ROUTE AIZKORRI

Route 7:

AIZKORRI AND THE OPEN FIELDS OF URBIA

Arantzazu, the departure point of this route.

ARANTZAZU. The last house is Sindika Restaurant, set in a privileged position in the deep, narrow Urkullu or Arantzazu watercourse. Follow the path between the entrance to the restaurant and an old fountain-washing place. 50 m further along, at what it could be a small open-field car park, the path winds upward, and then passes through a narrow space between low stone walls. On the right, you leave behind you the track, which goes down to Iturrigorri, in the Urkullu watercourse.
Climbing up for a few minutes between stone walls, you come to a crossing with another path. Turning left, we come to Duru meadows. Tuming right, we come to Urbía. Following the last direction, a few metres further on, there is a large shepherd's hut beside the road. Ahead, two paths cross. The one on the right is a track that goes down towards the Urkullu watercourse.
The one on the left goes up through a pretty meadow and a larchwood. A paved path. On the left, there is a hut and a bit further on there is another, both of them are shelters for horses that room loose in the area. For a short while now, the path nuns flat, providing a pleasant walk. It goes through a place set between a beechwood on the left (a silent witness to the important timber and charcoal industry this area had in the past) and a larchwood on the right. In a few minutes we reach the charming...
ERROITI. Erroitiko Iturri fountain is among trees, and this is a pretty meadow with beautiful lush grass. According to leyend, the Virgin appeared to a shepherd in this place. On the right, and at the other end of the barbed-wire fence, the track and the path follow the same direction. Opposite the steep gradient of...
OTRAITZ. Rocky spurs that descend from the upper part of Iferrutz. The path now goes through beech and larch woods. A little further on, under a sturdy bridge, flows the brook...
OTRAITZKO ERREKA. A watercourse that flows down the spurs of Enaitz, on the left. The path is still clearly visible, and steadily climbs. It turns away from the beechwood, and leads to the hill of...
ELORROLAKO LEPOA (URBIARRATE). This hill is between Gorostiaran peak to the north, and Zabalaitz peak to the south. A pass leading into the beautiful open fields of Urbia. A path marked out by ash trees takes us to the hermitage of...
Andra Mari hermitage located in the open fields of Urbia.
ANDRA MARI DE URBIA. A hermitage set in one of the most beautiful spots in Aizkorri range. The Urbia meadowlands. Behind the hermitage, and to the north-east, we can see the large dolmen-like burial mound of...
GOROSTIARAN West. A dolmen-like megalithic monument from the Neolithic-Bronze Age. A few metres further on, following the tree-lined path, it takes us to...
URBIAKO FONDA. A shelter for mountaineers; there is an inn and a bar/restaurant. Open at weekends throughout the year. The path continues to the east, towards Aizkorri ridges. Approximately 500 m. to the south of the inn in Urbia, we can see the burial ground of...
GOROSTIARAN East. A dolmen-like megalithic monument from the Bronze Age. The tree-lined path crosses over the watercourse of...
URBIAKO ERREKA. When it is in spates, it carries quite a large volumen of water. Having crossed it, the path, which is marked out by boundary stones, starts to climb up to the shepfold of Arbelar. Before we arrive there, we come to a crosspaths. The one on the left leads to the uplands of Arbelaitz, and the one on the right to Aizkorri, passing through...
Aizkorri ridge.
ARBELARKO SAROIA. A shepfold. A group of huts sheltered by several trees on the lower part of Arbelaitz and Irule summits. It is one of the typical clusters of shepherd huts that can be found in several places throughout the Aizkorri massif. Once here, we have to leave the path on the right that leads to Aizkorri summit and turn 90 degrees. Walking towards the north-west, a faded path marked out with yellow lines reaches the...
WATER TANKS of Arbelar shepfold. The path climbs the slope, passing through a pretty spot between rocks, which open up to...
LUGAITZEKO ZELAIAK. Some meadows just under the Lugaitze ring located a few metres further up, the path leads to that spot. It climbs the slope through open terrain; zigzagging towards the top it reaches...
LUGAITZEKO LEPOA. A hill between Andreaitz summit to the west, and Arbelaitz summit to the east. This point marks the beginning of the path through the Aizkorri ridges. All the time, we have to follow the path that goes through the upper part of the summits. We arrive at Arbelaitz summit (1,513 m), the first one. Then we reach Irule (1,511 m), and Aitxuri (1,551 m), the highest point in Aizkorri range, and in the province of Gipuzkoa. Then we come to Aketegi (1,549 m) with its principal survey point of the Geographic and Property Register Institute. After Kanalaundi hill is Aitzabal summit (1,519 m), and the last one is Aizkorri summit, which is the location of the Santo Cristo hermitage. Next to it there is a well kept mountain shelter. Along this route there is a wonderful panoramic view of almost the whole of Gipuzkoa.
Santo Cristo hermitage at the top of Aizkorri summit.
A thousand metres below, at the foot of the mountain, the farmhouses of Zegama are built along the headwaters of the River Oria, the largest river in Gipuzkoa.
We should mention the "Dama de Aketegi" or Mari's cave. It is located to the north of Aitxuri summit, going down a grassy spur to where the real cliff begins. The way in to the cave is hidden in an easily accessible bend in summer, although not so in winter.
On the way down, we follow the path to the ridges as far as Aketegi summit (it has a survey point). Here, the clearly marked path descends effortlessly to the left, to the above mentioned shepfold in Arbelar.
Once again in the open fields of Urbia, we can see two very special dolmens located near Lazkaolatze shepfold, and not far from the inn in Urbia; they are Pagobakoitza and Kalparmuño-Barrena dolmens. In the wet season, when the Urbia watercourse is swollen, it is also interesting to follow its course, and see how it pours into the Zoileku area.

This trip is covered in five or five and a half hours, always depending on the speed and the weather conditions. The journey along the ridges might prove very difficult in snowy or foggy weather.

Last modified: Nov, 02, 1999