Detour Santa María de Eunate to Ermita de Nuestra Señora de Arnotegui?

[Excursionista]

Has anyone taken the Santa María de Eunate detour and then continued on to Puente la Reina via Ermita de Nuestra Señora de Arnotegui? The route looks promising on the map and the Ermita sounds like a nice stop based on people's reviews. Google maps estimates a 1.5 hour walk from Eunate past the Ermita to Puente la Reina.

Any tips or other thoughts from folks who have taken this route?

 

[Vacajoe]

The Camino Aragones passes right past those two sites, so you’ll be on a marked path if you go that way. It is it much longer than walking directly to Puente and definitely worth the effort if either of them are open to see inside.

 

[mspath]

Although I have walked to Eunate many times in the past I never went to the Ermita. The Ermita photos on Google look great. When you do go please write a post about your visit.

Carpe diem!

 

[DoughnutANZ]

I walked directly from Uterga and so it wasn't much out of the way. I had no problem finding my way although it isn't marked from Uterga. However, someone else said that they had difficulty finding the way from Uterga.

Check out the opening times if you want to go inside. When I was there in May 2019 it didn't open until (I think) 10am. It isn't open every day and usually is closed over Winter until some date in March.

 

[Excursionista]

Thanks for these helpful replies! I like the idea of diverting at Uterga and am glad to know the Ermita is on the Aragonés so should be easy to find from Eunate. Because I'd be visiting on a November Monday, I'm sadly not expecting to get to inside, but it still looks like a fun detour if I have enough daylight left when I get to Eunate. I'll let you know how it goes!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

The Camino Aragones passes right past those two sites, so you’ll be on a marked path if you go that way.

Eunate is on the Aragonese but the Camino Aragonese heads to and ends in Obanos. The Ermita is not far away but you have to find it yourself.

On the map, if you look close, you can see the Aragonese marked with scallop shells and the two churches. The ermita is located a bit north of the magnifying glass in the black band.

 

[Excursionista]

Eunate is on the Aragonese but the Camino Aragonese heads to and ends in Obanos. The Ermita is not far away but you have to find it yourself.

On the map, if you look close, you can see the Aragonese marked with scallop shells and the two churches. The ermita is located a bit north of the magnifying glass in the blak band.
View attachment 113062

Thanks for the clarification and the map, and good to know the elevation involved when I decide whether I have enough time/energy left for the Ermita!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Thanks for the clarification and the map, and good to know the elevation involved when I decide whether I have enough time/energy left for the Ermita!

I should have mentioned that the topographic map came with the Spanish government's Mapas de España GPS app. It's somewhat complicated so I don't use it much but it is great when you want a topo map.

 

[Vacajoe]

the Camino Aragonese heads to and ends in Obanos

Not true! The CA ends in Puente where it merges into the CF (some would even argue that it “ends” in Santiago, but that’s a discussion for a separate thread).

After visiting Eunate, one can take a side road to the Ermita, slightly bypassing Obanos. Basically, take the NA-6064 to the NA-6063. It’s about a 30 minute walk from the Ermita to Puente on that same road.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I see on one of my other GPS apps, OSMand, that our problem is there are alternative branches to the caminos. Here is a screenshot:

 

[Excursionista]

I found this very appealing Wikiloc trail that seems to go more directly than what I was envisioning as I looked at Google maps. Only about 6km from Eunate to Puente la Reina via the Ermita (though obviously much hillier than the route back past Obanos). If I get to give it a try, I'll let you know how it goes, but I figured I'd post it now in case anyone finds this thread when looking to do something similar.

 

[Vacajoe]

What you realize after awhile is that though there are truly some ancient paths, most have been so reconfigured in the past centuries that ANY path from where you are to SdC is a Camino path (just don’t tell the folks in the Pilgrim Office that!). I love utilizing maps.me (a free app) to find alternative ways to getting to where I want to go without sacrificing what I want to see simply because a yellow arrow painted in the past 20 years tells me otherwise. Buen Camino!

 

[Excursionista]

So... this was a great detour! The trail from Eunate to Arnotegui was very scenic and easy enough to follow. Imagine my surprise when, after our discussion and some internet research into this seemingly obscure detour, there was a giant signboard describing the route in the Eunate parking lot!

The only important intersection that wasn't marked was the second after leaving the parking lot. At the first, the sign shows Obanos and Puente la Reina to the right and Arnotegui to the left. The second fork wasn't labeled, but the sharp right takes you to the more direct and steep forest trail, and the left keeps you on the longer, gentler dirt road (zero vehicles on it when I was there).

If you follow the white and dark green posts (and sometimes posts with arrows on the top), the trail switchbacks up through the forest, follows the ridge for awhile, and then descends a bit to the now much higher road on the other side of the ridge. The Wikiloc trail I was consulting (not the same one as above but similar) then followed the dirt road around to Arnotegui.

I, however, took the absurdly steep trail that goes straight ahead when the road veers to the left just past a large agricultural building. This route is marked with another white and dark green post and follows the ridgeline up and down several steep inclines all the way to Arnotegui. I loved being able to see the views in both directions but would NOT want to go this way with a heavy pack. It's much steeper than anything on the way up or down Alto del Perdón.

I would also NOT want to take the forest trail, and especially not the ridgeline trail in the rain, but the road looked pretty well designed and like it might be ok in wet weather.

Leaving Arnotegui via the wide driveway, you can take a right onto the trail you'll see below you and follow that down into Puente la Reina.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Imagine my surprise when, after our discussion and some internet research into this seemingly obscure detour, there was a giant signboard describing the route in the Eunate parking lot!

I'm curious; were there similar signs at Arnotegui showing the way to Eunate and to Puente la Reina?

Thanks for making the report.

 

[Excursionista]

I'm curious; were there similar signs at Arnotegui showing the way to Eunate and to Puente la Reina?

Thanks for making the report.

Apologies for the very slow reply - I just noticed how to see replies to past posts. I turned off onto the footpath to Puente la Reina before hitting the main road, so I didn't see whether there was similar signage in the opposite direction.

 

[Mikel Olivares]

Not true! The CA ends in Puente where it merges into the CF (some would even argue that it “ends” in Santiago, but that’s a discussion for a separate thread).

After visiting Eunate, one can take a side road to the Ermita, slightly bypassing Obanos. Basically, take the NA-6064 to the NA-6063. It’s about a 30 minute walk from the Ermita to Puente on that same road.

The Camino Francés and the Aragonés join at Obanos, no at Puente la Reina.
Not in the town but yes on the municipal term.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I recently tried to find this thread and I found it a bit difficult. I think I may need to find the thread again so I'm submitting this post with a list of keywords so that future uses of the forum search engine looking for my posts with a good number of the keywords will find it quicker.

Santa María de Eunate
Ermita de Nuestra Señora de Arnotegui
Obanos
Puente de Reina
Puente la Reina
Camino Aragonese
Camino Aragones
alternative
variant