Cueva de los moros. and Chemin de la Côte · 514 km from Puente la Reina de Jaca
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
514 km
Riding-time estimate
8 h 34
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Puente la Reina de Jaca it runs 514 km to Puente la Reina de Jaca; allow about 8 h 34 of riding. On the way it passes Hayedos de Navarra - Lizardoia, Chemin de la Côte and back through Hayedos de Navarra - Lizardoia. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,400 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Cueva de los moros.
There is a Cueva de los Moros in half the valleys of Spain. Every unexplained cave, ruin or rock shelter used to be credited to the Moors, and this one, in the hills of the western Aragonese Pyrenees between the valleys of Hecho and Ansó, is a rock shelter with ancient traces. You should approach it as an excuse to spend time in two of the most beautiful and least spoiled valleys of the Pyrenees, rather than as a monument.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva de los moros. is where the day begins. Next is Hayedos de Navarra - Lizardoia.
2. Hayedos de Navarra - Lizardoia
The Irati forest, straddling the border between Navarre and the French Basque Country, is one of the largest beech and fir forests in Europe, and Lizardoia is its wildest heart. This is a strictly protected reserve of primeval beech forest, where the trees have been left to grow, age and fall without human intervention, and it was inscribed in 2017 among Europe's ancient beech forests. Walking in the forest, you are surrounded by massive grey trunks, moss, ferns and the silence of a cathedral, broken only by birdsong and the rustle of leaves. Woodpeckers, including the rare white-backed woodpecker, live here, along with deer, wild boar and, in the high pastures, griffon vultures soaring overhead.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hayedos de Navarra - Lizardoia comes up about 88 km into the recorded legs. Next is Chemin de la Côte.
3. Chemin de la Côte
Irun is where the coastal Way of St James, the Camino del Norte, crosses from France into Spain, and pilgrims have been walking over the Bidasoa here for centuries. The river is the border, and in the middle of it sits the Isle of Pheasants, a scrap of land that has been governed jointly by both countries since the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, changing hands every six months. It is a peculiar, rather charming thing to stand on the bank and look at.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Cueva de los moros.. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Cueva de los moros. to Hayedos de Navarra - Lizardoia
Cueva de los moros. → Hayedos de Navarra - Lizardoia is 88 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hayedos de Navarra - Lizardoia to Chemin de la Côte
Hayedos de Navarra - Lizardoia → Chemin de la Côte is 169 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Chemin de la Côte to back through Hayedos de Navarra - Lizardoia
Chemin de la Côte → back through Hayedos de Navarra - Lizardoia is 169 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Hayedos de Navarra - Lizardoia to Cueva de los moros.
back through Hayedos de Navarra - Lizardoia → Cueva de los moros. is 88 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.