Mushroom permits in Navarra: four valleys

If you are heading to Navarra for mushrooms, first work out not "where is the forest" but "whose forest is it". That determines whether you need a permit, how much it costs and in what form you have to carry it. Below are the four valleys that visitors go to most often, and the rules people usually trip over.

There is no single permit for the whole region

You buy the permit from the specific valley. Forests in Navarra belong to valleys and municipalities, and the owner is entitled to fence off its forest. Such a plot is called an acotado, and from here on we simply call it a restricted area. The owner sets its own rules and prices there, and the plot must be marked with signs on the ground ⁷.

There are 16 such areas in the network, and each has its own rules. If you are not going to one of the four valleys below, open the page of the valley you plan to visit before you set off.

How much a permit costs and where to buy it

The daily limit is the same in all four valleys, while prices and places of sale differ.

Remember that a permit from one valley is valid only within that valley ¹⁴⁵⁶.

Annual permits run for different periods. In Ultzama the annual permit is valid from 1 January to 31 December 2026, while in Erro it runs from 1 June of the current year to 1 June of the next ¹³.

Where visitors most often go wrong

The difference in price is a few euros. Problems usually come from something else: the form in which the permit is required, the age up to which children can pick without one, and the valley's minor local rules.

Ultzama. A PDF permit on your phone is enough. The receipt goes under the car's windscreen. Children up to the age of 16 can pick without a permit of their own, but only together with an adult who has a permit, and that adult is responsible for them. On very busy days the sale of day permits may be stopped, so don't count on buying one at the last minute for the weekend. And one more detail that few people think about: any mushrooms in your car on Ultzama's forest tracks are treated as picked in Ultzama ¹².

Erro-Roncesvalles. Here it is the other way round: the online permit is valid only printed on paper, and a phone screen won't do, so print it at home. The receipt also goes under the windscreen. Children up to the age of 14 can pick without a permit together with an adult who has one. The number of permits available on the website may be limited ³⁴.

Salazar. Carry the permit card with you together with an identity document. The valley has a special quota: up to 15 kg of hongo beltza and up to 3 kg of Calocybe gambosa ⁵.

What is forbidden in all four valleys

Despite all the differences, a few bans apply everywhere:

• no picking at night, that is, between an hour before sunset and an hour after sunrise;
• no rakes or other tools that tear up the forest litter;
• no cutting mushrooms with a cap of 4 cm or less ²⁵⁶.

In Ultzama and Erro two more bans are added. You must not enter areas marked with danger signs, including because of hunting. And you must not pick the closed "eggs" of Amanita caesarea ²³.

Picking without the right to do so carries a fine: from €30.05 to €300.51 in Ultzama, and from €30 to €200 in Salazar. In Ultzama what you have picked is also confiscated ²⁵.

The map and the forecast are no substitute for the sign

Two MicoRadar tools help you plan a trip, but on the ground they don't have the last word.

On the map of Navarra the restricted areas are shown as a separate layer. It is compiled from the register and may lag behind reality. If there is a sign on the spot, the sign applies, not the map.

The forecast and the weekend forecast show a model's calculation: what conditions for mushrooms are developing according to weather data. It is not an observation in the forest and not permission to pick, so you need a permit whatever the forecast says.

There is a separate section on dangerous mushrooms. Here we will only remind you of one thing: if you feel unwell after eating wild mushrooms, call 112.

What to check before you set off

• Find out which valley you are going to and open its page. A permit from a neighbouring valley is not valid there.
• Buy the permit for exactly that valley. For weekends in Ultzama, buy in advance.
• For Erro, print the permit on paper. For Ultzama, a PDF on your phone is enough.
• Take an identity document and put the receipt under the windscreen.
• Check the children's ages: the thresholds in Ultzama and Erro are different.
• On the spot, go by the signs and danger notices, not by the map.

Text checked against the sources on 10/10/2026.