Country:
City:
Access: From Espelette, take the D918 towards Saint-Jean-de-Luz. At the first junction, take the D20 towards Ainhoa and Dancharia. After 1.6 km, on a bend, you’ll reach the Col de Pinodieta, the start of the walk.
(S/E) Take the road that starts on the left, at the foot of the sign indicating that parking is prohibited along this road. At the next junction, take the path on the right and continue along it, heading south, as it climbs gently; ignore the two paths you come across on your right.
(1) Cross the cattle grid and continue to your right for about 250 metres.
(2) Take the path on the left, which climbs quite steeply and gives the impression of turning back, though this is not the case, as the route curves gently eastwards.
At the top of this climb, under the trees, turn right and head round the back of the sheepfold; go through the fence using the provided gap. You’ll find yourself in front of a pasture for Pottoks or sheep. Walk straight up to the next fence.
Near a rock, use the fence gate provided. Continue straight on for 200 metres, heading south, then turn slightly to the left to reach another fence gate situated at the left-hand corner of the fence directly in front of you.
(3) Go through the fence and you’ll find yourself on theGR®®10. You’ve now completed the hardest part. Head up towards the sheepfold opposite and take the first path on the left – this is still theGR®®10– to go round Mont Errebi for about 600 metres on a gentle slope.
(4) When you come to a drinking trough – the water is probably not safe to drink – head up towards what looks like a pass, then continue along theGR®®10as it descends; after about 750m, you’ll reach the Col des Trois Croix.
(5) Head towards the southern slope of the pass, on your right, to find a fairly wide path which descends gently at first, then becomes quite steep, and leads to a new junction after about 500m.
(6) At this new junction, take the small path on your right which winds halfway up the slope of Mont Errebi. On this section of the route you’ll encounter a minor difficulty: a step about 50 to 60 cm high to descend; you can use a tree to hold on to and help you get over this small obstacle. At the end of this path, you’ll come to several small tracks; take the one that descends the slope towards some trees and a small building.
(7) This is the Chapel of Notre-Dame de l’Aubépine. After visiting the chapel, turn back and head up the slope, staying on the path on the left which takes you halfway up the western slope of Mont Errebi.
(8) On your right, you can see the entrance to two caves and, below, a spring water catchment as well as the village of Ainhoa. Continue along this path and, at the next junction, turn left onto the path that leads downhill. Carry on along this path, which ends with a rather steep descent.
(9) You’ll reach a junction with a track suitable for vehicles; turn right. After 200 metres along this track, you’ll come to another junction.
(2) Ignore the path on the right and carry straight on; this is the path you took on the way out. Follow it to return to the starting point (S/E).
Visorando Member
Easy 
Association / Club / Walk leader
