Walk in the Girou valley, under the watchful eye of Pierre Paul Riquet.

Quiet little roads, gravel or grassy paths, little elevation gain: this is a peaceful walk to enjoy in all seasons, on the outskirts of Toulouse, between Gragnague and Saint-Marcel-Paulel, in the Girou valley.

Details

4592011
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 10.31 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 10 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 71 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 71 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 219 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 140 m
  • ⚐ Country: France
  • ⚐ District: Gragnague (31380)
  • ⚑
    Start/End: N 43.682123° / E 1.584264°
  • ❏
    IGN map(s): Ref. 2143E
  • Hour-by-hour weather

Photos

Description of the walk

Park on the square in front of Gragnague Town Hall.

(S/E) Take Avenue des Écoles (road D77i) opposite, which runs alongside Place Paul Prunel. Continue for 500 m.

(1) At the village exit, turn left onto the path that runs alongside the housing estate. After 400 m, it enters the housing estate and continues along Impasse du Lac.

(2) At the crossroads, turn right onto Route du Pigeonnier, which winds and climbs alongside a wood before continuing along the ridge. When you cross the municipal boundary, it becomes Route de la Canelette and leads 2.4 km further on to Route des Aubits (D57).

(3) At the stop sign, turn left (watch out for traffic) until you reach the Church of Saint-Marcel-Paulel.

(4) Opposite the church, turn right onto Allée du 8 Mai 1945, which runs alongside the town hall, and continue on Chemin de Garosses, which extends it. The road descends and turns into the woods, leading to the D32.

(5) Follow this road to the right via the pedestrian crossing on the right-hand side of the road.

(6) 250 metres further on, cross the road carefully and turn left onto the wide stony path.
Continue along this path, called Chemin de Rambert. After 600 m, you will reach Chemin de Nagen (a tarmac road open to traffic) and follow it to the left. This road approaches Le Girou and you can see the waterfalls just before the hamlet of Nagen.

(7) Chemin de Nagen ends at Avenue Pierre Paul Riquet (D57), which you take on the left.

(8) After the last house, turn right onto the wide gravel road, Chemin de la Mouyssagèse (or Chemin d'Aurival, depending on the map).

(9) Less than a kilometre further on, after passing a lake on the right, turn right onto the grassy path that joins the Girou and turns left to follow it before passing under the motorway slip road to Verfeil (mind your head, the metal beams of the bridge are low!). This grassy path continues between the motorway and the Girou for about 700 metres.

(10) At the new waterfalls, the path passes under the motorway slip road again and winds between the fields, following the Canal du Moulin.
It ends a little over a kilometre further on at a street.

(11) Simply cross the canal and go up the street on the left to arrive back at the town hall square (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 148 m - Town hall square
  2. 1 : km 0.53 - alt. 154 m - Exit from the village.
  3. 2 : km 1.06 - alt. 152 m - Crossroads with the Route du Pigeonnier.
  4. 3 : km 3.4 - alt. 214 m - Junction with the D57
  5. 4 : km 4.35 - alt. 192 m - Church of Saint-Marcel-Paulel
  6. 5 : km 5.23 - alt. 165 m - Junction with the D32
  7. 6 : km 5.49 - alt. 157 m - Crossing the D 32. Towards the - Girou (rivière)
  8. 7 : km 6.8 - alt. 146 m - Junction with the D 57
  9. 8 : km 7.02 - alt. 151 m - Chemin de la Mouyssagèse
  10. 9 : km 7.92 - alt. 144 m - Path along the Fontcalbe stream.
  11. 10 : km 8.87 - alt. 143 m - Passage under the slip road. Waterfalls
  12. 11 : km 9.96 - alt. 141 m - End of the trail. Fountain in the street.
  13. S/E : km 10.3 - alt. 148 m - Town hall square

Notes

Water point and rubbish bins on the square in Gragnague.
Water point in Saint-Marcel-Paulel.

Worth a visit

Places to visit:
- Saint-Marcel-Paulel church, mill and waterfalls on the Girou.
- Waterfalls between (6) and (7).

