Aizkorri-Aratz Natural Park

The Aizkorri-Aratz Mountain Range accommodates the highest summits (Aitxuri 1,551 m) in the Cantabrian-Mediterranean watershed, as well as other mountains, which all together form a beautiful massif that is a point of reference for the Basque mountaineering. Declared a nature park, the area covers a surface of 16,000 hectares, 13,000 of them belonging to Gipuzkoa and 3,000 to Alava.

Category:

Natural parks

Municipalities:

Alava: Asparrena, Barrundia, San Millán/Donemiliaga, Zalduondo. Gipuzkoa: Aretxabaleta, Zegama, Zerain, Eskoriatza, Legazpi, Oñati, Leintz-Gatzaga.

Information:

Cuadrilla de Salvatierra-Agurain
Phone: 945 302 931

Fonda de Urbia
Phone: 943 781 316 - 943 585 030

Oñati Tourist Office
Phone: 943 783 453

Zegama Tourist Office
Phone: 943 802 187

Servicios:

Informa de la existencia de una ruta-circuito para hacer gimnasia o deporte

Datos de interés:

The highest massif in the Basque Country. Aizkorri-Aratz natural park. The home of Idiazabal cheese.

This area comprises a long east-west mountain range which includes the highest peaks in the Basque Country (Aitxuri, 1,550 m) and serves as a border between the Cantabrian and Mediterranean slopes, as well as separating the Historic Regions of Álava and Gipuzkoa.

Most of the substratum is formed by Urgonian limestones whose erosion gives rise to spectacular karst phenomena: Ridges, dolines, caverns, lapies, ravines, etc. Famous sites include the Hoya de La Lece, the San Adrián tunnel, the Urbia depression, the Arantzazu ravine, etc. In Elguea-Urkilla the substratum changes revealing sandstones and clays, resulting in a landscape of rounded slopes with an undulating character.

The Natural Park protects outstanding and large examples of native forests, including beech forests and sessile oak groves (Quercus petraea). etc. On the highest parts of the mountains, the wooded vegetation becomes sparser and gives way to the mountain meadows and heathland-gorse, the result of intensive grazing by Lacha sheep, which is traditional in these highlands.

In the In the countryside on the northern slopes, the typical mosaic landscape associated with Basque farmhouses may be seen, with meadows, orchards, and fruit trees interspersed with small radiata pine clusters. On some slopes, coniferous plantations can be quite widespread.

The limestone rocky outcrops are home to a very unique flora, full of endemic species from the high Cantabrian-Pyrenees mountains. Other habitats of great botanical interest are the incipient peat bogs linked to siliceous substrates, such as that of Arbarrain (Altzaina).

The Aizkorri-Aratz Natural Park has 3 park houses, 2 in Gipuzkoa and 1 in Álava:

Enjoy the natural park

Things to do and experience in the area

Here are just some ideas to come and visit us.

Hiking trails Routes for all levels.

The Aizkorri-Aratz Natural Park contains a complex set of paths and trails many of them of a historical nature. The Gipuzkoa part is criss-crossed by 19 marked trails, mainly for mountaineering The Alava part, on the other hand, has 9 paths, some of them short and others form part of longer routes.

From the Gipuzkoa side:

San Adrián Viewpoint: If there is a mythical place in Gipuzkoa, it is San Adrián, as the main road linking Castilla with Europe crossed it during the Middle Ages. It is said that the King of Spain himself (Charles I) had to bow his head before the locals. Although nowadays it does not have the strategic importance it once had, San Adrián is a must for any self-respecting mountaineer. This is a easy route of 4.05km.
Track: https://es.wikiloc.com/rutas-a-pie/aizkorri-aratz-sl-gi-3003-sandratiko-balkoia-balcon-de-san-adrian-121241217

From the Alava side:

Centenary oaks of Zalduondo and Galarreta: On the south-facing slopes of the Sierra de Urkilla, there is a forest with numerous specimens of century-old oaks. Two simple routes, 5.2 km long and connected, allow us to discover these giants of Alava.
Info: https://aizkorriaratzparkea.eus/es/web/aizkorriaratzparkea/-/robles-centenarios-de-galarreta-y-zalduondo
Secrets of the Aratz: A demanding 14.5 km trail that takes us into the most unknown part of Mount Aratz, through the deciduous forests on its southern slopes, a real treasure trove.
Info: https://aizkorriaratzparkea.eus/es/web/aizkorriaratzparkea/-/pr-a-3012.-secretos-del-aratz

Industrial heritage The most human history of the natural park.

