The Tidal Platform

Biotope, 0 km

LA INCESANTE ACCIÓN DEL MAR EN LAS COSTAS DE GIPUZKOA DEJA AL DESCUBIERTO PARAJES DE SINGULAR BELLEZA. EL FLYSCH COSTERO DE DEBA ES LA MEJOR PRUEBA DE ELLO.

Besides offering a spectacular beauty, the section of Gipuzkoa’s coast located between Zumaia and Deba shapes the richest marine ecosystem in the Basque Coast.

For millions of years, the strength of the Cantabrian Sea has been eroding the coast, and the alternation of hard and soft rock layers has created cliffs shaped as big ribcages or millefeuilles, known as ‘flysch’.

The tidal zone appears due to erosion too. It is a biologically rich bed of innumerable marine species. A future protected biotope, these cliffs attracts geologists from all around the world.

Valle de Lastur

4 km

HIDDEN, UNDERCOVER, FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD, BUT NOT RECONDITE AT ALL. THIS IS THE MOST PRETTY AND GENUINE VALLEY IN THE TERRITORY OF GIPUZKOA.

Sometimes nature likes hiding a big part of its charms. The Lastur Valley, halfway between the coast and the inland of Gipuzkoa, is a good example of this. First, in order to keep it far from prying eyes, it dressed the valley in green and luxuriance. Then, it buried the rivers between the mountain folds. Finally, it sprinkled it with silence and put it far from the madding crowd with high limestone summits. This is why Lastur is a world apart and has turned out to be one of the rural

paradises in Gipuzkoa.

The head of the watercourse is San Nicolás de Lastur, a pretty and quiet group of large houses accompanied by the outstanding profile of the mills, the small bullring and the hermitage. This is probably the biggest group of buildings we will find in the whole route. The rest of the valley is a series of fields inhabited by betizu cows, farmhouses devoted to the production of craft products like cheese or fabrics, and mixed forests of larches and, to a lesser extent, oaks. We will only need hiking boots or a mountain bike to make Lastur a familiar

and close landscape.

Pagoeta

Nature Reserve, 25 km

With the calcareous Hernio Gatzume massif as a backdrop, this park offers excellent panoramic views of the coast as well as the inland valleys. The park combines remarkable ridges and limestone hillsides, mixed deciduous and evergreen forests, meadows and scrublands, all in a peaceful and accessible environment.

There are a number geologically interesting areas, such as the Errezil river valley. Among the variety of fauna living in this habitat the birds of prey combing the area are particularly noteworthy. Mammals include species such as genets, martens, wildcats, badgers and foxes.

Humans have had a presence in Pagoeta for a long time, as is witnessed in the park’s megalithic monuments such as the

Otagain, Olarteta and Zaingo dolmens, the Munzin and Arreta tumuli (among others) and the cave dwellings of Erratia and Amaida in the Alzoralas valley. The park has several recreational and picnic areas equipped with tables, drinking fountains, children’s playgrounds and car parks. Another interesting place to visit is the Agorregi mill and iron works.

Urdaibai

Biosphere Reserve, 60 km

These 12 km of extensive sands making up the mouth of the Gernika Estuary, where salt and fresh water come together, constitute the most important humid area of the Basque Country and are of great international interest due to the fact that they are the favourite resting and wintering spot for many species of migratory birds rare to the Iberian Peninsula, such as purple heron, cormorant, tern, anatidae, spoonbills, seagulls and a large number of sandpipers, birds who eat the animals that live buried or half-buried in mud and sand.

These include curlew, dunlin, godwit, redshank, etc. Also interesting are the Cantabrian oak tree groves and the archaeological sites, including the impressive Santimamiñe cave in Kortezubi with interesting cave paintings.