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The alternative route down to Roncesvalles

Cambridge Pilgrim

Active Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Part walked / part cycled September 2014 SJPdP to SdC
Walked SJPdP to SdC summer 2017
We've walked the Camino twice; first time we approached Roncesvalles by the 'traditional' route through the woods. Last year we took the 'alternative' route down the road.

Question... when you get to the bottom of the hill on the road route, is there a marked route which allows you to get to Roncesvalles without walking along the main road? I'm not sure if we missed it or it just doesn't exist.

Planning for number 3 next year... :)

Thanks in advance.
 
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St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Ooooh! Do you divert off the downhill before the bottom? I'm busy scouting Street View on GoogleMaps now for clues! :D
 
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Being honest, (now!) I'm not sure why more people don't take the alternative route rather than risk life and limb (... well ankles and knees) through the forest. Much better scenery too!
 
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Take the yellow arrow, joining up with the traditional route just before reaching the albergue.

Being honest, (now!) I'm not sure why more people don't take the alternative route rather than risk life and limb (... well ankles and knees) through the forest. Much better scenery too!

View attachment 46204
And the horses, I loved them, just standing on the side of the road in groups, mildly interested in us.
 
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to Cambridge Pilgrim - your yellow arrow leaving the path is premature. Keep going all the way to the main asphalt road but don't cross it. Turn left and walk on the grass this side of the asphalt road.

in the post under yours by Felipe, click on "here" the last word in blue bold type to see a 360 view where the path parallels the asphalt road.

If you turn at your yellow arrow, it will still work of course but it's not the intended and marked turn like the one at the asphalt road and it might be through private property.
 
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@twh is right. You need to go down to the main road coming up from SJPP; that is where you turn into a marked path to the left that leads to Roncesvalles. You can see the path and the waymarkers - both the stone waymarkers typical for the Camino Frances and the wooden waymarker pole typical for the GRs - in Streetview at this point. You can also see it all clearly marked in a proper map such as the online map of the Spanish Geographical Institute Iberpix. And it is well explained in the visual map that the pilgrims office in SJPP hands out. The correct path is also already shown in @trecile's screenshots in post #6!

Edited due to updates in this thread.
 
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We walked it 3 days ago and it is well marked. Tell the pilgrim office you are going that way and they provide a guide with pictures.
 
We've walked the Camino twice; first time we approached Roncesvalles by the 'traditional' route through the woods. Last year we took the 'alternative' route down the road.

Question... when you get to the bottom of the hill on the road route, is there a marked route which allows you to get to Roncesvalles without walking along the main road? I'm not sure if we missed it or it just doesn't exist.

Planning for number 3 next year... :)

Thanks in advance.
On your left through what I can only describe as a garden gate. Does not seem to save much time though as the pilgrims we were with missed it and did not hear us call them. We all arrived within minutes of each other
 
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Thanks tpmchugh. :) It was more a safety thing really.
 
So to make sure, is this col Lepoeder, or a little after?
And to go down the alternate route (instead of the forest) which side would I use? -- go through the grass or stay on the road?
trecile's second picture confuses me, as to where the split between the path for the forest and the route takes place.
When you follow the left hand side on my picture, you arrive at the small church, but I don't see/can't find the spot on google maps where you go right to get onto the road that leads to ibaneta.(Col lepoeder). I guess it's not on Gmaps..?
 

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So to make sure, is this col Lepoeder, or a little after?
And to go down the alternate route (instead of the forest) which side would I use?
I believe that it's past just that. Look at the map that I posted above. The alternative trail goes to the right. That's a screenshot from my Buen Camino app. Their website is in Spanish, but you choose your own language for the app. When I was on that part of the Camino last year there were actually two arrows painted on the road, one that said "the hard way", and the other "the easy way."

