Izki Natural Park

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Izki Natural Park

Creation: It was declared a Natural Park on the 4th of May, 1998.
Expansion: 9,143 hectares.
Towns that make up the park: Apellániz, Antoñana, Atauri, Arluzea, Korres, San Román Campezo, Maestu, Marquínez, Quintana, Urarte, Urturi and Vírgala.
Access: From Vitoria-Gasteiz, one of the main access routes is the A-132 road through Puerto de Azazeta towards Maestu. It can also be accessed via the A-126 road towards Bernedo.
Altitude: The highest point of the Park is Mount Kapildui at 1,175 m. and the lowest is Bujanda at 600 m.

Description

The Izki Natural Park is the third largest park in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country. It is surrounded by limestone mountains, some of which, like the Muela de San Román de Campezo or the Soila, boast incredibly large rocks. From these summits, and from San Justi, San Cristóbal or Kapildui, the panoramic views are excellent.

Vegetation

Izki is mainly made up of Pyrenean oak, but there are also different types of trees, such as beech, holm oak, alder, gall oak, mixed forests, birch, aspen groves, oak groves… they cover a large part of this natural space.

On the slope of the Soila, there are two types of yew tree (Taxus baccata) and lime tree (Tilia platyphylos) which, for different reasons, are protected as “Singular Trees”

Small rivers -Izki, Molino, Berrón- flow through the valley. At some points, the water rises to the surface forming ponds, marshes and incipient peat bogs. In these wetlands, as well as an interesting fauna of amphibians and birds – little grebes, great crested grebes… -, valuable flora is also found, such as the white water lily and a rich variety of carnivorous plants.

Fauna

In the sky, gliding above the forest, the slender figures of the golden eagle, peregrine falcon, the Egyptian vulture and common vulture stand out, which rest and breed among the majestic limestone cliffs of the Izki peaks.

The broad pastures of the high areas, where cows, mares and sheep graze, escape the presence of the human being, the medieval town of Korres being the only inhabited area inside the Park.

Izki has very varied fauna, with the Middle spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopus medius) being the most representative species in the park, a small woodpecker which makes its home among the Pyrenean oaks in Izki, constituting one of the largest populations on the peninsular. In total, we can count 151 species of vertebrates (the Montagu’s harrier, the European honey buzzard, wild boars, foxes, badgers, agile frogs, kingfishers…).

Routes

There are 15 routes or trails that are marked out or signposted inside the Park, allowing all visitors to make the most of its landscape, fauna and flora.

The Park Information Point is located in the town of Korres, the only populated area inside the Park, which has preserved its primitive medieval layout.