Source of the Zirauntza river, family route in Araia.

The source of the Zirauntza River, a magical route among oak and beech trees.

The route to the source of the river Zirauntza, is a pleasant and charming route located in the Alava municipality of Araia. A route that attracts thousands of visitors every year. It is not surprising. And is that the mountains and forests surrounding this Basque village give us a film landscape, magical. A place that we recommend you to explore through the route that we present today. In case the multiple enchantments with which this route surprises us are not enough attractive for you, you must know that in the point from which the route begins is the Museum of the Mitxarro. A center of interpretation of the nature, where the Mitxarro (dormouse) takes special prominence. A museum, which, divided into 2 floors, shows us in a concise, simple and free way the characteristics of the area and the Mitxarro itself. A space that we recommend to visit before entering the forest. The Historical Territory of Araba offers us again a route in the middle of nature where water is the main protagonist. A route that reminded us of the Berganzo water route. And the fact is that, as in Berganzo, in Araia we also walked along a small water channel that was created to harness the energy of water in the municipality. Two routes of similar characteristics that we recommend you to eyes closed. In this case, the route takes us to know the system devised to take advantage of the different water resources of the area. An infrastructure built in the late nineteenth century, in which we find canals or a dam among others. All of them, work in unison to take the water from where the spring itself springs up to the Hydroelectric Power Station located next to the Museum of the Mitxarro. And it is here, next to the urban nucleus of Araia where our adventure begins. A walk of little difficulty, that takes us to know the first steps of the river Zirauntza while we enter between beeches and oaks. Do you dare to know it with us?

The river Zirauntza, continues its way until it reaches Navarra to join the river Arga. But in our case, we are going to focus on its first section, from its source until it reaches the vicinity of the small town of Araia. A route that, although it has a certain upward slope in several sections, is classified as a family route. A walk, that, under the shelter of the forests, takes us to cross a beautiful enclave of the Natural Park of Aizkorri-Aratz. Do you sign up?

Route of the source of the river Zirauntza.

The route to the source of the river Zirauntza is classified as a route of easy – medium difficulty, a statement that is conditioned by the amount of stairs that we find along the way and the proximity that the path has with respect to the river. In any case, it is a familiar route, which does not require a great physical effort. The path that we travel to reach the source of the river Zirauntza is the SL-A14, that is to say, local path A14. A route, which is marked by the colors intended for this type of routes: green and white. Remember that only those signs that contain 2 parallel bars are valid, in case of crossing, we would be in front of the wrong path.

We must emphasize that, although this route is circular, we decided to make a linear route with a circular section, that is to say: from Araia to the source of the Zirauntza River along the channel of the hydroelectric plant and from the source of the Zirauntza River to Araia returning along the riverbed of the same.The route begins at the back of the Mitxarro Museum, on the left side. You just have to follow the signs “SL-A14 Sendero del nacedero” “SL-A14 Iturburuko Bidezidorra” in Basque. The first section corresponds to a wooded area in which we find different species such as pines or oaks. After crossing the forest, we reach a crossroads, a forest track. It is here, where we find a sign of the Aizkorri-Aratz Park and another panel signaling the path, we must take the path to the left. After a few meters we find the Ajuria – Urigoitia factory (now abandoned) on our left. We pass a barrier and a wooden bridge that takes us into the forest, we begin to climb while leaving the river on our left. The area surprises locals and strangers with the intense greens that it draws on the horizon. These are the leaves of the oak and beech centenarians accompanied by ferns. We should mention that it is very easy to spot different pollarded trees near the road, a legacy left to us by the charcoal burners of the area. After years of forestry, the trees draw a very special silhouette. It is surprising to see that, along the way, we find several spaces equipped with tables and wooden benches. A great detail so that families can eat the typical “hamaiketako” in the shade of one of these historic trees. It is appreciated. Of course, in our case, we chose to do the whole route and rest / eat at the tables that we found next to the parking, in front of the Mitxarro museum. We continue climbing gradually zigzagging until we find a new sign, in this case, the sound of water gives away the signage. This is the path that leads directly to the waterfall. In our case, we ignore this signage as it is our way back. We continue ahead until we reach a clearing where we again find several tables. A few meters ahead, we find a sign that tells us to turn left. It is time to follow the channel to reach our destination, the source of the river Zirauntza. From this point, we must go down, pass a wooden bridge that we will find to our right and climb some stairs to discover the beautiful waterfall that is created in the dam of the river Zirauntza. Quite a spectacle on winter days, when water is plentiful. At this point, you must decide if you are going to do the circular route or if on the contrary you are going to go down along the river until you reach the path by which we have come. We decided for the latter option, but as always, you have the last word. If you choose the second option, you must go back over the wooden bridge to follow the riverbed. This section of the path runs along the Zirauntza River, a fact that means that in winter, when the river has a greater flow of water, we must be especially careful. We follow this path until we reach the crossroads that we had skipped on the way out. From here, we only have to retrace the path we took on the way out. There is no loss. We return home.

