Irati Forest

The Irati covers around seventeen thousand hectares of beech and silver fir on the Navarrese slope of the western Pyrenees, continuing into France, and it is usually described as the second largest beech-fir forest in Europe after the Black Forest. It was logged for centuries, with oak and beech shipped down the rivers to build ships for the Spanish navy, and a system of rafting timber down the Irati river continued into the twentieth century. Access is from two directions, Ochagavia to the Irabia reservoir and Orbaizeta to the Casas de Irati, with marked routes of varying length. In the last week of October and the first of November the beech turns, drawing very large numbers and prompting parking quotas.

What you actually see

• The beech and fir - seventeen thousand hectares of mixed high forest.
• The Irabia reservoir - a lake within the forest with a circular route.
• The autumn turn - beech colour in the last days of October.
• The timber history - traces of the rafting and logging that shaped it.

When to go

Late October to early November for the colour, which is short and heavily attended with parking quotas and booking now required at the main entrances; June to September for quieter walking in green forest.

Honest expectations

Autumn access is capped and parking must often be booked online in advance, with the quota filling days ahead. The roads in are narrow and congested in that season. Rain and mist are frequent on this side of the Pyrenees.

Nearby

Ochagavia village lies at one entrance; Roncesvalles and the Camino pass are west.