Basque Coast Geopark

The Basque Coast Geopark, made up of the municipalities of Deba, Mutriku and Zumaia, treasures an extraordinary geological, landscape and cultural heritage, and offers one of the most unique and attractive proposals for nature tourism and geotourism.

This geopark has been part of the European and Global Geoparks Network since 2010. In November 2015, Geoparkea was declared a UNESCO Global Geopark, a designation that highlights the importance of geological sites and landscapes of exceptional value.

The 13 kilometres of cliffs in the Geopark hold a spectacular formation of rock layers called Flysch which, like a big book, show us more than 60 million years of the Earth's history. Visitors can walk along these cliffs or take a boat trip and travel back in time to discover, among other things, the thin black layer that is evidence of the impact of a large asteroid and the great extinction of the dinosaurs.

In the heart of the Geopark there is a surprising route that allows visitors to get to know and feel prehistory at first hand: the Valley of prehistory (HAB), in Deba. It is an open-air museum offering a route that will transport the visitor to an incredible universe thanks to the replicas of archaeological and palaeontological pieces, illustrations of everyday scenes and detailed information collected on the 50 supports that mark out the walk.

In the interior of the territory, the karst area concentrates the largest number of caves in the whole of Gipuzkoa, among which the Ekain cave, declared a World Heritage Site, stands out. Water has sculpted the valleys of Olatz and Lastur, two fascinating landscapes dotted with dolines, green pastures and farmhouses that form a bucolic image of the Basque rural world.

The possibilities for exploring the Basque Coast Geopark are endless. There is a full range of guided tours available all year round for everyone (book online at geoparkea.eus).