We will soon hike the Ebro Nature Trail

We have a modest plan in place, but at this stage, it's very exciting. We are drafting a really cool hike, connecting our two villages in Rioja, Elciego and Ollauri, along the GR 99, the Ebro Nature Trail.

We will have to wait a few weeks, but just as well. By the time we are able to hike it, the vineyards will be thriving with green colours and the grape clusters will be developing on the vines.

It will be a tribute to our land, the landscape and the activity that provides us with meaning. It will also be a way -as real as it is symbolic- of loosening up our legs and mind. And, of course, it will be an invitation to jointly embrace and honour nature and the energy of life.

Brief description of a beautiful route

We will follow the course of the Ebro upstream, towards the west, so we will start at the gates of Muriel winery in Elciego, to walk along beautiful country paths and trails among the vineyards, passing through five beautiful and historical villages by the river.

From Elciego the first stage takes us to Baños de Ebro through the El Gallo plateau, which we know so well. Our Viña Muriel wines are born from these Tempranillo and Viura vines. We will descend to the banks of the Ebro River through the area called Los Barrancos, amidst vineyard terraces. Hiking along tree-lined pathways we arrive at Baños.

Continuing along the riverbank, we follow the comfortable path crossing a wide plain, towards San Vicente de la Sonsierra. We will alternate between dirt tracks and stretches of local roads, always among vineyards, small sandstone slopes and the occasional guardaviñas (stone shelters). On the other side of the Ebro river we will soon see a sharp ridge crowned by the ruins of Davalillo Castle. In the Middle Ages it protected the old border between the kingdoms of Castile and Navarre.

Hiking up several hills and small ravines we arrive at San Vicente and its imposing skyline marked by the church and castle. From here we will cross the river Ebro towards the majestic hilltop village of Briones.

We are only six kilometers away walking through vineyards until we reach Conde de los Andes winery in Ollauri. Altogether we will have covered about 36 kilometres along this intense and beautiful Ebro Nature Trail.

Some images of the route as it passes through the great meander of San Vicente de la Sonsierra. They were taken a year ago, in March 2019. Among vineyards and 'guardavias' stone shelters, the Davalillo castle in sight:

Don Quixote and Sancho reached the river Ebro, and the sight of it was a great delight to Don Quixote as he contemplated and gazed upon the charms of its banks, the clearness of its stream, the gentleness of its current and the abundance of its crystal waters; and the pleasant view revived a thousand tender thoughts in his mind.
Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, Second Part, XXIX