Camino del Norte
27.2 km, 900 m up and 458 m down, through 18 places, 7 of which have somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from San Juan de Villapañada. 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.
Retrace your steps to get back to the camino as it ascends to El Friesnu.
Note: several yellow arrows still direct you uphill from the church in El Friesnu. These are leftover from a detour during construction of the nearby A63 highway. The camino has returned to its original route, which goes…
At the far end of Samarciellu, where the road meets a roundabout, the camino turns left onto a trail to Reaz, and beyond it Doriga.
Shortly beyond Doriga, the camino passes under the highway and on the other side it meets up with the alternate route that went through Cabruñana. Be mindful not to walk the wrong way back up to Cabruñana. The camino turns left sharply onto a narrow trail and descends to the quarry/village of Las Casas del Puente.
There is a large traffic interchange at the end of Las Casas, in the hamlet of La Rodriga. The camino keeps to the left and towards the river. In the summer months there may be a bar open in the park alongside the river.
After crossing the bridge into Cornellana there is a sign indicating a trail to your left. This option takes you directly to the albergue without first passing through town. It is the same distance.
La Rodriga is the small cluster of buildings at the roundabout before Cornellana. In summer months there may be a bar open in the park alongside the river.
The camino leaves town from the road behind the monastery. Arrows are weakly painted here. Simply follow the road to the left of the monastery, and turn right at the first junction to follow the property line behind the monastery and uphill.
600m after Sobrerriba, at a point where the houses crowd the road, the camino turns right onto a mountain track. The track uphill curves to the left and around the mount before descending near a sand pit and the town of Llamas.
Beyond the town you will pass under a roadway. Shortly beyond that you will leave the road and continue by trail, passing over the Puente de Casazorrina.
Just past the fuente the camino leaves the road for a riverside trail on your left.
Between Casazorrina and Mallecín the camino follows a trail, which crosses under the autopista (highway).
To exit town, carry on under the archway and up the road. There is a fair amount of climbing ahead of you. The climb meets the road at El Llanón, which is easy to miss as its infrastructure counts for little more than an abandoned factory along the road.
The upward climb out of Salas meets the road at El Llanón, which is easy to miss as its infrastructure counts for little more than an abandoned rest stop along the road. Not long ago this junction posed problems, but the way is now clear. Turn right here and follow the road. You will cross under a pair of large elevated roadways, take a wide turn in the road, and then pass back under the same roadways. Shortly afterwards the camino abandons the road and turns up to the left.
Bodenaya doesn't amount to much more than the albergue, but it's a decent albergue and you're welcome to stop for a break. The increasingly rural landscape around here -- chestnut forests, scattered hamlets, cider orchar…
At the far end of La Espina keep on straight, do not follow the curve of the N-634.
This is the last place to buy anything until Tineo.
The path splits here and rejoins before La Espina. Both ways are below, because the question is which to take, and that is not a question two separate pages can answer.
At the far end of Samarciellu, where the road meets a roundabout, the camino turns left onto a trail to Reaz, and beyond it Doriga.
Shortly beyond Doriga, the camino passes under the highway and on the other side it meets up with the alternate route that went through Cabruñana. Be mindful not to walk the wrong way back up to Cabruñana. The camino turns left sharply onto a narrow trail and descends to the quarry/village of Las Casas del Puente.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 754 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 26.5 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.