Ruta de los Santuarios (Liébana - Oviedo)

[Luka]

I wasn't sure where to post this thread, so moderators feel free to remove it.

I just read a message from the Asturian government on Twitter in which they say they are planning a new route. It seems to connect the Camino Lebaniego to the Camino Salvador and the Camino Primitivo. I couldn't find stages yet, but it must go straight through the Picos de Europa. It connects several sanctuaries: Santo Toribio de Liébana - Covadonga - Virgen de la Cueva (Infiesto) - Oviedo.

This is the tweet:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1362054207281504263

They stated that they have met up with the municipalities involved and that the future Ruta de los Santuarios has become more concrete. It seems that they hope to realise the new route this year already.

It would make various interesting combinations possible! And wow, straight through the Picos!

 

[Luka]

Ah, must be the same route that they first called La Ruta de Covadonga, with these 10 stages:

1ª. Santo Toribio de Liébana - Sotres (25 Km.)
2ª. Sotres - Poncebos (14 Km.)
3ª. Poncebos - Lagos de Enol (18 Km.)
4ª Lagos de Enol -Covadonga (15 Km.)
5ª. Covadonga - Cangas de Onís (16 Km.)
6ª. Cangas de Onís - La Matosa (Piloña) (16 Km.)
7ª. La Matosa - Espinaredo (Piloña) (19 Km.)
8ª. Espinaredo - Puente Miera (12 Km.)
9ª. Puente Miera - Nava (17Km.)
10ª. Nava - Oviedo (34Km.)

More information (in Spanish):

Información de la Ruta de Covadonga. Camino de Santiago

La Ruta de Covadonga. Desde Cantabria a Oviedo por el interior de Asturias

www.realsitiodecovadonga.com

Los ayuntamientos respaldan la ruta de Covadonga por su «impulso turístico» | El Comercio: Diario de Asturias

Cultura quiere tener listo el itinerario en 2022, una vez adecuados caminos y fijado un recorrido común en base a las propuestas de los concejos

www.elcomercio.es

This is an older thread I just found on the forum:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/new-camino-interior-proposed.29353/

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Wow, this one is right up my street! Too bad Asturias is closed til May 9, or I'd be up there looking around NOW.

 

[LesBrass]

When can we go! Oh if the borders are open by July maybe we'll carry on from Potes... and I might allow an extra day or two to walk to Fuenta De again! Oh my! LOVE this!

Thank you!

 

[Pelegrin]

Ah, must be the same route that they first called La Ruta de Covadonga, with these 10 stages:

1ª. Santo Toribio de Liébana - Sotres (25 Km.)
2ª. Sotres - Poncebos (14 Km.)
3ª. Poncebos - Lagos de Enol (18 Km.)
4ª Lagos de Enol -Covadonga (15 Km.)
5ª. Covadonga - Cangas de Onís (16 Km.)
6ª. Cangas de Onís - La Matosa (Piloña) (16 Km.)
7ª. La Matosa - Espinaredo (Piloña) (19 Km.)
8ª. Espinaredo - Puente Miera (12 Km.)
9ª. Puente Miera - Nava (17Km.)
10ª. Nava - Oviedo (34Km.)

More information (in Spanish):

Información de la Ruta de Covadonga. Camino de Santiago

La Ruta de Covadonga. Desde Cantabria a Oviedo por el interior de Asturias

www.realsitiodecovadonga.com

Los ayuntamientos respaldan la ruta de Covadonga por su «impulso turístico» | El Comercio: Diario de Asturias

Cultura quiere tener listo el itinerario en 2022, una vez adecuados caminos y fijado un recorrido común en base a las propuestas de los concejos

www.elcomercio.es

This is an older thread I just found on the forum:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/new-camino-interior-proposed.29353/

Poncebos - Lagos de Enol is a classic stage in Picos. 900mts altitude gain.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Poncebos - Lagos de Enol is a classic stage in Picos. 900mts altitude gain.

OMG I feel a nosebleed coming on!

 

[Bisnieta]

Yes! Even better, Lourdes to Liébana to Covadonga to Oviedo to Santiago - the 5 star route that has always held my fancy.

