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Montes de Hierro Greenway Nature Trail. Galdames - Sopuerta section
Description
The Burdimendi mining route
From the industrial area of La Aceña, in the municipality of Galdames, to the district of El Hoyo, this Nature Trail runs across the platform of the old railway that travelled between Traslaviña, in the south of Bizkaia, and Castro Urdiales, crossing the historic mining valleys of the Basque Country. This section allows trail users to enjoy great peacefulness and tranquillity constantly surrounded by a thick plant cover, hence offering an environment in which to enjoy Basque nature in all its splendour.
This itinerary starts next to the industrial area of La Aceña in Galdames and its mostly runs along a railway track that transported passengers and minerals from the interior valleys of Bizkaia that reached the coast to unload iron at the sea ports. The Atxurriaga a Gallarta Nature Trail con also be folowwed from this point.
Bordering the industrial estate, the trail begins along a short pavement section which, crossing the road that accesses the industrial estate and following a wooden railing, soon plunges into the vegetation and moves away from industrial activity and traffic to go through an underpass that crosses the BI-3632 highway.
You then walk along a track that is restricted for motorised traffic where you will soon cross the ford of a stream that can be flooded when it rains. When you pass this point, you will enter an area of thicker plant cover where there are oaks (Quercus robur), chestnuts (Castanea sativa), eucalyptus trees (Eucalyptus globulus), ferns (Pteridium aquilinum) and ivy (Hedera helix). This species create an ongoing corridor of trees, only cut, on some occasions, by clearings created for the railway platform which forces you to pass over small man-made gorges in different sections of the trail.
Following the trail, you will reach a detour which goes down some wooden steps and accesses the large recreational area of Aguas Juntas, located next to the River Galdames and the BI-3632 highway, where you can enjoy a pleasant rest.
If you take the path again from the area of Aguas Juntas by climbing up the steps leading to it, you will continue walking among dense vegetation where, now close to the River Mercadillo, you can also see species such as dogwood (Cornus sanguinea), alder trees (Alnus glutinosa), pine trees (Pinus radiata) and Italian maples (Acer opalus). In order to cross the Mercadillo river, there is a wooden walkway from where you can see the gallery forest of the river much better.
A little after crossing the walkway, you will reach the district of Arenao, now in the municipality of Sopuerta, where you will find a majestic wooden walkway that makes it easier for trail users to cross the BI-2701 highway. Once you have crossed over the bridge there is a bench to rest and some information panels. Nearby, there is a coloured building, el Arenao the wastewater treatment plant, iin Sopuerta.
Then, you follow the trail by entering a forested area once again, where ivy decorates the trunks of oak, chestnut and hazelnut (Corylus avellana) trees in an arbitrary manner, livening up the environment. When you leave the forest, you reach an area of meadow and vegetable garden plots where you carefully cross a couple of local roads that lead to other districts in Sopuerta.
Carry on until you cross an old tunnel, where the train used to pass under the BI- 3601 highway, and you will now be very close to the district of El Castaño. On reaching this district, there is another resting area and a detour is signposted where you will find, some 900 maway from the nature trail, two impressive old calcination furnaces from where the iron that was used in the mines was obtained.
The route continues to cross the district where, until you will get to another resting area at the exit from El Castaño. By continuing along the route for over a kilometre, crossing meadows and small man-made narrow gorges, created for the train to pass through, you will reach the end of the Nature Trail in the district of El Hoyo.
Sites of interest
Profile
MIDE (Method for the Information of Excursions)
Harshness of natural environment- 1. The environment is not risk-free
- 2. There are more than one risk factors
- 3. There are various risk factors
- 4. There are quite a lot of risk factors
- 5. There are many risk factors
Guidance along the route- 1. Well defined trails and crossings
- 2. There is a clearly marked trail and signage
- 3. Requires the identification of geographic features and cardinal points
- 4. Requires off-path navigation
- 5. The trail is interrupted by obstacles that have to be gone around
Route difficulty- 1. Walking on a flat surface
- 2. Trails with different types of path
- 3. Walking on stepped paths or irregular terrain
- 4. The use of hands or jumping over the terrain is necessary
- 5. The use of hands is required to progress
Amount of effort needed- 1. Up to 1 hour of continuous walking
- 2. Between 1 and 3 hours of continuous walking
- 3. Between 3 and 6 hours of continuous walking
- 4. Between 6 and 10 hours of actual walking
- 5. More than 10 hours of continuous walking
Featured
Further information
Las Encartaciones museum
In the district of La Abellaneda, in Sopuerta, the historic building known as the old Casa de Juntas de Avellaneda is located. Propierty of the Juntas Generales of Bizkaia (legislative body of the province), it is located in the historic 16th century building of “Casa de Juntas de Abellaneda”, the venue for the general assemblies of the representatives of the region from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, when the assemblies were no longer held due to the fact that the region was annexed to the Dominion of Bizkaia
The building has currently been restored and is home to Las Encartaciones Museum, which comprises ten exhibition halls that display the historic development of the region from Pre-History up until the 19th century. The visit offers an historical, political, ethnographical and patrimonial vision of the past and present life of Las Encartaciones region. The access is free.
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