Goierri Mining reserves

Right on the edge of the natural park, we can get close to and enjoy the history and heritage of two of the most important reserves in the Basque Country. In Mutiloa, iron ore has been, since medieval times, the main source of supply for the active forges in the upper basins of the Urola and Oria river valleys. At the end of the 19th century, a more organized and systematic operation was created. To achieve this, various infrastructures were built, such as the mining railway that ran through the reserves from Barnaola (Mutiloa) to Ormaiztegi.

Mining has also been an unequivocal fact of life in Zerain since the Middle Ages. The most intense activity began in the middle of the 19th century and at the end of the same century foreign investment from English, Dutch and German companies reorganised the reserve and began to work systematically with the installation of new technological elements: internal mining railways, calcination furnaces, aerial cables...

This activity has left us an interesting landscape and cultural heritage where the calcination workshop stands out with its three impressive furnaces that welcome us next to the Aizpitta Interpretation Centre.

Ajuria & Urigoitia Industrial Forest

The setting of the Ajuria y Urigoitia foundry in Araia (Asparrena, Araba) is one of the most beautiful industrial landscapes in the Basque Country: Dams, forests, bunkers, warehouses, etc.

It is one of the first steelworks in the country, located at the entrance of the Aizkorri-Aratz Natural Park, a place where nature and industry are inseparable.

Although other forges existed in Araia before, the "San Pedro de Araia" foundry complex or Ajuria factory, as it is known today, was undoubtedly the most outstanding of them all. It was the site of the first electric induction furnace in the whole of Spain and one of the first blast furnaces in the Basque Country, as well as the first modern iron and steel company, together with Bolueta in Bizkaia.

The Ajuria factory has reached several milestones throughout its history, including the fact that in 1929 it became the only company in the country that continued to produce soft iron using the puddling process, and from 1933 it became the only producer of charcoal ingot. In 1906, it started up the first electric furnace in Spain to manufacture steel.

At the end of the 19th century, its owners built the "El Nacedero" dam to take greater advantage of the area's water resources.

In short, the Ajuria factory "made an innovative contribution to the analysis of the technological changes in the iron and steel industry, a profound knowledge of the markets -absolutely unknown until then-, the birth of the industrial cartels, extensive information on the standard of living of the workers and the strategies of a family business to reinvest profits Important firms such as Ajuria y Aranzábal, La Azucarera or La Iberia, the original core of Altos Hornos de Vizcaya, emerged from the plant's profits".

More Info about industrial tourism in the Basque Country: https://turismo.euskadi.eus/turismo-industrial/

Idiazabal region Step into the birthplace of one of the best cheeses in the world.

The Aizkorri-Aratz Natural Park and its surroundings are synonymous with Idiazabal cheese, one of the jewels of Basque gastronomy and one of the best sheep's cheeses in the world. The production of this cheese has been a thousand-year-old tradition and has held a Denomination of Origin for over 30 years. It takes its name from the village of Idiazabal, as it is the enclave most associated, since ancient times, with Latxa sheep's cheeses.

Its special flavour, balanced and intense, can be enjoyed in numerous catering establishments, but to learn more about the secrets of its production, we suggest you visit one of the cheese dairies or visit the Idiazabal Cheese Interpretation Centre, where they give us the keys to appreciate and taste Idiazabal cheese.

Idiazabal Cheese Interpretation Centre

Address: Nagusia Kalea 37, 20213, Idiazabal (Gipuzkoa)
Phone: +34 943 188 203
Email: info@idiazabalturismo.com

You can find all the cheese shops linked to the Idiazabal Denomination of Origin at: www.euskadigastronomika.eus/es/queserias

If you want to combine hiking with this gastronomic jewel you can also take the GR 283 - Idiazabal Cheese Trail, a 6-day route that passes through two natural parks Aizkorri-Aratz and Aralar where you can discover the secrets of the cheese. www.rutadelquesoidiazabal.com