,259 meters on the Serra del Cadí.

Description

Geologically the northern slopes are made up of

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

materials while the peaks are

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. The northern face is an almost continuous series of sheer

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

s. The present structure formed during the

Tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

as a consequence of the

orogenesis Orogeny is a mountain building process. An orogeny is an event that takes place at a convergent plate margin when plate motion compresses the margin. An ''orogenic belt'' or ''orogen'' develops as the compressed plate crumples and is uplifted t ...

of the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

and is characterized by its Alpine folding. This jagged mountain range was formerly a

natural barrier A natural barrier refers to a physical feature that protects or hinders travel through or over. Mountains, swamps, deserts and ice fields are among the clearest examples of natural barriers. Rivers are a more ambiguous example, as they may obstruc ...

hampering communication between Barcelona and

Cerdanya Cerdanya () or often La Cerdanya ( la, Ceretani or ''Ceritania''; french: Cerdagne; es, Cerdaña), is a natural comarca and historical region of the eastern Pyrenees divided between France and Spain. Historically it was one of the counties ...

, but the situation was resolved after the Cadí Tunnel was built together with the C-16 highway which follows the valley of the Llobregat. Believed to be extinct in Catalonia, the first

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

in 80 years was found recently in the Serra del Cadí.

Protected areas

Cadí-Moixeró Natural Park The Cadí-Moixeró Natural Park ( ca, Parc Natural del Cadí-Moixeró) is a natural park to the north of Catalonia, Spain, near the border with Andorra. The park was established in 1983 and encompasses of mountainous terrain in the comarques of ...

was created in July 1983 to protect the Serra del Cadí, as well as the adjacent

Serra de Moixeró The Serra de Moixeró is a mountain range running across the north of Catalonia (Spain), part of the Pre-Pyrenees. Along with the adjacent Serra del Cadí, Pedraforca and parts of Tosa d'Alp and Puigllançada, it forms part of the Cadí-Moixeró N ...

Pedraforca Pedraforca is a mountain in the Pre-Pyrenees, located in the comarca of Berguedà. The mountain's rare form, along with the fact that it is not visibly connected to any other adjacent mountains or ridges, has made it one of the most famous and emb ...

mountain, and part of the

Tosa d'Alp Tosa d'Alp or La Tosa is a mountain in Baixa Cerdanya in the Spain, Spanish Pyrenees. The Coll de Pal is a mountain pass that separates its eastern part from the Puigllançada. This mountain forms a quadripoint where the Alp, Spain, Alp, Urús, D ...

and

Puigllançada Puigllançada is a mountain of Catalonia, Spain. Located in the Pyrenees, it has an elevation of 2,409 metres above sea level.. See also *Mountains of Catalonia This is a list of mountains in Catalonia, Spain. See also *Montserrat *L ...

.The Cadí-Moixeró Natural Park
/ref>

References

External links

*
Hiking in Cerdanya / Cerdagne
Cadi {{Catalonia-geo-stub