Zaldiaran (, ) is a mountain in the

Montes de Vitoria Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...

range, in the province of

Álava Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see. Its ca ...

, Basque Country, Spain. Even if part of the south face of the mountain is on the

Treviño exclave Treviño (in Basque: Trebiñu) is the capital of the municipality Condado de Treviño, province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. The Condado de Treviño and the geographically smaller La Puebla de Arganzón ma ...

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of t ...

; the summit itself lies in

. At the top of the mountain, apart from a tall metallic cross that was placed in 1950 by the

Manuel Iradier Manuel Iradier (b. Vitoria-Gasteiz, Vitoria, 1854–1911) was a Spanish explorer of Africa. A student of philosophy and literature, he fell under the influence of Henry Morton Stanley and turned to exploration. History From 1868-1874 he made p ...

hiking club, there are a few big aerials that transmit television and radio signal to

Vitoria-Gasteiz es, vitoriano, vitoriana, , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = Spanish, Basque , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Close to the summit lies the , with a height of , it links

with the

. The roads that communicate the two provinces are the A-3102 in Álava and the BU-742 in Treviño. The northern slopes are covered by beeches (''

Fagus sylvatica ''Fagus sylvatica'', the European beech or common beech is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae. Description ''Fagus sylvatica'' is a large tree, capable of reaching heights of up to tall and trunk diameter, though mor ...

'') that give way to Portuguese oak (''

Quercus faginea ''Quercus faginea'', the Portuguese oak, is a species of oak native to the western Mediterranean region in the Iberian Peninsula. Similar trees in the Atlas Mountains of northwest Africa are usually included in this species, or sometimes treate ...

'') woods on the lower parts. Due to the proximity of the summit to

and its easy access, it is popular among hikers. On

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

, the hiking clubs of the city organize hikes to the mountain to celebrate the new year.

Access points and trails

The most popular trail starts in

Berrostegieta Berrostegieta is a village in Álava, Basque Country, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyo ...

, on the road that leads to the Zaldiaran pass. This route goes through the secondary Errogana summit. Another popular starting point is the nearby hamlet of

Eskibel Eskibel (official Basque name) is a village in Álava, Basque Country, Spain. It forms part of the Southwest Rural Zone of Vitoria. It is situated 7.5 km southwest of the city in a small valley surrounded by the Mountains of Vitoria. Alwa ...

. The shortest route starts at the Zaldiaran pass, and follows the paved track that leads to the summit.

References

External links

*
Zaldiaran
at the Mendikat website {{in lang, es Basque Mountains Mountains of Álava Mountains of the Basque Country (autonomous community)