Mountain passes. The entire route from Balmaseda (Bizkaia) to Isaba (Navarre), the end of the Basque Pyrenees, can be covered without leaving the mountains, the Atlantic and Mediterranean watershed, a line that is easily crossed by easily accessible passes and passes of medium altitude, connecting the areas of Vitoria and Pamplona with those of Bilbao, San Sebastián, San Juan de Pie de Puerto and Mauleón. To cross the watershed, we find the Barrerilla pass or Alto de Unza (660 m.) and the Altube pass (599 m.) the Orduña crag and the peak of Gorbea, linking Vitoria with Bilbao via the Nervión basin. Next come the passes of Barazar (637 m.) Urkiola (688 m.), Arlabán (617 m.), Otzaurte (607 m.), Etxegarate (751 m.) and Lizarrusti (615 m.) towards the interior of Bizkaia-Guipuzcoa. Here we are now in the centre of the country, in Aralar. The Azpiroz pass (617 m) provides easy access to the Navarrese Basque Country and the coast of the Bay of Biscay. Then to the east, Huizi (700 m.), Belate (868 m.), Ibañeta or Roncesvalles (1,094 m.), Bentartea (1,222 m.), Arnustegi (1. 226 m.), Iturzaeta (1.550 m.), Betzula (1.590 m.), Belai (1.727 m.), Urdaite (1.409 m.), Eraize (1.608 m.), Arrasarguía (l.609 m.), Insola (2,154 m.) and those of Lhurs and Eskeste at more than 2,000 m. above sea level. The Pre-Pyrenees and Sub-Pyrenees also have easy passes, although some, such as Lizarraga, are frequently closed by snow in winter.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)