The Col d'Urzategiak

Every autumn, the Col d'Urtzategiak is gripped by ‘blue fever’. It affects a large part of the local population. The hunters are all perched on the ridges, in the trees, watching for the migration of the wood pigeon.

Details

467288
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 7.46 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 05 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: No
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 325 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 271 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 714 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 402 m

Description of the walk

Start from the car park at the bottom of the village of Béhorléguy. Yellow markings.

(S/E) Turn left onto the Col d’Ahusky road. At the hairpin bend on leaving the village, by the drinking trough, take the track on the left.

(1) At the junction of the two tracks, turn right and head up to the plateau.

(2) Turn left before the enclosure, onto the path through the summer pasture. Avoid the meadow on the right. The terrain becomes steeper. Keep to the path on the left, which runs at the same altitude. Pass beneath an old meadow. Follow the hedgerows and continue along the hillside to the track. Please note that this area has a few potholes.

(3) Take the path on the left up to the Col d’Urzateguiak, a popular spot for autumn gatherings centred around hunting wood pigeons with nets.

(4) Take the road on the left, then at the next junction, keep left.

(5) At the Alduntza fountain, take the stony track to the left. It goes round the mountain and joins the path you took on the way out.

(1) Follow the track on the right that you took on the way there to return to the starting point (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S : km 0 - alt. 402 m - Car park at the bottom of the village of Béhorléguy
  2. 1 : km 1.35 - alt. 551 m - Crossroads
  3. 2 : km 2.41 - alt. 690 m - Enclos, turn left
  4. 3 : km 4.02 - alt. 714 m - Path to take on the left
  5. 4 : km 4.58 - alt. 602 m - Small road, left
  6. 5 : km 5.99 - alt. 528 m - Alduntza fountain
  7. E : km 7.46 - alt. 456 m - Car park at the bottom of the village of Béhorléguy

Reviews and comments

3.7 / 5
Based on 7 reviews

Reliability of the description
3.4 / 5
Ease of following the route
3.9 / 5
Route interest
3.7 / 5
User 3176481

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 17, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Walk completed on Friday 17 April 2026

A lovely little hike, accurate description and well-marked GPS route. PLEASE NOTE: there are no longer any yellow markings along a large section

of the route. We set off from the church car park: stunning views of the massif

No trouble finding the path with the description, map and compass, just as in the past.

JP

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AHa AHa
AHa AHa

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 25, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Lost the trail between markers 2 and 3. The GPS helps you carry on, but there’s no path left… Only the sheep and goats know where to go!
On the plus side: very few people around.

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jmimi64
jmimi64
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 20, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Stunning views of the Arbailles massif; the only downside is that the signposts have gone missing at the start of point 2 – you have to search for them a bit, but it’s quite easy with a mobile phone. Otherwise, the terrain is quite rough due to the holes in the path made by pottoks or free-roaming cows; no worries though, these animals are friendly and not aggressive.
The markers are there, but several paths have been trodden, so they’re hard to spot; once you’ve found the first one, it gets easier.

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epmen
epmen

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 03, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Very busy route : No

Out of the advertised 8km, only 4km are on tarmac!! That says it all.

Between 2 and 3, the path gets a bit lost in the vegetation. The description is really brief.

Unfortunately, during this season of controlled burning, a walk through a landscape that’s completely black, smelling of burnt earth.

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Philippe DARRAIDOU
Philippe DARRAIDOU

Overall rating : 2.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 13, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Instructions are vague and there are no visible markings in places where they would be very useful

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michjason
michjason

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 26, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

a very easy walk with clear signposting

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bibi
bibi ★

Hello, I’ve had a look too. I can see there might be tarmac from the start to point 2 (where you leave the track for the path before the enclosure) and then again from point 4 to the finish (where you turn left onto the road).
As for the author of the walk, it was the Aquitaine region that shared these routes. Some may indeed be out of date and no longer current. If that is the case, we will remove this one.
Kind regards

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RHINO34
RHINO34

Strange, strange, did you say strange (several times)?
What’s even stranger is that everything I’m saying can be seen on Google Earth! But perhaps the Americans have created a futuristic view?

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gazok54
gazok54 ★

No one has told you that you're lying.
Below the title, you’ll find the dates the walk was created and last updated.

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RHINO34
RHINO34

All things considered, if I may make one comment: ask the person who posted the hike when they did it!
That would have seemed more appropriate to me, and above all more logical, than a question full of suspicion. Why on earth would I lie?
René Bes

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RHINO34
RHINO34

No comment!

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gazok54
gazok54 ★

Good evening, RHINO34
The hike is very recent.
It’s strange because when you look at the IGN map at a certain scale, it’s exactly the opposite of what you’re saying. The tarmac would be between waypoints 4 and 5. The rest would be tracks and footpaths.

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RHINO34
RHINO34

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 06, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

From the start to point 3 and from point 5 to the finish – in other words, for most of the walk – you follow a tarmac country lane… When was the route marked out?
Some people like to know so they can avoid it. The signposting is adequate, but the route offers few panoramic views in an area where they are otherwise plentiful.

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