Camino del Norte
13.7 km, 395 m up and 163 m down, through 2 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 Maariz. 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.
The camino follows the road to Lousada.
At the end of the small village the camino leaves the road. It turns left and begins a steep descent along a path. At the bottom is the A-8 and a large roundabout. The camino keeps to the north of the A-8 and follows along a series of roads into Gontán.
At the end of Gontán there is a small covered fountain opposite a sort of plaza/parking lot. Turn right to cross the parking lot and continue along the road on the opposite side, passing the Loran factory. This road ends at a junction, where you turn right and uphill to follow a pedestrian path up to the N-634 as it enters Abadín. Simply follow the curve of the road to the right.
At the end of the very short Abadín, the camino turns right (following the sign to the Correos) and when it reaches the Correos (post office) it turns left. The road here is paved and quiet. Keep an eye open for the grassy trail that leaves the road to your right. It descends to cross the river and eventually returns to pavement, turning left when it does. It enters the area of As Paredes after passing over the A-8.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 204 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 13.6 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.