Aratz (meaning 'pure' in

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

, after its stone surface devoid of vegetation) is a mountain of the Basque Country in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

located at the mountain range Altzania (also called Urkilla) that provides the extension for the massif Aizkorri. It lies right on the line between provinces

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

and

Álava Álava () or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a Provinces of Spain, province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, heir of the ancient Basque señoríos#Lords of Álava, Lordship ...

, the summit rising at 1,443 m high, next to Elurzuloak (1,431 m). The whole Aizkorri and Aratz area was declared the

Aizkorri-Aratz Natural Park The Aizkorri-Aratz Natural Park is the second-largest natural park (Spain), natural park in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Straddling the Cantabrian Sea, Cantabrian-Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean drainage divide, wat ...

in 2006.76/2006 Decree of the Government of the Basque Autonomous Community, declaring Aizkorri-Aratz a Natural Park
4 April 2006.

Access points and trails

The main access points are located both in the town of Araia on the fringes of the Alava plains (840 m drop from the summit) and at the spring ''Ezkaratza'' (drinking water) by the

Way of St James The Camino de Santiago (, ; ), or the Way of St. James in English, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tra ...

west of the San Adrian tunnel. * The route starting off in Araia (PR-A11) heads north past the ruins of the fortress ''Marutegi'' on a rock halfway (8th century). Soon after, the trail with yellow and white signalization must be abandoned right to get to the spring ''Iturriotz'' (1h10, drinking water), and on to the switching point with both GR-121 and PR-A12 coming from ''Ezkaratza''. The summit of Aratz lies on the south-east after surmounting steep

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

slopes with no clear trail (1h45). * From ''Ezkaratza'', some minutes away from the pass of San Adrian, the PR-A12 circuit trail penetrates south-east up into the forest until it merges with GR-121 (red and white signalization) and the above route coming from Araia. * A third but less popular route sets off in ''Beunda'' on the way to San Adrian. The concrete track winds down west until the milestone ''Aldaola'' where it forks (altitude 850 m). The option is to follow the left track, which going down reaches and crosses the stream. At this point, the northern face of Aratz towers on the left covered with a vast

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

forest. In no more than 150 metres, the track veers sharply to the east and on to south-east until the pass of Allarte (1,141 m high) is reached.

References

External links

Description of some accesses to Aratz
2009-10-25) Site in Spanish Basque Mountains Mountains of Álava Mountains of the Basque Country (autonomous community) {{basqueCountry-geo-stub