Here's the map from Gronze.com - it should be the red dashed lineroute napoleon.jpg
 
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So to make sure, is this col Lepoeder, or a little after?
And to go down the alternate route (instead of the forest) which side would I use? -- go through the grass or stay on the road?
trecile's second picture confuses me, as to where the split between the path for the forest and the route takes place.
When you follow the left hand side on my picture, you arrive at the small church, but I don't see/can't find the spot on google maps where you go right to get onto the road that leads to ibaneta.(Col lepoeder). I guess it's not on Gmaps..?
Don't overthink it, please. You'll ruin the start of your Camino!

If it is rainy take the right or left option. If it is dry take right or the left option.
It's the same as with backpacks, footwear etc. We don't know you. And you don't know how you will feel on that particular day. And you definitely don't know what the weather will be like.

I wanted to write that you come back once at Orisson and we'll help but then remembered what sort of weather I had: fog, sunshine, light drizzle, sunshine, small hail, fog, sunshine. And at Rncesvalles - dark. Could you imagine? The night happened. Most strange :)

Buen Camino!
 
thank you. I got the app, it said I made a purchase for the Frances map.... we'll see where that amount turns up!
The app is amazing, thanks!
 
@camster , the picture that you posted doesn't look like the spot where the split occurs. As I recall, when you go towards the right on the alternate the path is mostly paved.
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
We've walked the Camino twice; first time we approached Roncesvalles by the 'traditional' route through the woods. Last year we took the 'alternative' route down the road.

Question... when you get to the bottom of the hill on the road route, is there a marked route which allows you to get to Roncesvalles without walking along the main road? I'm not sure if we missed it or it just doesn't exist.

Planning for number 3 next year... :)

Thanks in advance.
We walked along the road for less than 1p0 yds.
 
I know she and everyone else will probably figure it out. In retrospect, it turns out there are not many options to choose from so all roads/paths lead to Roncevalles. However I know it doesn't feel quite that sanguine when it's your first time through, you are already pretty exhausted, it's raining, it's cold, it's so foggy you can't see 20 meters, the signage is missing and all the other people around you are just as confused and uncertain. If you need assurance check out the screen shots from Google earth below in my next 4 or 5 postings here. If this is not enough information to get you through, send me a round trip ticket and I'll hold your hand as we navigate this "bermuda triangle"
SS1 30K feet.png
 
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The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Being honest, (now!) I'm not sure why more people don't take the alternative route rather than risk life and limb (... well ankles and knees) through the forest. Much better scenery too!

Why the way through the woods petfect apart for first 500mts. Protection from sun or rair or snow or wind. Did you ever try to find the road covered in a few meters of snow buen camino
 
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Thank you @twh for those captioned pictures. I have not been at the triangle of confusion but I've done lots of googling (for maps, descriptions, photos) to create something similar but there is no way I could have done the job as well as you. I agree with your directions. The problem is that walkers are directed off the road onto the grassy area and down the path into the center of the triangle of confusion where they find a confusing sign. If this path would be marked as a short cut to be avoided walkers would take the road to end up in the same spot that the confusing easy way path would go. And just before that spot, on the left hand side of the road as they walk, will be the Camino through the woods that causes so many walkers to have so much trouble in bad weather due to tougher trail conditions.
 
I love that walk through the woods -- it's actually more enjoyable going upwards in the opposite direction, but then the whole hike Roncesvalles >> SJPP is delightful, nearly all of it downhill ... :p
 
the whole hike Roncesvalles >> SJPP is delightful, nearly all of it downhill ... :p
Actually those who go to SJPdP through Spain should consider starting from Roncesvalles and walking to St. Jean one way, spending the night and then head back to Roncesvalles the next day by the other route. Choice of order would likely be weather dependent.
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Why the way through the woods petfect apart for first 500mts. Protection from sun or rair or snow or wind. Did you ever try to find the road covered in a few meters of snow buen camino

Have you done it recently? Asking because in July the Pilgrim Office was issuing a flyer, stating it was dangerous. There had been heavy rainfalls this Spring causing landslides (hence the train being replaced by the bus to repair damage for instance)....

