Ribadesella to Colunga
The Jurassic coast
- Distance
- 20.1 km
- Climb
- 350 m up, 310 m down
- Ground
- 0 to 150 m
- Time
- 5 to 6 hours
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Underfoot
- coastal, forest, dirt, paved
Where this day sits on the Camino del Norte
Above, the highest and lowest ground of each of its 34 stages. Below, the word each day is given.
From open-pilgrimages: each stage's highest and lowest ground and its interior theme.
The day
The Asturian coast between Ribadesella and Gijón is known as the Costa Jurásica because dinosaur footprints are visible in the intertidal rocks at several beaches. MUJA (Museo del Jurásico de Asturias), on a hilltop between Colunga and Lastres, holds casts of the prints and a good dinosaur skeleton collection. If you have time, the museum is worth the short detour. The walking today is gentle — a recovery day after the Llanes-Ribadesella double.
What pilgrims often meet here
- Quiet forest walking after two long days
- Dinosaur footprints visible at low tide on certain beaches
- The MUJA detour — ~1 km off the route
- Colunga's small-town calm in the evening
You are walking over 140-million-year-old footprints. What is the scale of your journey measured against that?
The ground
Continues along the Asturian coast through small villages (Berbes, La Espasa, El Barrigón) with intermittent cliff views and interior forest crossings. Colunga is a small inland town with the Jurassic Museum of Asturias (MUJA) nearby — this region has the highest density of dinosaur footprints in Spain.
The light
Sunrise and sunset in Ribadesella depend on the day you walk.
Walk it with Pilgrim
In Pilgrim's Honor mode you can walk this stage as it is drawn here, and save its maps for days with no signal. The morning opens with this day's word, The Jurassic coast, and its story. When you arrive, it asks the question above, and you can answer out loud. Your walk stays on your phone.
With Pilgrim on your phone, this opens the stage, ready to begin. Without it, you'll see the stage and where to get the app.