 

[Albertagirl]

I am fascinated by this, although I am unsure where it might fit into my few future pilgrim treks. With a 900 m. altitude gain, it had better be soon.

 

[Pelegrin]

I am fascinated by this, although I am unsure where it might fit into my few future pilgrim treks. With a 900 m. altitude gain, it had better be soon.

900 mts in Picos and Pyrinees is not too much. My record is 1700. Peak Posets (3371) in the Pyrinees from refugio Viadors, 20 years ago.

 

[Albertagirl]

900 mts in Picos and Pyrinees is not too much. My record is 1700. Peak Posets (3371) in the Pyrinees from refugio Viadors, 20 years ago.

And I have walked over a few mountains in the Rockies. But in my 70's and with a new knee, I prefer not to risk a collapse when part way. Nonetheless, I shall look into this route sometime soon.

 

[Luka]

Poncebos - Lagos de Enol is a classic stage in Picos. 900mts altitude gain.

You forgot to mention that you won't just gain 962mts altitude but would also walk 1843mts downhill on that stage

Ruta de la Reconquista (GR-202)-Etapa 2 (Lago Ercina-Poncebos)-Picos de Europa

Ruta Ruta de la Reconquista (GR-202)-Etapa 2 (Lago Ercina-Poncebos)-Picos de Europa de Senderismo en Gamonedo, Asturias (España). Descarga el track GPS y sigue el recorrido del itinerario del sendero desde un mapa. La segunda etapa de la ruta de la Reconquista es uno de los tramos más...

es.wikiloc.com

 

[Luka]

The problem will be lodging though... You would at least have to adjust the official stages...

1ª. Santo Toribio de Liébana - Sotres (25 Km.) -> possible, but beware of competition from tourists
2ª. Sotres - Poncebos (14 Km.) -> limited options
3ª. Poncebos - Lagos de Enol (18 Km.) -> nothing there...
4ª Lagos de Enol -Covadonga (15 Km.) -> limited, expensive, massive competition from tourists
5ª. Covadonga - Cangas de Onís (16 Km.) -> several options, competition with tourists
6ª. Cangas de Onís - La Matosa (Piloña) (16 Km.) -> tiny village, nothing there I guess
7ª. La Matosa - Espinaredo (Piloña) (19 Km.) -> only casas rurales I am afraid
8ª. Espinaredo - Puente Miera (12 Km.) -> a couple of buildings, maybe a bar
9ª. Puente Miera - Nava (17Km.) -> several options
10ª. Nava - Oviedo (34Km.) -> plenty of options (but long stage)

Looks like they don't have pilgrims in mind, but rather tourists who stay in the region, want to make daytrips and have 2 cars...

 

[dick bird]

I wasn't sure where to post this thread, so moderators feel free to remove it.

I just read a message from the Asturian government on Twitter in which they say they are planning a new route. It seems to connect the Camino Lebaniego to the Camino Salvador and the Camino Primitivo. I couldn't find stages yet, but it must go straight through the Picos de Europa. It connects several sanctuaries: Santo Toribio de Liébana - Covadonga - Virgen de la Cueva (Infiesto) - Oviedo.

This is the tweet:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1362054207281504263

They stated that they have met up with the municipalities involved and that the future Ruta de los Santuarios has become more concrete. It seems that they hope to realise the new route this year already.

It would make various interesting combinations possible! And wow, straight through the Picos!

Sounds good. Santo Toribio and Oviedo were both pilgrim destinations in their own right and it passes through a beautiful part of Spain. The Primitivo, of course, begins at Oviedo so you could carry on to Santiago, and there is the Vadinense from the Frances.

 

[Isca-camigo]

The problem will be lodging though... You would at least have to adjust the official stages...

