GunnarW
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2011+ > Spain, Belgium, France
Read the previous episode here: https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...e-camino-frances-1-lintzoain-zabaldika.86049/
This is episode two looking for alternatives around the Camino Frances. There is something attractive between Estella and Los Arcos. Most will have seen the beautiful cliffs on the right.
Surely it must be great to be able to walk up those. I have studied that and there are effectively places where you can hike easily up. However, those cliffs are about 20 km away. So you already need two days and then you have to look for accommodation options nearby. Maybe next time. Between Estella and Los Arcos I did take the alternative left, through an oak forest. A very nice stretch however you then miss the passage past Villamayor de Monjardín. That circuit is described and signposted.
Here's another alternative I discovered myself. This short circuit is not signposted. It is therefore best to follow it using a GPS or application on your smartphone. I use Mapy CZ and did a download of the country Spain in advance so that I can view the map even if there is no or poor coverage. I do recommend this.
2. PANTANO DE LA GRAJERA - NAVARRETE
After Logroño, walk to the park which ends at the Grajera reservoir. After the reservoir, the camino runs to the N120 and then continues to Navarrete. I remembered that you come across 1 of 91 remaining Osborne bulls standing on a knoll. I looked at the map and saw that there was a possibility to bypass the stretch along the N120 and basically arrive at the bull.
At the grape field, there is a little road uphill. That leads to a fence. Walk on the road to the left between the grape / olive field and the fence. At the ROAD WORKS point, work was in progress (no workmen were seen) and there was a plastic ribbon stretched because one day, I suspect, they were going to pour a concrete trench. I easily found the road towards the bull by going under the ribbon. Probably the workmen didn't think they had blocked a path with the ribbon. Then again, not many walkers will be hanging around there either. Once at the bull, you do get a sense of how the monument is put together. And you also get a nice view. You easily walk back to the Camino Frances.
Length of the extra circuit: 3.4 km, good for an hour.
Length of the Camino Frances you don't walk: 1.7 km, good for 20 minutes.
So ideal if you are going to spend the night in Naverrete and have some spare time.
This is episode two looking for alternatives around the Camino Frances. There is something attractive between Estella and Los Arcos. Most will have seen the beautiful cliffs on the right.
Surely it must be great to be able to walk up those. I have studied that and there are effectively places where you can hike easily up. However, those cliffs are about 20 km away. So you already need two days and then you have to look for accommodation options nearby. Maybe next time. Between Estella and Los Arcos I did take the alternative left, through an oak forest. A very nice stretch however you then miss the passage past Villamayor de Monjardín. That circuit is described and signposted.Here's another alternative I discovered myself. This short circuit is not signposted. It is therefore best to follow it using a GPS or application on your smartphone. I use Mapy CZ and did a download of the country Spain in advance so that I can view the map even if there is no or poor coverage. I do recommend this.
2. PANTANO DE LA GRAJERA - NAVARRETE
After Logroño, walk to the park which ends at the Grajera reservoir. After the reservoir, the camino runs to the N120 and then continues to Navarrete. I remembered that you come across 1 of 91 remaining Osborne bulls standing on a knoll. I looked at the map and saw that there was a possibility to bypass the stretch along the N120 and basically arrive at the bull.
At the grape field, there is a little road uphill. That leads to a fence. Walk on the road to the left between the grape / olive field and the fence. At the ROAD WORKS point, work was in progress (no workmen were seen) and there was a plastic ribbon stretched because one day, I suspect, they were going to pour a concrete trench. I easily found the road towards the bull by going under the ribbon. Probably the workmen didn't think they had blocked a path with the ribbon. Then again, not many walkers will be hanging around there either. Once at the bull, you do get a sense of how the monument is put together. And you also get a nice view. You easily walk back to the Camino Frances.
Length of the extra circuit: 3.4 km, good for an hour.
Length of the Camino Frances you don't walk: 1.7 km, good for 20 minutes.
So ideal if you are going to spend the night in Naverrete and have some spare time.
