Around Mount San Cristóbal

Mount Ezkaba or San Cristóbal at the northern boundary of the capital is a popular place for hikers, cyclists and history lovers. The scene of a number of battles over the years, the fortification built during the last Carlist war was later converted into a prison and played a leading role in one of the bloodiest episodes of the Spanish civil war.

The route around the mountain, popularly known as San Cristóbal after the fort sitting on top of it, begins in Artica, skirting the range to the east through the area called Canal de Ezkaba to the village of Ezkaba itself. Passing through a small valley full of crop fields, you reach the Sierra del Auzalor, which you circumnavigate along paths and small stretches of trodden land.

On the way back, you pass through the secluded valley of Ezcabarte once again to take on the last part of the route, riding very beautiful trails which run along the slopes of San Cristóbal amidst pine and holm oak trees.