1ª. Santo Toribio de Liébana - Sotres (25 Km.) -> possible, but beware of competition from tourists
2ª. Sotres - Poncebos (14 Km.) -> limited options
3ª. Poncebos - Lagos de Enol (18 Km.) -> nothing there...
4ª Lagos de Enol -Covadonga (15 Km.) -> limited, expensive, massive competition from tourists
5ª. Covadonga - Cangas de Onís (16 Km.) -> several options, competition with tourists
6ª. Cangas de Onís - La Matosa (Piloña) (16 Km.) -> tiny village, nothing there I guess
7ª. La Matosa - Espinaredo (Piloña) (19 Km.) -> only casas rurales I am afraid
8ª. Espinaredo - Puente Miera (12 Km.) -> a couple of buildings, maybe a bar
9ª. Puente Miera - Nava (17Km.) -> several options
10ª. Nava - Oviedo (34Km.) -> plenty of options (but long stage)

Looks like they don't have pilgrims in mind, but rather tourists who stay in the region, want to make daytrips and have 2 cars...

There is a refugio https://refugiovegadeenol.com/ at Lagos de Enol, it will have to be booked ahead in the summer months. This route and the previous posting about it from several years ago was on my options for a Xacobeo Camino for this year until the Pandemic came along.
The sections can be altered as well, the Covadonga to Cangas de Onis is quite a tough 16km, someone walked a variant and did it as a 9km but still off road, if I did this next year in the Xacobeo extension then this would lose an etapa and give Cangas as my etapa end from Lagos de Enol.
For anyone who has walked into Oviedo by either the San Salvador or the Norte link up will probably remember a lot of asphalt, there is a blog by a man who walked from Covadonga to Oviedo on this route, and while the section from Nava is big 34km, he remarked that it beats the other two for being more off road and on natural paths.

 

[Isca-camigo]

Here is the blog of the man who walked from Covadonga to Oviedo on a GR route, which will be roughly the one they will use for the new Camino, he used a 2 day link up route from Llanes to arrive in Covadonga. I'm not sure where I saw the shorter variant for Cangas de Onis, it is out there I will have retrace my browsing to find it again.

Camino de las Peregrinaciones 00 – Caminos

miscaminos.net

 

[Luka]

There is a refugio https://refugiovegadeenol.com/ at Lagos de Enol, it will have to be booked ahead in the summer months. This route and the previous posting about it from several years ago was on my options for a Xacobeo Camino for this year until the Pandemic came along.
The sections can be altered as well, the Covadonga to Cangas de Onis is quite a tough 16km, someone walked a variant and did it as a 9km but still off road, if I did this next year in the Xacobeo extension then this would lose an etapa and give Cangas as my etapa end from Lagos de Enol.
For anyone who has walked into Oviedo by either the San Salvador or the Norte link up will probably remember a lot of asphalt, there is a blog by a man who walked from Covadonga to Oviedo on this route, and while the section from Nava is big 34km, he remarked that it beats the other two for being more off road and on natural paths.

Thanks for your correction! I didn't know you could actually stay there.

I know there are two ways of walking from Covadonga to Cangas de Onís. A difficult (but most likely very beautiful) track and an easy option. But roughly half of that easy option is along the road, and it is all on asphalt. Totally save I think, but nothing spectacular.

The difficult one:

GR-105 (CAMINO A COVADONGA), ETAPA 7: CANGAS DE ONÍS-SEGÜENCO-COVADONGA (ASTURIAS)

Ruta GR-105 (CAMINO A COVADONGA), ETAPA 7: CANGAS DE ONÍS-SEGÜENCO-COVADONGA (ASTURIAS) de Senderismo en Cangas de Onís, Asturias (España). Descarga el track GPS y sigue el recorrido del itinerario del sendero desde un mapa. FECHA DE REALIZACIÓN: 7 de septiembre de 2018. Dificultad técnica...

es.wikiloc.com

The easy one:

GR-105 (CAMINO A COVADONGA), ETAPA 7 (VARIANTE): CANGAS DE ONÍS-COVADONGA, ASTURIAS

Ruta GR-105 (CAMINO A COVADONGA), ETAPA 7 (VARIANTE): CANGAS DE ONÍS-COVADONGA, ASTURIAS de Senderismo en Cangas de Onís, Asturias (España). Descarga el track GPS y sigue el recorrido del itinerario del sendero desde un mapa. FECHA DE REALIZACIÓN: 1 de diciembre de 2108 Esta ruta es una...

es.wikiloc.com

Edit: I took a closer look at the difficult one and it doesn't seem that hard. I mean, if you survived the stages before, this will almost be a piece of cake. A climb of 524 metres and then 706 metres downhill. The difficult part is in between Covadonga and Següencu, because of mud, overgrown paths and markers that are hard to find. But this might change if they want to make it part of this new ruta (however this stage is already part of a GR).