Industrial heritage of Euskadi.

Formerly, on the banks of the river Zirauntza there was one of the most important ironworks in the area. A small exploitation, which in 1846 gave rise to the construction of one of the first iron and steel works in Asparrena. In it, iron was obtained using charcoal produced from the wood of the surrounding trees. On the other hand, the energy used to feed this factory was obtained from the force of the water of the river Zirauntza. As you can see, the route of the source of the river Zirauntza is a route with a lot of history. A real luxury.

Aizkorri-Aratz Natural Park.

This enclave is located in one of the most emblematic natural parks of the Basque Country, the Aizkorri-Aratz Natural Park. In fact, the source of the Zirauntza River is one of the natural outlets of the karst massif of the Aizkorri mountain range. The water obtained from this spring supplies the towns of Araia, Salvatierra and other surrounding villages. The Natural Park of Aizkorri-Aratz has a great wealth of flora and fauna. In addition to the aforementioned oak and beech trees, we also find marojos, wild boars, hares, roe deer and many other species. You will remember this natural park from our last adventure in Oñati, at the foot of the Sanctuary of Arantzazu. A magical place that, once again, we recommend you to visit. In addition, the great natural environment with which it has this architectural and historical work of Euskadi, offers us the possibility to enjoy routes of great beauty.

Mitxarro Museum.

The Mitxarro Museum adds another attraction to the route of the source of the Zirauntza River. Although it is a small museum, it is always interesting to find a museum specialized in the grey dormouse. Thus, through the “mitxarro” (grey dormouse), this space shows us the forests, the karst, the archaeological remains or the popular architecture of Araia. These aspects, together with its gastronomy and traditions, immerse us in an exciting journey into the interior of Euskal Herria. The museum, small and simple, has models, panels, sensory games and many other elements that make the visit to this Basque museum is at least curious. We recommend a visit to all those who decide to make the route of the source of the river Zirauntza. This interpretation center also serves as the Parquetxe de Aizkorri-Aratz, an information space of this impressive Natural Park. Next to it, we also find the Hydroelectric Power Station of San Pedro de Araia. We recommend you to take a look at the roof of this curious Basque museum, because Araia has always been committed to renewable energies.

Location of the source of the Zirauntza river.

The source of the Zirauntza River is protected by the impressive mountains and forests that surprise us in the municipality of Asparrena. A municipality located to the east of the Historical Territory of Araba, which is formed by the villages of Albéniz, Ametzaga, Andoin, Araia, Arríola, Egino, Gordoa, Ibarguren, Ilarduia and Urabain. At present, Asparrena has an extension of more than 66,000 square kilometers and more than 1,500 inhabitants. In addition, you should know that Araia, capital of the municipality, is located at an altitude of approximately 800 meters and gathers more than half of the inhabitants of Asparrena. By the way, if you want to get to know the province a little better, we recommend that you go to the capital and enjoy all that Vitoria Gasteiz offers us to see and do.

How to get there.

In this section we are going to explain how to get to the point where the route starts, the Mitxarro Museum. When arriving at the urban nucleus of Araia, we will continue straight without leaving the road that has brought us to this village in Alava. Practically at the end, after a curve that turns to the left, we must turn right. This is the second street we find on our right after turning, just before reaching the fronton. A wooden sign indicates the place. We have arrived at the San Pedro Hydroelectric Power Station and the Mitxarro Museum. It is here, where we must park our vehicle to make the route.

Where to eat.

Although Araia offers us different restaurants where we can get our strength after walking through the surrounding mountains, we loved the possibility of eating at one of the tables that we found next to the Mitxarro museum. It was there, where, after enjoying the always impressive route of the source of the Zirauntza river, we decided to have a good hamaiketako (11 o’clock lunch in Basque). On egin!

Tips for visiting the source of the Zirauntza River.

As usual, we wanted to collect in this section some of the most frequently asked questions about the source of the river Zirauntza. We hope to answer all the doubts you may have. Otherwise, we recommend that you use the comments system that you will find at the end of this article to send them to us. We will respond as soon as possible.

Family routes in Euskadi.

If you are looking for family routes like the one we present today, we recommend reading our article on routes to do with children in the Basque Country. Enjoyable routes of low difficulty, which contain a great effort / reward ratio.

Video of the source of the Zirauntza river.

As usual in our articles, we wanted to accompany the photos and text with a short audiovisual. We hope you like it. We take this opportunity to invite you to take a look at the rest of the videos we have on our YouTube channel. In case any of them catches your attention, we recommend you to subscribe to our channel, we will publish new videos over time.

The source of the river Zirauntza represents the typical routes that we find in the Basque mountains. Paths, which, protected by lush vegetation, offer us dozens of shades of green. We hope that this article about the source of the Zirauntza River will be of help during your trip to the Historical Territory of Araba. As always, we would like to know your opinion about this route, so, as you know, feel free to write a comment. Ondo pasa!