Santa Susanna de Peralta and Sant Climent de Peralta

Just inland from the main Costa Brava coast, between La Bisbal d'Emporda and Llofriu, just after Vulpellac are the two tiny Peralta hamlets - Santa Susanna de Peralta on one side of the road and Sant Climent de Peralta on the other. Both hamlets are very small, but they extend to include a number of very big, and luxurious, old Masia estates with extensive grounds and stables.

Santa Susanna is the larger of the two hamlets and was the starting point of walks to Peratallada and to Clots de Sant Julia. It's the site of a now ruined castle that sits behind a restored masia house. Sant Climent, on the other side of the main road is little more than the church, but has a network of roads leading to very large masias into the Gavarres hills. The church looks like the perfect place to start for a walk, but there is just one road and that leads to a big gate for one of the big estates, so you can't go further on.

This is actually the second attempt at this walk. The first time we got lost and confused as there are many many tracks, particularly as you get into the hills and it can be very difficult to decipher where you are on the map. We park close to the social area for Santa Susanna. This is right next to a set of three traditional haystacks with hay layered around a central pole. These are visible from the main road, so an indication of where to turn if you want to park.

We walk down the lane and then cross the main road taking care as the cars are fast here. The lane continues on the other side of the road (Cami de Sant Climent), along past the fields with the church of Sant Climant to the left. In early medieval times this would have been a more important area as Sant Climent once boasted a monestary to complement the now ruined castle at Sant Susanna.

The lane continues past a large estate on the right and in the distance we can see snow on the Pyrenees clearly in the bright December light. The masia estates are huge in this area and a searching after the walk I found some of the masias on sale for prices from €5 to €28million.

The lane splits at a smaller masia and we take the dirt track to the left rather than follow the tarmac road. The paths are getting a little confusing on the map so we just follow the one main track past a barn and then along the boundary edge of another large estate in the woods. The boundary is marked with very strong keep out and beware of the dogs signs and would be the back of the estate with the private road leading from Sant Climent church.

The path turns to the left and starts to climb into the hills. As we get higher we can see the Empordan plain spreading out beneath us framed by the mountains in the background. The woods are typical of the Gavarres, all alzina and cork pines. Cork being the main export of this area until the arrival of tourism. We're on the north side of the Gaverres and the ground is moist and leafy - very different in feel to the dry south facing walk above Castell d'Aro last week.

As we get deeper into the woods and closer to the top of the hill we know we need to turn off. The problem though is finding the right path and keeping track of where we are. There are dozens of tracks and routes in this part of the Gavarres, many used for hunting or forestry. If you're familiar with what leads where it is easy to link and follow routes. But when we're in a new part of the woods for the first time it can be difficult to work out how the paths link through the folds and valleys of the hills. We don't get lost in the sense of not being able to get back, but it is easy to get lost in the sense of not finding quite the path we were looking for.

So close to the top of the hill we take a right down a smaller track following the trail of some cyclists (this area is fabulous for rough cycling) and curve around the side of the hill and down to a stream valley. The valley is shaded and chilly in contrast to the sun on the top. We walk down the track following the stream until we emerge by a big stone rectangular man-made pond by a font. After being in the deepest woods it's a surprise to suddenly find an unusual man-made structure.

As we walk past we can now see a masia up to our right. The path continues around the masia and then we get to a chain across the path. It isn't clear if the chain is stopping us going on, or is there to prevent other people coming in our direction. Since we have no obvious alternatives we carry straight on and the track seems to be part of the drive to the masia. At the end is a half open gate and we get back to the main tarmac road near a huge mas slightly elevated above the fields.

We could take the tarmac road back to where we started but we carry straight on along the gravel track, and then immediately right taking us around the back of the elevated masia. The last time we did this walk, we missed this turning and ended up walking high in to the hills. The track curls around through fields and pieces of woodland. It's easy to follow and quite sandy underfoot.

As we pass a house to the left we hear the sound of bells like those used for sheep or cows. As we turn the corner we meet a man with a gun and two hunting dogs with bells around their necks. The bells are used to keep track of the dogs in the undergrowth when out hunting boar.

The track is easy and we walk at the back of two more enormous masia estates with swimming pools and stables. The number of horses in this area, it's a surprise there isn't a racecourse nearby.

The path reaches the main road just by the side of the Pordamsa porcelin factory. From the main road this is a grand glass and steel fronted building, but from the side on the track we're on it's a little more plain with a simple red-brick factory type structure.

It would be good if we could avoid the main road, but there are no paths back to Santa Susanna except by walking along the side of the busy route. We turn back up the lane we started from, just taking the time to inspect the strange bricked cave that we ignored on the way out.

 Neighbouring walks: Clots de Sant Julia (Vulpellac) - Palau-sator and Peratallada - Llofriu, St Llop and Torrent - Mont-ras to Fitor and on to Fonteta and Vulpellac - La Bisbal, Vulpellac, Castell d'Emporda, Fonteta