Camino del Norte
21 km, 186 m up and 171 m down, through 5 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 Peñacastillo. 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 does not leave the N-611 until it gets to the border between Santander and Peñacastillo, a point which is marked. Here it turns right and then immediately after crossing over the railway it turns left. This road winds a bit but is well marked, taking you under two large highways and into Santa Cruz de Bezana.
The only tricky part about Santa Cruz is getting to the albergue, which requires a detour from the official camino. It is left-hand turn at the church, at a junction with the CA-300. This will take you back over the railway, and then over the A-67. Immediately after the A-67, where it bends to the right, a set of stairs on your left take you down to the level of the N-611. If you choose this route note that it is not necessary to retrace your steps, this option will rejoin the official camino further down the N-611. The official camino keeps going straight at the church and to Mompia.
The road into Mompía ends and the camino turns left past several residential areas, the Mortera train station, and the Mompía hospital. Past the hospital it turns right at the roundabout. When it gets to the Barrio Vivero it leaves this road for another on the right.
It is near Mompía that the local utility company has taken to marking their services with yellow arrows. As you would imagine this creates a bit of confusion and it might lead you astray if you are not paying enough attention. Although the yellow is the same their orientation is usually not; they are drawn upside down with the arrowhead at the bottom. They almost alway involve a bend in the arrow, and they are adjacent to a series of stenciled numbers.
Once in Boo it is possible to cross the train tracks at the platforms, though do exercise caution. This is the shortest path to the Albergue Piedad. The arrows will otherwise take you around town (it is a small town) on the main road and over the railway.
Once upon a time the camino between Boo and Mogro required pilgrims to cross the river along the very narrow FEVE railway bridge. This is now prohibited and enforced by the locals and the police. It is dangerous and very much to be avoided. This leaves pilgrims with three options:1. Hop on the train at Boo for a two minute journey across the bridge the legit way.2. Follow the arrows south to cross the river at Arce and then turn back north to Mogro, a well marked journey of 9.4km. 3. Follow the arrows south to cross the river at Arce and then continue on a newly marked alternate from Puente Arce.
Arce and Puente Arce are technically the same town but spread out enough to feel separate. The grocery store is near the church at the upper end; the restaurants cluster closer to the river and bridge.
After crossing the bridge in Puente Arce the camino turns right to follow the paved CA-232 all the way to Mogro.
There is now an alternate route for the second half of this option, which goe from Puente Arce to Requejada without having to turn north to go to Mogro. This option would follow near the N-611 which connects Arce to Requejada and Polanco.Be mindful that new arrows have been painted at a junction after crossing the bridge. This alternate route will take you through Oruña and Mar before entering Requejada via Polanco.
If you have arrived in Mogro via the train from Boo, follow the road from the train station up to the CA-232. On the opposite side of the roundabout there are arrows painted on the stone retaining wall, directing you to the left and uphill to rejoin the official route as it too climbs into town.The path through town is essentially counter clockwise around the conical hillside to your left. When you get to the far end of town avoid all signs directing you to the Senda Litoral. The camino passes to the left of the Iglesia de San Martín and follows the signs to Cudón, a course which has its ups and downs.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 259 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 20 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.