The Mondarrain and Ourrezti peaks in the Basque Country highlands

The ascent of Le Mondarrain provides access to a viewpoint covering the Basque Country as far as the sea. Views to the south over a wild landscape, kingdom of birds of prey, horses and local breeds of cattle, which are a little wild as they are free to come and go.

Details

353500
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 7.39 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 25 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 453 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 453 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 732 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 365 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Departure from the car park marked at the crossroads leading to the place called Gaxitenea. Before that, when leaving the D918, you will have driven through Haranea and Panparrina. Park your car carefully so as not to obstruct the tractors.

(S/E) Take the tarmac road heading south. After 200 metres, take the farm track that branches off to your right, climbing up through the ferns. Follow this wide but poorly marked path up to a sharp left turn, then another to the right. After this second turn, continue straight up for about 100 metres towards Mondarrain, where you will come across a path coming from the right.

(1) Follow the well-marked path on the left, under the trees. A few old red paint marks on the stones on the ground are misleading, but keep going around and under Mondarrain.

(2) At the fork to the east of the summit, go right to the south of Mondarrain.

(3) Turn north to climb Mondarrin, via a clearly visible passage between the rocks. A few steps over the last rocks before reaching the summit of Mondarrain (large picnic area). Retrace your steps.

(3) Follow the path south, marked with 60 cm high wooden posts painted yellow, until you come to a spring on your right surrounded by barbed wire to prevent horses from trampling it.
Another 400 metres and you will arrive below Pic d'Ourrezti, where the hawthorns become denser.

(4) Descend westwards between the scattered rocks to the 580-metre contour line. You will then come to a well-marked path running north-south, which you take on your left towards the south. Join the ridge at 584 metres.

(5) Take the path on the left up to Pic d'Ourrezti and reach the base of Pic de Mondarrain

(3) Turn onto the return path heading north-east

(2) Continue north and, taking the same path as on the way up, return to the car park where you started (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 365 m - Car park
  2. 1 : km 1.12 - alt. 541 m - On the left
  3. 2 : km 1.74 - alt. 614 m - Fourche
  4. 3 : km 2.11 - alt. 663 m - South Base - Mondarrain
  5. 4 : km 3.4 - alt. 647 m - Start of the burial area
  6. 5 : km 4.2 - alt. 584 m - Return via the mountain
  7. S/E : km 7.39 - alt. 365 m - Car park

Notes

It took us less than 4 hours without rushing.

There is no water on the trail and no shelter.

High-top walking boots (bogs on the climb) and walking sticks are recommended, as are binoculars for watching birds of prey.

Please note: do not park along the roads.
Bring a map and compass to locate towns in the distance (you can see very far from the summit in good weather)
Sheep, cows and horses (pottiok) roam freely but are shy. Do not disturb them.
At Mondarrain and towards Pic d'Ourrezti, near the streams in the bogs, there are small carnivorous plants (Droseras) according to the well-known guidebook "Ballade nature au Pays Basque" (dakota Editions).

Local walkers set off from Espelette in the early morning along the marked path "Le Mondarrain". Allow an extra two hours from the central square, then pass under the Pic d'Ezcondray and start the tour at marker no. 1 of this walk

Worth a visit

The town of Espelette, made famous by its high-quality red peppers,
The town of Itxassou and its delicious cherry Basque cake!
Saint Jean de Luz and its history (the fight against storms and the sea to preserve the town)
La Rhune and its ascent on foot or by funicular railway - book your ticket online in advance!

If you have an extra day, spend it at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. It is worth the trip for its titanium ship-like architecture alone, and the works on display are unique. The town is welcoming (2 hours by motorway from Saint-Jean de Luz)

Reviews and comments

4.2 / 5
Based on 16 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.1 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.1 / 5
Route interest
4.3 / 5
User 26654912

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 19, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Not very busy on Saturday 18 July as we had to contend with unpredictable weather, which must have put some hikers off. There was still space in the car park. Beautiful view of the coast, we saw sheep and horses, and we were also treated to a display of eagles right above our heads.
A hike that's well worth it.
The route is easy to follow with the app, which I was using for the first time and which is really great👌. The first signposts are only at the foot of Mondarrain.

