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Arriving from Aubenas via the D4 and the Défilés de Ruoms or from Ruoms via the bridge over the Ardèche, take the D245 towards Labeaume. Take the second small road on the right signposted "Dolmens, Le Ranc de Figère". The start of the hike is at the end of the tarmac road near an old cross. An information panel provides an introduction to the site.
Please note: The parking spaces were blocked off with rockfill on 29 March 2021. See the "Practical information" section below for alternative solutions.
(S/E) Continue in the direction of arrival via the wide access road that runs alongside the dolmen site, some of which are visible from the path (see below).
(1) At the end of the dolmen site, continue (despite the yellow/white cross at the end of the signposting) along the wide path uphill that turns to the right (do not take the small yellow/white signposted path that continues in the direction you arrived and will be the return path). When you see a metal gate to a house, leave the path and take a path on the right. A hundred metres further up, the path on the right towards La Lauze shown on the IGN map is blocked. Continue uphill on the left, following a wall. You will come to a flat area (wooden electricity pole, houses on the right). Leave the houses on your right and descend via the wider path that continues on from the arrival path. You will reach a crossroads with several paths near a house.
(2) Take the wide path on the right to the road. Cross the road to continue on the path opposite. At the houses, do not take the path that continues straight ahead, but follow the wider path that veers to the right and passes to the right of the Malpas houses. At Poucholle, stay on the left-hand path and you will come to a road.
(3) Take the road on the left, which turns at a right angle to the left again after about a hundred metres. Continue on the tarmac (it won't be very long) until you reach a deep depression (usually dry) crossed by a bridge. The road then has a fairly steep slope. After a bend, it is blocked by electric fences. From the direction you are coming from, a stony path leads straight ahead, uphill, enclosed between walls. After a good hundred metres, it ends at a T-junction with another straight path of the same kind.
(4) Follow this new path to the left. A few hundred metres further on, you will find the yellow/white markings again. Continue straight ahead. After a few hundred metres, you will reach a wider path, which you should follow to the right. Pass to the right of a house and continue following the markings (ignore a path on the right, then a trail on the left). You will reach a paved section and arrive at a junction.
(5) Despite the yellow/white cross (the markings go left, then return to the right at an acute angle to end up at the same point), take the path opposite, which quickly leads to another crossroads. Follow the wide path on the right, which goes around the Abeille megalithic necropolis. The path first curves sharply to the left (following the fence on the left; pass two paths on the right), then becomes straighter (note the dovecote on the left above) to arrive at the beautiful buildings of L'Abeille. Cross the hamlet and continue in the same direction until you reach the junction with the Chapias hiking trail.
(6) Turn left and gradually find a path among the oak trees between imposing rock formations. Arrive at the junction with the Chemin de la Grange de Bernard (an old broken cross, of which only the base remains).
(7) Opposite and slightly to the right at the crossroads, take the path that leads back to Ranc de Figère.
(1) Return to the starting point, which leads back to the small car park. (S/E)
Visorando member
Difficult 
Easy 
