Nocedal

Nocedal is a small locality in the municipality of Abanto-Zierbena, in the province of Bizkaia, on the clifftop coastal terrain west of the Nervión estuary. The name derives from nocedo or noguera, referring to hazel or walnut woodland, indicating that the locality developed in or near a grove of such trees.

The surrounding terrain is the open Cantabrian clifftop heath characteristic of the Bizkaia coastal strip west of Bilbao: gorse, heather, and low scrub on the exposed clifftop with the Bay of Biscay dropping away to the north. The Camino del Norte follows the clifftop path through this terrain on the first open coastal section after leaving the Bilbao estuary.