Menorca features an exceptional and varied geology that is outstanding for its attractiveness and the spectacular nature of its shapes, which has a powerful impact on the island’s landscape. The grouping of its rocks and the relief they create allow us to differentiate between two large regions with very different landscape features, separated by a line that runs from the Colàrsega or hinterland of the port of Maó to Cala Morell. This line demarcates the Migjorn region to the south, the so-called White Menorca, and the Tramuntana region to the north, made up of different kinds of rocks that result in contrasting landscapes that are perfectly distinguishable and are characterised by their colours: the Dark Menorca, the Red Menorca and the Grey Menorca.
Menorca offers a wide range of geological formations, landscapes and sedimentary records. The great diversity of Menorca determines the existence of four different landscapes. Consequently, the landscape on the south of the island, the so-called White Menorca, is completely different from the landscape of the north. In turn, the north is made up of different kinds of rocks that result in contrasting landscapes that we will primarily identify by the colour of the geological materials: the Dark Menorca, the Red Menorca and the Grey Menorca.
The concept of dividing the island into four main landscape units, each one perfectly distinguishable due to the colour of their rocks, was introduced in the nineteenth century and subsequently named the ‘Colours of Menorca’. This idea is a very interesting way of giving a public that is not expert in the subject a taste of the island’s general geological features and is the one we use in this trail.
The geological wealth of Menorca, due primarily to its great geological variability and the quality of its outcrops, would be difficult to appreciate or understood in a walking trail, so we suggest a geological trail by vehicle, focused on the concept of the Colours of Menorca, which will allow visitors to capture this geodiversity through a number of stopping points across the island at outcrops of great quality.
As a result, we suggest a trail that will enable you to see the main features of the island’s geology in just one day, with visits to one characteristic site for each of the island’s four landscape units: the Dark Menorca at Sa Mesquida, the Red Menorca at S'Aranjí where the Penya de s'Indi stands proud, the Grey Menorca at Cap de Cavalleria and the White Menorca at Binidalí. We also suggest climbing El Toro mountain to both identify and compare how each unit determines the different kinds of landscape and visiting Cala Morell, which is without a doubt the most spectacular site for observing the contact between the island’s two geological regions: the Tramuntana and the Migjorn. Optionally, we recommend visiting the Geology Centre of Menorca. The exhibition at this visitors’ centre centres on the concept of the ‘Colours of Menorca‘, so we feel that it is worth including a stop here on your trail.
07:00
We have set out the trail from west to east, although you can just as easily do it the other way around. Access is direct from the car parks at the stopping points at the Geology Centre, El Toro, Cavalleria and Binidalí, while at Cala Morell and Sa Mesquida, and especially at Penya de s’Indi, you will have to complete a small section on foot. You can complete the trail in a day, although you can of course also do the route over several days if you prefer.
