Around Viviès

A short, easy hike suitable for families. Splendid views over the Hers valley and the Douctouyre valley.

Details

58184
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 6.24 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 20 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 191 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 190 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 468 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 298 m
  • ⚐ Country: France
  • ⚐ District: Viviès (09500)
  • ⚑
    Start/End: N 43.064335° / E 1.782193°
  • ❏
    IGN map(s): Ref. 2146E
  • Hour-by-hour weather

Photos

Description of the walk

Parking: Place de Gaston.

(S/E) From Place de Gaston, head south-east towards the town hall. At the town hall, turn left towards Maraud onto a small road.

(1) Follow the road (D313) down to the hamlet of Vermeille.

(2) Take the road on the right and cross a stream.

(3) Just after the stream, turn right onto the path that runs alongside the stream southwards for 200 metres. The path disappears into a meadow, to the left of the fence. Follow it to a gate at the end of the meadow. The path reappears in the woods.
At the end of the woods, you will come to a wide track; turn right. Then climb gently up the hill (southbound). Please note: the path is not marked in the meadow.

(4) When you reach the woods, continue up the short but steep climb to the edge of the cliff.

(5) Follow the path to the right: it runs along the cliff to the west. Pass the small summit of La Serre and continue along the ridge, heading due west. Pass the altitude 445m, La Serre 470m. Ignore the paths to the right and left.

(6) At the Peyrot 460m crossroads, take a path that descends to the right (do not follow the yellow signs straight ahead). Descend to the village of Viviès. Pass in front of the church and the Château de Gargas. At the intersection in Gaston, turn left to pass in front of the town hall and return to the Place de Gaston (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 354 m - Place de Gaston
  2. 1 : km 0.33 - alt. 348 m - Place in the hamlet of Maraud
  3. 2 : km 1 - alt. 302 m - Vermeille
  4. 3 : km 1.16 - alt. 299 m - Stream
  5. 4 : km 2.3 - alt. 385 m - Entering the woods
  6. 5 : km 3.14 - alt. 450 m - La Serre
  7. 6 : km 4.69 - alt. 440 m - Peyrot
  8. S/E : km 6.24 - alt. 355 m - Place de Gaston

Worth a visit

Viviès is a village made up of hamlets, with no village centre.
On the way back, you can see the small church and the Château de Gargas, where exhibitions are held regularly.
From the Serre cliff, view of the Douctouyre valley.
During hunting season, be careful of hunters.

Reviews and comments

4.1 / 5
Based on 17 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.1 / 5
Ease of following the route
3.9 / 5
Route interest
4.5 / 5
fran09
fran09

Hello,
When you say "there is no route", do you mean that there are no signposts?
If that's the case, yes, it's true, it's an "original" route.
Fran09

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Bernardem
Bernardem

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 17, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

It is an easy, very pleasant hike with a beautiful view of the Mont d'Olmes.
The description is accurate, but there is no route map. It is fairly intuitive, and if you follow the map, the route is obvious.

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RafRaf
RafRaf
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 29, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very nice, hike done with children between 6 and 12 years old without any problems
I can confirm that at the edge of the clearing, the route no longer matches as you have to find the path at the top of the hill and leave the route (I had the GPX file on a GPS watch).
There are two climbs that are a bit tough for young children, but they are short, so a few sips of water will do the trick.
The view from the other side of the hill once you reach the top is magnificent, and there are indeed rocks with breathtaking views for picnicking.
Thank you for sharing these routes, without which it would be difficult to enjoy the hiking potential of this department that I am discovering. There are lots of trails, but few of them are well maintained and reliable.

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apwb
apwb

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 07, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

hello – please note that there will be no more art exhibitions at Gargas Castle after summer...

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Roel964
Roel964

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 18, 2020
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike!
Unfortunately, I hadn't printed out the description because I usually follow the GPS track completely.
But around waypoint 4 (where the track makes an S-bend), we got lost.
I think (!) that the GPS track isn't entirely accurate there. Could that be possible?
Fortunately, we finally found the route again after spending a long time zigzagging through the low bushes.
We will definitely walk here again because the views are very beautiful. I hope we can find the track

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rambo18
rambo18

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 24, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant, easy family walk with beautiful views. It's a shame that you can't take any photos of Gargas Castle at the end.

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Pié
Pié

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 20, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Great outing with the children (aged 8 and 11).
Beautiful scenery, often in the woods, with places to stop and play during a break.

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phil09
phil09

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 02, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A family hike with varied landscapes; follow the hiking instructions carefully.

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henri57
henri57 ★

Hello,

Thank you for your feedback.

The description lacks precision. We hesitated two or three times.

Where exactly did you hesitate?

Best regards,

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Isa09120
Isa09120

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 21, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

The description lacks precision. We hesitated two or three times and finally followed our instincts. Fortunately, we made the right choice ;-).
It's a lovely walk, we weren't disappointed.

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euphoria
euphoria

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 26, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Hike done with children aged 5 and 9.

Overall, the description is good, but be careful at point 6! We followed the yellow trail without thinking too much about it, which led us to the village of Vira. So we turned around (and it's uphill from there) to get back to point 6 and get back on the right trail.

A small mistake on our part, but it added 2 km to the hike (with a significant elevation gain), which was our first of 2019, so we came back on our knees lol.

Otherwise, it was a very beautiful hike, the picnic at the cliffs was perfect, and the children loved seeing the animals (cows, donkeys).

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henri57
henri57 ★

Hello,

Thank you for taking the time to give your opinion.

I followed the GPS route to the letter, which sent me into the woods where I had to make my way through thick undergrowth (through brambles and dead trees, luckily I'm used to it).

So that's what's bothering me: the route on the map is problematic.

Did you follow the route with a GPS?
Is there a discrepancy between your route and the hiking trail?
Can you send it to me?

Thanks in advance.

See you soon.

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DehZho
DehZho

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 18, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Overall, the hike is pleasant and the scenery is superb, but be sure to do it in good weather! Once you reach the cliff, it's a beautiful spot for a picnic, and the rest of the route is perfectly marked.
That said, the route at point 3 is very poorly marked... due to a lack of consistency between the description and the terrain,
i followed the GPS route to the metre, which sent me into the woods where I had to make my way through the undergrowth (through brambles and dead trees, luckily I'm used to it).
From what I saw/understood, in the middle of stage 3, when you reach the end of the path (chain fencing off a meadow), you have to climb over it and continue through the meadow along the fence (keep it on your right). At the top of the hill, when you reach the woods, take a small path on the right (30-40cm wide).

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rustirando
rustirando

Overall rating : 2.3 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 10, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

I confirm the ambiguity—in the description and the route—at point 3. We met several hikers who only found the path after returning from a wrong turn due to the lack of precision regarding point 3.
It would be a good idea to correct this problem.

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Famillelemiere
Famillelemiere

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 27, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Very beautiful scenery. We did this trip with our 5-year-old daughter and it was hard for her at times. But we'll remember the magnificent view.

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