Via Verde del Plazaola
Vía Verde del Plazaola is the most famous of the five railway cycle routes in Navarra and Gipuzkoa in Spain.
nature
Its length is 40 km, the 590 m height difference is overcome by 39 tunnels. The longest tunnel is the 2.7 km long Uitzi tunnel, which is currently (summer 2007) being expanded and will then be the longest “bicycle tunnel” in Europe. Half of the route is in Navarre and the Basque Country . Almost the entire route can be driven on the former railway line, only two short sections, one because of the construction of the motorway and another because of a non-passable tunnel, must be bypassed.
History of the railway line
The original railway line connecting the cities of San Sebastian and Pamplona was a mining / industrial line (Ferrocarril Minero) between the Plazaola mines and Andoain train station (Ferrocarril del Norte). Coming from Pamplona you can find the remains of the old railway line before Lekunberri, for example the viaduct at Sarasate near Irurtzun. From Mugiro (about 2 km before Lukunberri) you can drive on the route (dirt road!). More than 100 years have passed since the construction of the railway line in 1904, the line has been closed since 1958.
The most important stations
- (Mugiro)
- Lekunberri
- Leitza
- Plazaola (former mines)
- Andoain
The route follows the Río Larraun in the first section, after the Uitzi tunnel you meet the Rio Leizarán at Leiza, which the path follows in the second section.