Camino De San Salvador
25.6 km, 474 m up and 355 m down, through 6 places, 1 of which has somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from León. Most are too small to sleep in — a fountain, a chapel, a bar that may or may not be open — but they are what the day is actually made of.
Leave León by way of the road behind the Parador San Marcos. Facing the parador, cross the square to your right and follow the path around the building. Arrows dedicated to the San Salvador route appear quickly, along with a distinctive mojón. The first stretch is urban but straightforward, following the N-630 north through the outskirts of the city. You'll pass through industrial areas before the landscape opens up into farmland.
The camino follows along the main road right to the end of Carbajal, where it turns to dirt. It's well marked. On the way to the next village, the path passes the Fuente de Villabura, a fountain and rest area for pilgrims.
The Fuente de Villabura marks the site of a long-abandoned medieval settlement. The fountain still provides water and the shaded rest area is a welcome stop on a hot day. Little remains of the original village beyond sca…
A wayside fountain named for San Pelayo (Saint Pelagius), the 10th-century boy martyr from Galicia whose cult was widely venerated across northern Spain. The fountain is a useful water stop along this stretch where servi…
Avoid accidentally following the road out of Cabanillas. The camino turns right at the edge of town and follows along a hiking trail through an oak forest to La Seca. It's a pleasant stretch after the road walking, with shade and soft ground underfoot.
If you don't cross the bridge to La Seca, keep straight ahead with the bridge on your left to continue on the camino. The path continues along easy terrain toward Cascantes.
In Cascantes the camino crosses the main road and follows a paved side road into and through the town. At the end, it rejoins the main road to La Robla. There's a large power plant at the edge of town.
There is an alternative route at the end of Cascantes signed "Por Llanos de Alba." This variant bypasses the entrance to La Robla and much of the busy road walking, taking you directly to the municipal albergue. If you're not interested in the town center, it's the better option.
The camino from La Robla, once you get past the end of town, follows a pleasant path adjacent to the river. It passes a restored aqueduct — a nice piece of industrial heritage from the mining era. The terrain begins to change here as you enter the Gordón valley and the first foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains appear ahead.
Between La Robla and Buiza the Camino del Salvador coexists with the Camino Olvidado, but they run in opposite directions. It's not hard to keep them apart, but if you get disoriented easily, check your map from time to time. Follow the Salvador arrows heading north.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 510 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 25.7 km.
Esta entidad ha sido beneficiaria de una ayuda del Programa de incentivos a la movilidad eficiente y sostenible (MOVES III), gestionado por la Xunta de Galicia a través del Instituto Enerxético de Galicia (INEGA) en el marco del Real Decreto 266/2021, y cofinanciada por la Unión Europea — NextGenerationEU, dentro del Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia.