Pre-Pyrenees

Serra del Cucuc and Montsec de Rúbies at Gavet de la Conca.

Montsec d'Ares, part of the Pyrenees Foothills, at Sant Esteve de la Sarga.

Summits of the Corberes range, the only foothill of the Pyrenees on their northern side.

View of Serra del Cadí.

Geomorphologic map of Catalonia:

Pyrenees   Pre-Pyrenees   Catalan Central Depression   Smaller mountain ranges of the Central Depression   Catalan Transversal Range

Catalan Pre-Coastal Range   Catalan Coastal Range   Catalan Coastal Depression and other coastal and pre-coastal plains

The Pre-Pyrenees are the foothills of the Pyrenees.

Description

As a mountainous system the Pre-Pyrenees are part of the Pyrenees. They run parallell to the main mountain range in a west to east direction. At the eastern end lies the area known as the Sub-Pyrenees.

On the French side the Pyrenees's slopes descend rather abruptly, thus on the northern side, the Pre-Pyrenees are confined to the Corbières Range, towards the eastern end of the mountain system. The Massif de Plantaurel further west deserves mention as well, although not as clearly a foothill.

On the Iberian side, however, the picture is very different: a large and complex system of foothill ranges stretches from Navarre, across northern Aragon, reaching the Mediterranean coast on the Catalan end of the Pyrenees.

Main ranges

Although the highest peaks in the Pre-Pyrenees are not as high as those in the Pyrenees proper, some summits reach 2.500 m. The main ranges include:

Northern Slope:

• Corberes
• Massif de Plantaurel

Southern Slope:

• Serra del Montsec
• Serra del Cadí
• Serra de Boumort
• Serra de Moixeró
• El Port del Comte
• Serra de Montgrony
• Sierra de Guara
• El Turbón
• Sierra de Sis
• Sierra de Santo Domingo
• Sierra de Loarre
• Sierra de Javierre
• Sierra Caballera
• Sierra de Leire

See also

• Geology of the Pyrenees
• Pyrenees
• Sub-Pyrenees
• Mountains of Catalonia

References

• Pirineus-Prepirineus