Note: in case of bad weather or for any other reason, at (9), you can continue straight ahead on the path and join the Saint-Vincent road (D32) and return to the starting point (S/E) via Avenue du Champ de Foire.
Blandine Garel introduced me to this walk, to which I have made few changes. I believe she published it in her book "Les balades de Blandine" around Toulouse in 2003, but this book is now out of print. By describing it on this website, I wanted to allow all hikers to enjoy it, updating the landmarks and making it easier to follow.

Reviews and comments

4.4 / 5
Based on 13 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.7 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.8 / 5
Route interest
3.7 / 5
patrickdml
patrickdml

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 16, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Good warm-up and well-marked route. However, there is a lot of tarmac. Motorway works block the route between 9 and 10. We continued on the gravel track and rejoined the route just before 10.
The Nalgen "waterfall" was not exceptional either.

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Jaire
Jaire

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 23, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

A lot of the route is on tarmac (80%)
The only interesting thing I found were the Girou waterfalls
Be careful on the route (index 10), as we come to the Toulouse-Castres motorway construction site.
Luckily it was Sunday, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get through and would have been turned back by the workers.
Best avoided for now.

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MAMISS
MAMISS

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 12, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant walk with beautiful views, especially of Bonrepos Riquet Castle. Nagen is a charming little village worth exploring. We chose not to follow the PR trail that goes under the motorway because it was noisy. A great walk!

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vsteller
vsteller

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 06, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

A walk to keep your legs in shape... not very interesting; lots of tarmac.
A "generous" estimate of the time... it took us 2 hours instead of the 3 hours 10 minutes announced... I'm 63 years old.

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sofcool65
sofcool65

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 06, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant walk, with a few quiet tarmac roads, but we went on a Sunday.
The trail is not marked, but the directions are perfect. Beautiful scenery, two small waterfalls. Not recommended in summer as there is little shade. It took us 2½ hours without children and as we are good walkers.

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Lo cordior
Lo cordior

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : May 30, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Parked opposite Granague Town Hall: a pleasant village in our Toulouse region.
... a long paved section (2/3) along the edge of large fields (couldn't we "take advantage of a border" to avoid this pavement? while respecting the crops (we are hikers, aren't we?).
The last third is pleasant along the Girou (and the Verfeil interchange)... the waterfalls are nice, but...

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Ludi
Ludi

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 24, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk, but it's a shame that the start is on fairly busy tarmac roads!
Don't miss the church in Saint-Marcel-Paulet!
Small waterfalls that are pleasant to look at!
An easy route! The directions are very reliable!

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micvan
micvan

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 22, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

An extremely varied and pleasant route, almost entirely flat, suitable for all seasons.

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M31N19
M31N19

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 10, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

A gentle walk, as described, except for a fairly steep slope at (2).
It's a shame that 75% of the route is on tarmac roads, although fortunately they are not very busy.
Some beautiful scenery (you can see Bonrepos-Riquet in the distance) – and the hamlet of Nagen is very cute.

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Vendinielle
Vendinielle
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 28, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

At this time of year, the blossoming trees add a lot of charm to this walk. The countryside is very pleasant in this area. Having already explored the area, I know there aren't many paths around here, so let's take the small roads; at this time of year, that's actually an advantage. To avoid walking along the motorway because of the noise from the cars, I stayed on the PR between 9 and 10. There are some beautiful gardens along the route. Thank you for this idea.

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Adeline3134
Adeline3134

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 18, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

A pleasant short hike. The first section is on concrete, but in the Toulouse countryside on small roads with almost no traffic.
There is a pretty little waterfall at the end of the walk.
Be careful on the dirt track on the way back: it can be muddy if it has rained recently.

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l'indienne
l'indienne

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

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

It's a shame that the weather didn't allow us to complete the entire route... we'll have to do it again when the weather is better!

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Olivier Bel Air
Olivier Bel Air

Thank you for your comments, and I'm glad you enjoyed the walk!

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DELBES
DELBES

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 31, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A walk taken on a rainy afternoon in January, which we nevertheless enjoyed very much.
There was a bit of "road" in the first part, but it wasn't very busy.
After that, there were some very beautiful paths and not too much mud despite the rain.
We saw the Girou with quite a high water level and observed its two "waterfalls", which are in fact old causeways used as water intakes for mills.
Although this hike is not marked, it is remarkably well described and detailed by the person who suggested it.
Thank you
Jean-Noël DELBÈS

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