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Depart from the car park in front of the town hall.
(S/E) Go up the D21 just above the car park and follow it on the right. After passing the old cooperative winery, follow the road towards Caramany. A few metres further on, a small road branches off to the right.
(1) Take it and you will arrive at an oratory in the middle of a Y-shaped crossroads. Follow the unpaved path to the left of the oratory (yellow markings) and join the Route de Caramany. Turn right onto it to arrive at a crossroads with three roads leading off it.
(2) Take the leftmost road downhill (red and yellow markings). After about 100 metres, take the track on the left with signs for "À travers les âges" (Through the Ages), "Bornes frontière" (Border Markers) and "Grotte de Bélesta" (Bélesta Cave) with red and yellow markings. The panorama opens up towards Mont Bugarach, the Château de Quéribus and Lac de Caramany.
Continue through a small wood to discover a beautiful view of Mont Canigou and the village of Montalba-le-Château (a path on the right offers an excellent view from the top of the Caune hill).
The path descends to the Bélesta Cave.
(3) Continue along the path, which descends steeply to the bottom of the valley.
(4) At the bottom, continue immediately to the right and then to the left, still following the path marked in red and yellow with directional signs. After leaving the path that branches off to the right towards Montalba Castle, cross the stream bed (mostly dry) to reach a Y-shaped fork a hundred metres further on. Turn right to reach the ice well, which is a few metres from the edge of the path on the right.
(5) Continue along the trail but do not follow the markings that lead back towards Bélesta on the left.
Keep to the right. Climb gradually until you come to some ruins on the left, then join another track. Take this track on the right to reach the bottom of the valley and pass a cistern on the right.
(6) Look for the yellow-marked return trail on the left. For now, continue on the right along the track. After about a hundred metres, the track splits in two. Take the right fork and stay on the left to climb to the top of the hill, where you will see a photovoltaic power station.
(7) The first marker, "Pilo d'en Gil", is visible on the hilltop to the right of the track.
Retrace your steps and descend to the path you spotted on the way up near the cistern.
(6) Continue straight ahead for about 150 metres and take the small yellow-marked path on the left that leads to the other two markers. Reach the first of the two markers via a small marked path on the left in the undergrowth.
(8) Retrace your steps to return to the path and discover the second marker on the left-hand side of the path. Continue along the path until you reach a crossroads.
(9) Turn left and continue to follow the yellow markings. The path descends to the bottom of a small valley.
(10) Continue left on the yellow-marked trail and climb up to reach a flat area a little further on, where several trails lead to properties.
(11) Take the one completely on the left, which passes in front of a kennel and joins the road after about 800 metres.
(12) Follow the road to the right, then immediately left at the crossroads to climb back up towards Bélesta and reach the Place de la Mairie de Bélesta (S/E).
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