So I would like to know if that walk through the woods has deteriorated (enough) to make it dangerous.... I last walked it in 2013, that’s quite a while ago.... (I didn’t ask the Pilgrim’s Office because I only saw the flyer later....)

Anyone walked it recently?
 
I love that walk through the woods -- it's actually more enjoyable going upwards in the opposite direction, but then the whole hike Roncesvalles >> SJPP is delightful, nearly all of it downhill ... :p

Yes Jabbapapa, I was looking forward to experiencing the old growth forest on the woods route. I had decided I would walk it despite the info we were given cautioning us against it IF I could find one other pilgrim to go along with me. All of that was moot because I never walked by the trailhead.

In Roncevalles I talked with people who had taken the woods route and they said it was beautiful and it was not icy. From what I "heard" in Roncevalles, the trail really was icy and closed with a guard stationed there the day before, 5/13. But on the day we walked it had warmed up enough to melt the ice. We were walking in temperatures between 38 F and 42 F for most of the day with consistent rain, a little gentle hail and a few snowflakes falling. There were also intermittent patches of snow a few inches deep but they did not hinder us in anyway, they just added to the beauty of the experience.

I attached a picture below of 3 people walking in the fog that day. The lens of the camera lets in a lot more light than our eyes do so the untouched photo looks pretty clear, bright and cheery. The other darker photo is closer to what it looked like through my eyes.

fog actual.jpgfog.jpg
 
Have you done it recently? Asking because in July the Pilgrim Office was issuing a flyer, stating it was dangerous. There had been heavy rainfalls this Spring causing landslides (hence the train being replaced by the bus to repair damage for instance)....

So I would like to know if that walk through the woods has deteriorated (enough) to make it dangerous.... I last walked it in 2013, that’s quite a while ago.... (I didn’t ask the Pilgrim’s Office because I only saw the flyer later....)

Anyone walked it recently?

11 times in last 7 years latest end of april 2018. No problems.
 
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Why the way through the woods petfect apart for first 500mts. Protection from sun or rair or snow or wind. Did you ever try to find the road covered in a few meters of snow buen camino
500metres is quite a distance when every step feels like walking on a banana skin laid on a bed of greased ball-bearings... as it did one July!!I I have VERY bad knees so the road is definitely the better option for me.

Last time, I also saw the benefit on the descent down to Zubiri. My joints were still in good enough shape to get down there much more easily.

Horses for courses I guess... and this horse is a little lame! ;)
 
Thanks tpmchugh. :) It was more a safety thing really.
De Nada. I dont like walking on the roads either and the few minutes I spent at Ibañetta, I saw enough traffic to have no desire to get into it. Last April when the river at Puente la Reina wiped out the camino trail leaving the town, the locals told us we must take the road. We started up the road but the traffic was so heavy and close to us, we turned back to the town and got a bus
 
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De Nada. I dont like walking on the roads either and the few minutes I spent at Ibañetta, I saw enough traffic to have no desire to get into it. Last April when the river at Puente la Reina wiped out the camino trail leaving the town, the locals told us we must take the road. We started up the road but the traffic was so heavy and close to us, we turned back to the town and got a bus

Highwaymen, malnutrition, and gangrenous toes notwithstanding, it must’ve been great walking the Camino in earlier times without any risk of being mown down by a juggernaut! I guess we can’t pick and choose what we accept as progress...unfortunately. :)
 
First time I reached Ibañeta, I missed the path.
Yes, it is between the signpost and the panel, click here

Which path do you refer to exactly ? I'll be there on the 1st of October and do not wish to go down through the woods, but rather by the scenic ('open') path.
 