 

[Isca-camigo]

That could be the alternative route, but I am sure I saw it as a blog rather than wikiloc, there is very little difference anyway.
I was probably thinking aloud regarding this variant, I'm not sure if I could get 4 weeks off next year, which is really what I need once I get off the boat in Santander to take in this option, so all my researching has been around where I could get shave a bit off here and there so I could fit it into a 3 week itinerary, its not going to happen, my knees would give up. The other option for me is do the walk in 2 stages next year, the 1st bit from my house in Exeter and onto Plymouth and then Santander and Santo Toribio. Then come back a few weeks later to do the 21/22 etapas to Santiago.
A big thanks for posting this @Luka I had given up on waiting for them to sort it out, it seems like they might just be doing this route now.

 

[Grahammac]

That could be the alternative route, but I am sure I saw it as a blog rather than wikiloc, there is very little difference anyway.
I was probably thinking aloud regarding this variant, I'm not sure if I could get 4 weeks off next year, which is really what I need once I get off the boat in Santander to take in this option, so all my researching has been around where I could get shave a bit off here and there so I could fit it into a 3 week itinerary, its not going to happen, my knees would give up. The other option for me is do the walk in 2 stages next year, the 1st bit from my house in Exeter and onto Plymouth and then Santander and Santo Toribio. Then come back a few weeks later to do the 21/22 etapas to Santiago.
A big thanks for posting this @Luka I had given up on waiting for them to sort it out, it seems like they might just be doing this route now.

 

[Grahammac]

This " new" route from the Sanctuary de Liebana to Oviedo sounds to be something very special. Does the planned Camino route go north or south of the Picos park?

 

[Isca-camigo]

A bit more to this thread. There was some press on this route last November and also recently. They say the right things all the public bodies involved but it seems they cannot get agreement on the very final route. Here is a link to a bit of back ground to it all. http://miscaminosacovadonga.es/el-principado-impulsa-camino-de-los-santuarios-la-gran-entelequia/

 

[Celi Anatrella]

Has anybody walked from San Toribio to Covadonga this year and cares to share tge status of this route pls?

 

[cjtrailrunner]

Funny I ran into this thread. I plan on doing this route in a few weeks. Will be doing Norte to Santander, then detour to Garabandal, west to Potes and Santo Toribio, then right into the Ruta de la Reconquista, out in Covadonga to Oviedo and finishing off in Santiago.
I do not know anybody who has done it, but I spoke with a lady at the pilgrims office in Cantabria and she told me it is very much doable.
Would love to hear your comments! Thanks

 

[Celi Anatrella]

Funny I ran into this thread. I plan on doing this route in a few weeks. Will be doing Norte to Santander, then detour to Garabandal, west to Potes and Santo Toribio, then right into the Ruta de la Reconquista, out in Covadonga to Oviedo and finishing off in Santiago.
I do not know anybody who has done it, but I spoke with a lady at the pilgrims office in Cantabria and she told me it is very much doable.
Would love to hear your comments! Thanks

Would love to hear your experience. I didn’t know Garabandal was there as well. Pls do share. Thank you!

 

[Pathfinder075]

Funny I ran into this thread. I plan on doing this route in a few weeks. Will be doing Norte to Santander, then detour to Garabandal, west to Potes and Santo Toribio, then right into the Ruta de la Reconquista, out in Covadonga to Oviedo and finishing off in Santiago.
I do not know anybody who has done it, but I spoke with a lady at the pilgrims office in Cantabria and she told me it is very much doable.
Would love to hear your comments! Thanks

I will also be interested in your exact route from Garabandal to Potes. From looking at it on Google Maps, I see no direct route across. Will you be going cross country and doing a wild camp night around Pena Sagra?