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Micheldu10
Micheldu10
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 21, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

A very pleasant hike (once you manage to park), with fairly open terrain, beautiful views, pottoks and sheep, and plenty of paths.
Quite a bit of elevation gain, though, so you need to have some stamina.
I give the directions a poor rating, not for the Visio Rando ones, but for the signposting on site, which is virtually non-existent.
Be careful not to venture too far into the thorny bushes, especially on the Ourrezti, as they leave marks...
But it was nice...

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C. HEUSE
C. HEUSE

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 12, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hike completed in January 2023. Parking not easy to find with just the directions.
Once you reach the foot of Pic Mondarrain, the directions are no longer very clear, but there are several ways to reach the top.
The view is very nice.
The same goes for Pic d'Ourezti: the signs are not very clear as I didn't arrive at the right place, but regardless of the route, it's quite easy to find your way.

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Carodadou
Carodadou

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 16, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We were able to park in the designated car park, but there were indeed few spaces available.
An 8 km hike completed in 3 hours.
Very beautiful scenery. Pottoks and sheep were waiting for us at the summit.

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Sandrine64
Sandrine64

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 15, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A magnificent site, but too crowded from spring onwards: it is difficult, if not impossible, to park nearby. You have to be dropped off and park much further away: the car park is very small and it is impossible (and prohibited) to park along the road for several kilometres...

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franstechalo
franstechalo

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 15, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

the first part of the route is much busier.

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skyppyy38360
skyppyy38360
• Edited:

Hello, hiker Cailletot,
I have taken note of your request, but I must admit that I am a little unsure about the starting point of the hike, which is currently marked as: "car park at the junction leading to a place called Gaxitenea. Previously, when leaving the D918, you drove through Haranea and Panparrina"
Could you help me by telling me what you would like to see there?

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Cailletot
Cailletot

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : May 20, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

The starting point of the hike should be specified more clearly. It is not clearly indicated on the information sheet.

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skyppyy38360
skyppyy38360

Route corrected on 20 August 2019 to a round trip format following several reports of the path disappearing through the hawthorns.
Thank you to the hikers who brought this to our attention.
skyppyy38360

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grandin
grandin ★

Thank you for your feedback.

I will check with the author to see if we can resolve this issue. Otherwise, I think we may have to settle for a round trip to the ridge.

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AIHERRA
AIHERRA

That's right, it would be good to remove this hike because we also got caught in the brambles...

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AIHERRA
AIHERRA

Overall rating : 2.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 15, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing

Hello,
We were very disappointed with this hike. In fact, we had trouble finding the starting point. The first part of the hike is very beautiful, with the climb to the top of Mondarrain. But then things went downhill: crossing the river was a bit tricky because we got a little wet. But the hardest part was the return to the starting point. The signposting is completely wrong and the path indicated does not exist!!! (There was a comment about this, I just realised...). As a result, even though I had downloaded the GPX track, we found ourselves crossing through brambles and thorns that left our legs covered in blood!!!
It would be useful to remove this hike from the website!!!!

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didier.lama
didier.lama

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 03, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

The return from point 5 to point 2 is uninteresting, and it's a shame not to do the Mondarrain.
The starting point is perfect (small car park with 15 spaces)
I would recommend climbing directly to the summit of Mondarrain from point 1. You will find the trail again on the way down the south side.
For the more adventurous, continue south along the ridge (superb 360° view) and return to point 5 via the GR10.
For the return trip, I would try the western slope.
I had a wonderful day

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henri57
henri57 ★

Hello,

Thank you ClaireViss for this long but very interesting feedback from the field.
In this case, we hope that the author will take this into account and update their hike

See you soon!

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ClaireViss
ClaireViss

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : May 15, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

We did this hike with my father, who is a regular walker.
The entire first part of the climb up Mondarrain was great and very well marked.
However, the second part to the peak of Ourrezti was a little less enjoyable. The path indicated from point 6 practically no longer exists. In our case, the stream was far from dry, making it quite difficult to cross. Once you reach point 8, there is no point in turning left. The trail is impossible to find in this field of hawthorn and, after 15 minutes of painful scrambling, takes you back to the same starting point 200 metres to the right.
So when you reach point 8, go straight to the right, walk 200 metres and you will arrive directly at point 9. There is no point in going around the rocks.
I am now addressing the Visorando website, which should even remove this stage, which is pointless and even dangerous!
Enjoy your hike ✌🏻

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