Camino del Norte
13.9 km, 225 m up and 287 m down, through 1 place, 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 Peón. 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.
Beyond Peón the camino leaves the VV-8 and begins climbing uphill. It rejoins a different road at the summit and descends along it as far as the El Pinal restaurant. Just beyond the restaurant it leaves the road for a trail on your right. From here it continues desceding to cross the A-8 and into Deva.
From the campsite in Deva there are two possible routes into Gíjon. The offical camino turns right at the campsite (with the campsite on your left). The alternative and some say more pleasant route along the river, turns left at the campsite and downhill past the parking lot. At the bottom of the hill it joins a path known as the Senda de Peña Francia, turn right when you get there. This alternative will bring you into Gíjon near the Playa de San Lorenzo. To get to the offical camino arrows simply follow the coast through town as far as the harbor where it passes.
As you near the large and largely industrial city of Gijón the countryside virtually disappears. From here, all the way to Avilés, is difficult walking almost exclusively on pavement through city and industrial areas; the exception to the grime is the protected habitat west of the steel plant.
The best landmark to use when leaving Gíjon is the boat harbor. Follow along the coast, as far as the first residential apartment blocks to appear on your right-hand side. Pass to the right of the first building, heading down the Calle de Mariano Pola. Keep on this road as it changes names; first to the Avenida de Galicia then to the Avenida de la Argentina, and finally to the Carretera de Avilés. It is mostly straight with only a few bends and entirely city walking. By the time you get to the end of the city the view ahead reveals a massive steel production plant directly in front of you. The way around it the least pleasant stretch of the entire camino but there are no good options here. Descend to the road and turn right, following it around the factory. Keep an eye open for the turn off to the left which is not easy to notice with all of the traffic: it can be identified as being the only level railway crossing in the area and a sign points the way to Poago. Follow this road. It will eventually turn away from the factory and begin to wind up the hillside known as the Monte de Areo, the last part of the climb is along trails. This hillside is the silver lining of the gray cloud cast by the nearby factory, it is the location of the oldest known necropolis in Asturias as well as a Neolithic dolmen. From the highest point the camino descends to Santa Eulalia.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 220 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 14.5 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.