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Stage 5 · Camino Primitivo
Pola de Allande → Berducedo
Before you set off
No drinking water
Between Pola de Allande and Berducedo. — Leave with 1.7 litres of water.
The Puerto del Palo
This is the mountain stage of the Camino Primitivo. It is 21.7 kilometres with 1,100 metres of ascent and 720 of descent, and although the figures look daunting, the climb is steady and has no technical sections. You leave Pola de Allande beside the river and the track starts climbing almost at once through Peñaseita, through oak and chestnut woods, gaining height without a break up to the Puerto del Palo, at almost 1,150 metres, which you reach a little short of halfway.
At the pass the route meets the Hospitales route, the high alternative that starts from Borres and follows the ridge past the ruins of the old pilgrim hospitals, bypassing Pola de Allande. It is more beautiful and harder, and only makes sense in good weather without fog: there is not a roof or a fountain for many kilometres. Anyone who sleeps in Pola climbs via the Palo, which is the official and the safe route.
From the pass the path descends on a track to Montefurado, an almost deserted hamlet with a chapel, and continues along the hillside to Lago, where there is a bar, and on to Berducedo, a small mountain village with hostels and a place or two to eat, and little else.
Tips
Get your departure stamp in Pola de Allande and carry water and food for the whole climb: nothing is open before Lago.
Check the forecast before you leave. In fog or storms the pass closes in and there is nowhere to shelter on the climb.
Climb with short steps and without long stops; the descent to Montefurado is long and you want to reach it with strength to spare.
The two transit stamps for this stage go in Lago and Berducedo, or at the chapel in Montefurado if it is open.
Book in Berducedo: beds are few and in summer they go early.
The Hospitales route has no way out once you are up there: if the weather turns halfway, you have to carry on to the Palo or go back to Borres.
Where am I?
Your phone says where you are; the guide tells you how far is left and where the next water is.
Create the free account It is free and forever. An account is needed for the guide to place you. I already have an account
Your position is used to answer you and is not stored anywhere.
Walk with me
It crosses where you are with the time, the daylight left, the water, the beds and the notice board. Three things at most: the ones that actually change your afternoon.
Create the free account It is free and forever. An account is needed for the guide to place you. I already have an account
It checks GPS every 6 min while you keep it open. GPS drains the battery: if yours is low, switch it off.
Your position is used to answer you and is not stored anywhere.
Profile and services
The elevation for this stage has not been loaded yet.
What's there today
Nobody has reported anything on this stage.
Tips from people who walked it
The things that do not expire: where the fountain actually is, which bar opens at six, where not to go in the rain.
None here yet. If you have just walked this stage, you know something tomorrow’s pilgrim does not.
Emergencies
Call 112112 is the same number in Spain, in Portugal and across the European Union. It works with no credit, with no SIM, and over any operator's network, not just yours.
Say where you are I am walking the Camino Primitivo, on the stage from Pola de Allande to Berducedo.
We have no pharmacy or health centre loaded for this stage. That does not mean there is none: ask at the hostel.
The map
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What to see on this stage 3
- Ermida de Santiago de Montefurado Church km 8,0
- Iglesia de Santa María de Lago Church km 11,7
- Iglesia de Berducedo Church km 15,8