Salas to Tineo
Forest
- Distance
- 20 km
- Climb
- 850 m up, 420 m down
- Ground
- 220 to 760 m
- Time
- 6 to 8 hours
- Difficulty
- hard
- Underfoot
- dirt, forest, mountain, paved
Where this day sits on the Camino Primitivo
Above, the highest and lowest ground of each of its 11 stages. Below, the word each day is given.
From open-pilgrimages: each stage's highest and lowest ground and its interior theme.
The day
Twenty kilometres of forest. The path leaves Salas and climbs slowly through chestnut groves that have stood for centuries. The Asturian forests are darker than the Galician forests you have read about — older trees, more lichen on the trunks, the kind of forest where you can imagine medieval pilgrims walking single file because the path is too narrow for two. By afternoon you climb the final approach to Tineo, a town that sits on a ridge at 673 m with views in every direction. Tineo has a famous Camino tradition: pilgrims who pass through receive a special blessing from the town's confraternity. Many stay an extra night here just to rest before the harder days ahead.
What pilgrims often meet here
- The realization that you will be walking through forest for hours with no village
- Passing centuries-old chestnut trees on stone paths
- Reaching the Tineo ridge and seeing Asturias open in all directions
- The pilgrim blessing at Tineo — informal, not religious if you don't want it to be
What does it feel like to walk in a forest where humans have not been the dominant presence for thousands of years?
The ground
Significant climb of ~600 m net to reach Tineo at 673 m. The hardest day so far. The path passes through ancient chestnut and oak forest, with several long ascents and a few steep stretches.
The light
Sunrise and sunset in Salas depend on the day you walk.
Walk it with Pilgrim
Pilgrim doesn't carry the Camino Primitivo as a route yet. You can still walk it with the app in Wander mode, speaking what arises and keeping it on your phone.