Which path do you refer to exactly ? I'll be there on the 1st of October and do not wish to go down through the woods, but rather by the scenic ('open') path.
Please go to the Pilgrims Office in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port when you arrive. You will get up to date information including an updated illustrated leaflet that shows you clearly which path to take at the point marked as Col de Lepoeder (1410m) so that you don't go through the woods (see below):

 
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Yes I will, as planned, d'ailleurs. Merci !
 
Merci ! Bien hâte de descendre à Saint-Palais pour commencer ! :)
 
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Which path do you refer to exactly ? I'll be there on the 1st of October and do not wish to go down through the woods, but rather by the scenic ('open') path.
Annie, we were talking about the descent from Ibañeta chapel to Roncesvalles, where many pilgrims get confused (or, alternatively, prefer) and take the paved road, instead of the path by the woods.
This isssue is different to the options at Col de Lepoeder (rout Napolleon); or the alternatives from Saint Jean Pied de Port, between the Napolleon and the Valcarlos way.
This stage requires some planning in advance, especially in autumn; after all, it is a mountain pass. In the rest of stages, you can just follow the arrows and the flow of pilgrims,
The Camino is beautiful in October. I did it, and have very warm memories.
 
I just walked the Route Napoleon last week, in the fog unfortunately most of the time. At the top I was told not to go straight through the woods where i saw most pilgrims go! The volunteers warned us it is slippery. The sign in spanish warns us of very steep slopes. There are two big yellow arrows on the tree to the right, follow a small paved road with no traffic and the red and white blaze for the GR 19. As mentionned before accross the chapel there is a gate leading to the path through the field. Enjoy!
 
Thank you @twh for those captioned pictures. I have not been at the triangle of confusion but I've done lots of googling (for maps, descriptions, photos) to create something similar but there is no way I could have done the job as well as you. I agree with your directions. The problem is that walkers are directed off the road onto the grassy area and down the path into the center of the triangle of confusion where they find a confusing sign. If this path would be marked as a short cut to be avoided walkers would take the road to end up in the same spot that the confusing easy way path would go. And just before that spot, on the left hand side of the road as they walk, will be the Camino through the woods that causes so many walkers to have so much trouble in bad weather due to tougher trail conditions.
Fully agree, @twh and @Rick of Rick and Peg . @twh, you did a splendid job with Google Streetview. While I was looking for something else, I came across the photo below which I think splendidly captures the movements of those who enter the triangle of confusion. If they follow the paved road at this point immediately after the Lepoeder pass as some people do (4 persons on the left in this photo) - and some of those have obviously second thoughts (2 of these 4) - they will quickly come to a sharp bend of the road to the right and the next thing they see are very obvious camino markers that lead them straight down the steep forest path. They never come even close to the multidirectional wooden way marker ...

 
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Fully agree, @twh and @Rick of Rick and Peg . @twh, you did a splendid job with Google Streetview. While I was looking for something else, I came across the photo below which I think splendidly captures the movements of those who enter the triangle of confusion. If they follow the paved road at this point immediately after the Lepoeder pass as some people do - and some of those have obviously seconds thoughts - they will quickly come to a sharp bend of the road to the right and the next thing they see are very obvious camino markers that lead them down the steep forest path. They never come even close to the multidirectional wooden way marker ...

We did that last week and it was very gentle on the knees. A bit longer, I understand, but definitely easier
 
Being honest, (now!) I'm not sure why more people don't take the alternative route rather than risk life and limb (... well ankles and knees) through the forest. Much better scenery too!
I actually think the Forest Route is beautiful. The risky part(I think) are those awful gulleys you have to navigate(I was forced to sit on the edge and slide down into the trench) in order to get going at all. It is pretty rough at the start, I must admit, but that's only at the entrance. The cool forest , birdsong and less human traffic was great after that endless trek from Orisson.
 
What happened to spontaneous and surprises around every corner☺ thats what the camino is all about!! Dont overplan and go with the flow ! Youre experience will be better!! Its not the arctic and youle be fine and more proud of youreself!
 
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