Camino del Norte
27.6 km, 525 m up and 303 m down, through 12 places, 3 of which have somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from La Trocha. 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.
A hamlet on the approach to Villaviciosa. No services.
Pay close attention to the arrows through town. The camino follows a route which takes you past most of the more notable monuments, including the Ayuntamiento building, the monument to Carlos I, and the Iglesia de Santa María de la Oliva. At the church it turns left to follow the AS-255 out of town and to La Ferrería.
In La Ferrería the camino leaves the road and crosses the Río de la Ria. On the other side of the small river is La Parra.
Follow the road through the small village, but turn right at the end of town to follow the VV-10 in the direction of Grases. Casquita, and an important split in the camino, are 1km away.
For Oviedo and the Camino Primitivo: Turn left at the fork in the road in the direction of Camoca. The camino passes through several small hamlets on before arriving in San Pedro de Ambás: El Ronzon, La Fontana, El Campu, El Pelu Riva, and La Cruz. After La Cruz, at a small intersection with a picnic table in the middle, the camino splits. The camino is to the left, and the alternate route via Valdedíos is to the right. This alternate route adds 700m hundred meters and rejoins the camino at the Alto de la Campa. If you miss this turn, and still want to go through Valdedíos, stay on the road when you get to San Pedro de Ambás and there are more arrows directing you to Valdedíos.
In Casquita the Camino del Norte splits twice. Pay extra close attention to which route you chose as not all of them rejoin later.
At the first split, just past the chapel at the start of the village and indicated by two shells on a post, you are presented with the option to leave the Camino del Norte and head towards Oviedo and the start of the Camino Primitivo. If you wish to follow that trail (not described here) turn left. Otherwise keep on straight to follow the official camino.
Shortly ahead is the second split. Here the camino simply presents an option to stay on the road instead of turning left onto a lane. Here the road option is shorter and does not pass through Niévares.
The early 13th century Monasterio de Santa María de Valdedíos, and the 9th century Iglesia de San Salvador de Valdediós next to it, merit a detour. The Monastery is inhabited by a dozen or so Carmelite nuns who also run …
In San Pedro de Ambás the camino again splits, from the main road (AS-257) you again have the option to go to Valdedíos (1.5km).
Gas station and a small bar.
Follow the road signs towards Vega.
The camino passes through Barbechu, Aramante, and El Castru. From El Castru the camino can either follow the road or a trail. The trail passes through Aveno before returning briefly to the road. Between here and Vega de Poja there are many intersections of small country lanes. Keep an eye open for arrows at every junction.
The yellow arrows in Vega de Poja, which direct you to the right, are not quite the right yellow and could be dismissed as farm markings. They are not. However if you go wrong there are more arrows which will eventually bring you back to the right path.
The camino passes the municipal albergue and at the next roundabout follows signs to the barrio of La Carrera. At the highest point along this stretch, a large black billboard of a bull stands on the opposite hillside. The camino enters El Berrón along the back roads.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 250 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 27.1 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.