The Government of Navarra, through the Navarro Sports Institute (IND), has contributed during this year 69.000 euros for work of maintenance, recovery, marking, homologation, and improvement of mountain trails of the Foral Community, the so-called GRs (Great Tour) and the GRTs (Great Cross-Border Tour).
The IND and the Navarra Federation of Mountain Sports and Climbing (FNDME) signed an agreement whereby this entity is in charge of these tasks on the trails where about 180 volunteers have participated. In addition, and as a novelty, the agreement included an important part -one third of the total- specifically for the recovery and beaconing of the historic GR1 path as it passes through Navarra.
In the list of actions carried out in 2022 in the trail network are the GR11, GR12, GR20, GR220, Enlace GR11-GR12 or Trekking de Bidasoa, GRT3, GRT5, GRT7, GRT8, GRT9, GRT10, GRT12 and GRT13, as well as the links, variants and deviations of the main trails.
The FNDME proposed working on the recovery and beaconing of 33.96 kilometers of the historic GR1 trail, corresponding to three of the eight stages: Stage 1 Torre de Añues – Cáseda (10.70km); Stage 7 LosArcos – Sanctuary of Codés (17.92km); and Stage 8 Sanctuary of Codes – Portillo de Názar (5.34km). Throughout 2022, horizontal marking and vertical signage have been carried out on this route, as well as marking and clearing works.
The GR1 starts in the ruins of Ampurias (Girona), on the shores of the Mediterranean, and heads towards the Atlantic Ocean through a distance of 1,500 kilometers. It first runs parallel to the Pyrenean route GR 11, for about 600 km, and later competes to the north with the Camino de Santiago (GR-65), which it intersects at Los Arcos, until it reaches the other end of the peninsula in Finisterre (A Coruña). Through Navarra it runs through the Middle Zone, and connects with the bordering provinces of Álava (in Campezo) and Zaragoza (Torre de Añués near Sos del Rey Católico).
WORKS IN THE GRS
Maintenance actions include tasks carried out marking, renovation and repair of facilities and adjustments or modifications of routes. The FNDME has coordinated and advised a total of 180 volunteers who have carried out basic maintenance throughout the year on the network of GRs and GRTs. They have carried out marking, beaconing and painting work (with brushes, paint, beacons) in the necessary sections. The technicians from the Trails Committee have been in charge of coordinating the volunteers in maintenance work, through courses and training.
Depending on the type of support, repair actions have been carried out, replacement of vertical signaling elements, renewal of poles and directional arrows, replacement of damaged elements (masts, arrows, mini poles, panel frames). On the other hand, depending on the type of work carried out, land clearing has been carried out in the GR11 and GR220, felling and cleaning, and repair and replacement work in the rest of the GRs in the network. To guarantee the safety of hikers, the bridge in the area of Sorogáin, over the Odia stream, on the GR11, has been completely rebuilt. The information contained in the information panels and the number plates of the trails at the junctions and nearby sections has been updated so that users do not have doubts.
Additionally, due to the fires that occurred in the Sierra de El Perdón / Erreniega area and on Mount Ezkaba, it has also been necessary to replace and repair the vertical (posts and beacons) and horizontal (marking) signage. In Doneztebe, a V-shaped connection-variant has been made, link E.GR11-GR12. It has beaconing and an information panel. Its immediate approval is expected.
Likewise, the Navarra Federation of Mountain Sports and Climbing, which is in charge of approving the trails according to Provincial Decree 197/2011, has approved in 2022 for the first time:
- PIRI-TREKKING. In the surroundings of the Belagua refuge, a trekking route in stages has been designed and approved for the first time, whose routes run entirely on approved paths. It was agreed to call it PIRI-TREKKING, after the GR-GRT Navarra-Aragón-Atlantic Pyrenees network. Two routes have been defined, a North cross-border route (Tour del Anie), whose used paths in the Navarre area are GR12, GRT12 and GRT13, and another South route (Tour Pirenaico Sur) whose used paths in the Navarre area are GR11, GR12 and GR321.
- PR-NA 210 THE TOUR OF THE ERGO on Mount Erga.
- SL-NA 54 C ERLAN-IRABIA.
- PR-NA 211 WATER ROUTE-TUDELA
And they have reapproved, for another four more years:
- SL-NA 72 CUEVA DE AZANZOREA/LEKEKA OF AZANZOREA
- SL-NA 78 FOZ DE BURGUI/BURGIKOA ARROILA
- SL-NA 138 BALCONY OF THE VULTURES/SAIEN BALKOIA
DISSEMINATION OF THE PATHS
The FNMDE publicizes the trails of the Foral Community in three ways. On the one hand, with the updating of the Long Distance trail finder, on the other, with the publication of informative brochures and, finally, with the use of Social Networks.
The Navarra approved trails search engine contains cartography applied to the visiting areas, data and information on the stages of the Navarra GRs and GRTs network and the rest of the PRs (Small Route) and SLs (Local Trails) approved trails. New GRs have recently been incorporated: GR 322 Nafarroa Xtrem and GR 323 Bernoako Galtzada.
During this year, work has been done on updating the trail finder, defining the necessary specifications for the remodeling of the environment, such as the contents of the search engine, incorporating new icons and information, profiles of the selected sections, etc. In turn, the approved trails have been updated on the public portal of IDENA, (Spatial Data Infrastructure of Navarra), for their inclusion in the corresponding information layer.
Regarding the Edition of the informative brochures of the network in 2022, those corresponding to the Euskalherria GR12 Trail as it passes through Navarra, the Vuelta a la Cuenca de Pamplona GR220 have been edited and reissued with a more practical and useful format and incorporating cartography, two editions of the PIRI-TREKKING brochure, and of the routes around Belagua.
The cartography service of the Government of Navarra collaborates in the realization of the base cartography and the inclusion in it, of the network of GRs trails of the Foral Community.
Lastly, dissemination has been carried out in person at tourist offices, other information centers, hostels, shelters, etc. Dissemination is also made through the Social Networks of the stages of the GRs and GRTs, as well as the Pequeño Recorrido PRs and Senderos Locales SLs trails.
310,000 EUROS INVESTED SINCE 2015
Since 2015, the Government of Navarra, through the Navarre Sports Institute, has awarded various subsidies to the Navarra Mountain and Climbing Sports Federation totaling 310,000 euros for investment in the GR and GRTS trails of the Foral Community.
The IND is supported by Provincial Decree 197/2011, of September 7, which regulates “the conditions for the creation and conservation of sports trails for public use in Navarra”.