Camino del Norte
25.1 km, 355 m up and 409 m down, through 9 places, 8 of which have somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Otur. 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 keeps to this back road through Otur. It follows a not very straight path, and its twists and turns are designed to lessen the steepness of the climb up the Monte Faro. It doesn't climb all the way to the top thankfully, just far enough to get around the nearby A-8. The descent is steeper and brings you to the N-634 once again, which descends to the bottom of the shallow river valley and to Bao.
In Bao the camino follows the N-634 over the Río Barayu but quickly leaves it along a path on the left, charting a different course up this hillside to Villapedre.
In Villapedre the camino follows along the N-634, but only very briefly. Do not miss the arrow to your right which takes you back onto a country road and over the railway tracks. It is the quieter path to Piñera but does require you to cross back over the N-634 again.
The roads in these parts, you may have noticed, are a web of country lanes which are not altogether very straightforward. Leaving Piñera you may or may not cross the railway line twice. But you will certainly return to the N-634 for a brief strech of walking along the road. It leave to the right onto another path and passes through Villaoril.
Continue along the country road that brought you into Villaoril all the way to La Colorada, where you are greeted by a gas station and several industrial warehouses on your left.
Not far past the industrial buildings there are a few homes, and the camino turns left to take a quieter road to Navia.
Beyond Jarrio the camino mostly avoids the N-634 and instead keeps to the countryside back roads. Once it crosses over the A-8 however that pattern changes, and it follows the main road into Cartavio. From Cartavio to La Caridad it then struggles to stay off the road, leaving for brief stretches but alway returning to it. In La Caridad, after passing the municipal albergue, it returns to the old N-634 through town.
Beyond Jarrio the camino mostly avoids the N-634 and instead keeps to the countryside back roads. Once it crosses over the A-8 however that pattern changes, and it follows the main road into Cartavio. From Cartavio to La Caridad it then struggles to stay off the road, leaving for brief stretches but alway returning to it. In Cartavio, after passing the municipal albergue, it returns to the old N-634 through town.
A hamlet on the road between Navia and La Caridad. No services.
A hamlet between Cartavio and La Caridad. No services.
The way through La Caridad is entirely along the old N-634 which will eventual meet up with the new N-634. Just before it does, the camino leaves both roads to follow a different road to the left. You will return to and cross the N-634 on the way into Valdepares, and you will then return to and cross it once more on the way out of Valdepares.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 394 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 25 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.