Zaldiaran


Zaldiaran is a 978 metres high mountain part of the Montes de Vitoria mountainous range, located on Alava, Basque Country. Even if part of the south face of the mountain is on the Treviño exclave,, the summit is itself on Alava.
Next to the summit, some metres below, there is the Zaldiarango gaina, with a height of 780 metres ; a mountain pass that communicates Alava with the Treviño exclave at its highest point, where the frontier is located. The roads that communicate these two provinces are the A-3102 that comes from Alava and the BU-742, which heads for Treviño exclave.
At the top of the mountain, apart from a tall metallic cross that was placed in 1950 by the hiker club Manuel Iradier, there are a few big aerials that transmit television and radio signal to Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Geography

Bordering municipalities with Zaldiaran:
Panoramic view from the top of Zaldiaran:

Access points and trails

Main route

The main and most popular access point is from Berrosteguieta.
The route begins in this village, at the foot of Zaldiaran on the highway that goes to the Zaldiaran mountain pass. After following this road 200 metres the trail arrives to an esplanade, next to a large aerial. Opposite there is a water tank.
At the right of the tank starts a narrow path, which runs through a pine forest upwards. At the exit of the pinewood the trail is abandoned and a narrow path at the left is followed. The route follows the ridge and pursues another way. Then, the right way has to be taken on a bifurcation that divides the road. The forest is left behind and a firewall heads to the top of Errogana.
Following an almost flat terrain the route breaks through a beech. As soon as having entered the beech the trail deviates to the left. The wood is crossed by a diagonal footway that ends on the road which ascends to the relay tower located on the summit.

Flora

Northern slopes of Zaldiaran are full of beeches that give way to Portuguese Oaks woods on lower parts of the mountain.

Curiosities