Route of the Castros
- Boal Western Asturias
- Distance: 16.4 kms
- Difficulty: Short
- Code: PR249
- Altitude: 730 m.
- Unevenness: 593 m.
- On foot: 5 h. 45 min.
- Start point: Los Mazos
- Tour type: Circular
- Layout of the route: Download kml, Download gpx
Info
Starting a route at the Casa de la Miel is already promising. Despite technological advances, this is an ancestral activity closely linked to the area that has advanced in terms of materials, but maintains its essence. Who knows how long it has been here and whether the inhabitants of the area's castros (fortified settlements) would have devoted themselves to it.
On this route we can lose ourselves in time walking through its chestnut forests, under the watchful eye of squirrels, woodpeckers or the skittish mountain lizards. Our senses delight in the sounds, smells and colours that these forests offer us.
But where time stands still is in the heights of Penácaros, with its views over the Navia valley, and, fundamentally, in the burial mounds that we find in this area, and especially in the castro of Pendia, with the remains of its huts, its walls and, above all, its sauna. They were ahead of their time.
Route
El Mazo - El Mazo 16,4 Kms
This circular route starts at the Casa de la Miel, located in the village of El Mazo. A few metres into the route we come to the first crossroads and we choose to follow the path to the left. Half a kilometre further on, we come to the next crossroads, where we once again choose the path on the left.
After approximately the first kilometre, we continue along the path on the left and enter the beautiful forest, where after 500 metres we see a bridge that we must cross to continue our route, leaving the village of As Viñas on our left.
After about 2.5 kilometres, we come to the Riumayor farmhouse, which currently has three houses, none of which are inhabited. After leaving the forest, at approximately kilometre 4.3, we find a path to the left in a clearing; we leave it behind us and continue straight on, entering the forest once again. We do the same a few metres further on, when a crossroads appears again, but we continue straight on without turning off.
At the crossroads at kilometre 5, we take the path to the right, passing in front of the village of Pendia, and a few metres further on we turn right to start the ascent towards the village of Villanova, to see the famous Pendia forts.
After another two kilometres, we join a small road, where we continue straight on until we reach a point where the road turns to the left, and we take the path that goes to the right.
Once we have reached the first 10 kilometres, we must pay close attention to the yellow and white markings on the route, and we take the path that is furthest to the right, which we follow without turning off at the crossroads that appear.
Once we reach the village of Llaviada, after about 12 kilometres of the route, we take the path on the right and, a few metres further on, we turn right again and continue straight on without turning off the path, leaving As Cabanas on our right.
After approximately 15.5 kilometres, almost at the end of the route, we reach the same point where we entered the forest at the beginning of the route. To get to the Casa de la Miel again, we only have to return along the same path, but in the opposite direction.
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Map
Detail
PR-249