Through the Pastures of Ezkeltzu

This itinerary that runs through the highlands of the municipality is of interest above all for its panoramic views and mountain pastures. It is very simple, short and circular, it can be used as an alternative to a reduced section of the GR34 that comes from Usurbil.

The summit of Ezkeltzu is the highest point of Zizurkil. The shepherds of the area have used their pastures and their seles for centuries, with remains of these still visible today.

Panoramic view of the coast
When you walk along the track you can contemplate a beautiful panoramic view of the Gipuzkoan coast, from Orio to Getaria and enjoy the contrasts of the blue of the sea with the green of spring or brown of autumn. Meanwhile, from the compact villages to the scattered farms highlights their influence on the landscape.

Cattle handling sleeve
Before starting the climb to Ezkeltzu you will find a solid facility used to gather the cattle that are grazing there, for various purposes: to set aside the cattle, to hold the cattle for marking or sanitary treatment or to load the cattle to the truck for later transfer.

Nevero
If you explore the surroundings of the top of Mount Ezkeltzu, you will find an underground and circular stone wall; it is a snow pit. In this deep warehouse they introduced the snow that accumulated around and crushed it until it turned into ice. Then they loaded it into carts that they transported to Donostia to make ice cream.

Seles of Ezkeltzu
When the forest dominated these lands, the shepherds caused circular clearings for the use of livestock, mainly on communal land. To limit them they placed a stone in the center under which they buried ashes: "the ash stone", and on it they engraved a star of 4 or 8 points directed to the cardinal points. Following these signs were the cairns of the periphery that marked the limit of these lands.

The first written data on these seles is from the thirteenth century and shows that they were owned by the Hospital Santa María de Roncesvalles; but still the origin of the Seles is a mystery that is lost in time.