The Ibanteli from the Xabalo area

From Saint-Jean-de-Luz (exit 3 from the A63), follow the D918 towards Ascain. Reach the centre of Ascain via the D504, then take the D4 towards Sare. After passing Sare, take the D306 towards Col de Lizarrieta and follow it for 5 km until you come to a small car park with a picnic table on the right, at a crossroads with a stream (there is another larger car park 100 metres further on the left: Xabalo car park).

(S/E) With your back to the road and the picnic table on your right, ford the stream and climb up the fairly steep track on the right. You will come to a slight plateau (166 metres above sea level) where the forest thins out.

(1) Go up to the left and then continue between the edge of the forest and the fence to reach a stony track.

(2) Follow it to the left until you reach a hairpin bend where a small canal passes through culverts.

(3) Cross the small canal where it passes through the pipes and leave the track, continuing to the right, then immediately to the left. Further on, leave a track on the right and continue climbing on the main track, which soon passes in front of a large puddingstone rock, winds its way up, then levels out near a scree slope. Shortly afterwards, begin a straight climb along the edge of the forest to a wide grassy pass.

(4) From the wide pass, to reach the summit of Ibanteli, head left towards a boundary marker and in line with the summit. Reach the summit without difficulty (698 metres).

(5) Retrace your steps back to the wide pass.

(4) Then begin the descent to the left towards an isolated oak tree: pass to its right. Further on, leave a standing stone (tribute) on your left. After a track coming from the left (cattle yard), pass to the left of an isolated oak tree and join the Col de Lizarrieta (bars, restaurants).

(6) Follow the road to the left until the first hairpin bend (419 metres above sea level).

(7) Leave the road and take the flat path on the left. Despite a few small climbs, particularly after a ruin, the path descends steadily down the eastern flank of Ibanteli. As you approach the forest, it ends in front of a stone sheepfold.

(8) Walk past the sheepfold on the right and take the gravel track. After the sheepfold, leave the track and take a path that descends to the right. A little further down, leave a path on the right and continue slightly to the left. Continue the descent following a forest track that leads easily to the car park at the start of the hike (S/E).

Signposting: Yellow

Facilities and services: Food shop (groceries, restaurants)

(3) Puddingstone rock (1.7 km):

The term comes from the famous English cake "pudding", made with raisins and candied fruit in the dough. In geology , puddingstone is an aggregate of compact rocks containing pebbles and other detrital rocks, bound together by a natural cement, most often sandstone.

Lauburu or Basque Cross (4.1 km):

At the summit of Ibanteli, a Lauburu, more commonly known as the "Basque Cross", is engraved on a rock. This symbol, which is also found in other regions (Galicia, Aragon, Alsace, etc.), is a strong marker of Basque identity. Its meaning is not clearly established, but it could be a reference to the cycle of life, the sun, the sky and the earth.

Panorama, overview of Ibanteli (4.1 km):

To the south of Ibanteli, small mountain ranges follow one another across the territory of Navarre (towards the famous city that fascinated Ernest Hemingway: Pamplona). To the west are the three sloping signs of the Peñas de Haya. To the north-west is the Bay of Hendaye, where the Bidasoa River flows into the sea, preceded further upstream by the Ibardin border pass with its ventas (roadside inns). To the north, the summit of the Rhune is spectacular.