Bellavista starting from Bagnères-de-Bigorre

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A lovely walk with magnificent views of the mountains on one side and the plain on the other.

Details

n°47512417
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 9.27 mi
  • ◔
    Average duration: 6h 00 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 1,991 ft
  • ↘
    Descent: - 1,988 ft
  • ▲
    Highest point: 3,707 ft
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 1,831 ft
Downloads
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Photos

View over the valley
Dirt track
View of the Pic du Midi

Description of the walk

Park in the small car park at Vallon du Salut, south-west of Bagnères-de-Bigorre.

(S/E) Take the road uphill opposite (Rue Joseph Bouget), then turn left onto Chemin du Bédat. Pass a tennis court on your left and a mini-golf course on your right. At the hairpin bend that follows, turn left onto Chemin de la Croix de Manse. Follow this path and, after a few hairpin bends, you’ll reach a crossroads of trails.

(1) Keep left on Chemin de la Croix de Manse, continue uphill and, after a few bends, you will reach the Croix de Manse crossroads.

(2) Take the Chemin des Portes de Fer opposite. Continue uphill to reach the Ruisseau Élysée Cottin.

(3) Cross it, continue along the Route Forestière d'Esquiou and reach the bend at the hamlet of Péne Blanque.

(4) Continue walking gently uphill along the Route Forestière d'Esquiou, emerging at the edge of the woods at the Esquiou roundabout junction, where you will find the GRF78.

(5) Turn left onto it and follow the red and white markings. You will soon reach La Couradette.

(6) Continue on theGR® ignoring all the paths branching off to the right or left. Reach the highest point at a left-hand bend.

(7) Head downhill, passing beneath the Sommet du Monné to reach a crossroads at a place called Couret du Monné.

(8) Turn left, staying on theGR®, and descend to the hairpin bends below the Tucou climbing site.

(9) Continue down to reach the junction ofthe GR® and a footpath.

(10) Leave theGR® here, take the gently ascending path opposite and you will soon reach the Croix de Manse junction you passed on the way out.

(2) Continue straight ahead along the gently ascending track, then turn right onto the path towards the Vierge du Bédat. Reach the junction of the path leading to the Vierge.

(11) Here you have two options:
- turn left for a return trip to the Vierge,
- take the path on the right, which is the route shown on the map. You will soon reach the junction you passed on the way out.

(1) Turn left and follow the route you took on the way there in the opposite direction to return to the Vallon du Salut car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : mi 0 - alt. 1,831 ft - Vallon du Salut car park
  2. 1 : mi 0.77 - alt. 2,231 ft - Crossroads of the circular loop
  3. 2 : mi 1.36 - alt. 2,470 ft - Croix de Manse
  4. 3 : mi 2.3 - alt. 2,621 ft - Élysée Cottin Stream
  5. 4 : mi 3.42 - alt. 3,041 ft - Pène Blanque
  6. 5 : mi 4.54 - alt. 3,392 ft - Esquiou Roundabout
  7. 6 : mi 4.91 - alt. 3,488 ft - La Couradette
  8. 7 : mi 5.81 - alt. 3,645 ft - High point
  9. 8 : mi 6.16 - alt. 3,648 ft - Couret du Monné
  10. 9 : mi 7.1 - alt. 3,045 ft - Below the Tucou climbing site
  11. 10 : mi 7.7 - alt. 2,644 ft - GR trail junction
  12. 11 : mi 8.2 - alt. 2,572 ft - Carrefour Bédat
  13. S/E : mi 9.27 - alt. 1,834 ft - Vallon du Salut car park

Notes

This hike was done in early April, and there weren’t many people around.
Wear suitable walking shoes as part of the path is stony; at this point, follow the yellow markings on the ground. Also bring water with you; before reaching the starting point, you can stop in Bagnères-de-Bigorre near Aquensis to fill up at the fountain.

Worth a visit

Note: it is possible to drive up to (5) for a picnic.
We stopped between (5) and (6) to eat, with a superb view of the Pic du Midi de Bigorre and the valley. Not counting the break for lunch, the walk took us just under 4 hours.

Always be cautious and plan ahead when you're outdoors. Visorando and the author of this route cannot be held responsible for any accidents occurring on this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

Downloads
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Reviews and comments

4.8 / 5
Based on 3 reviews
Reliability of the description
5 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.7 / 5
Route interest
4.7 / 5
Guizmo91
Guizmo91

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 18, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

We really enjoyed this hike. Stunning scenery and views of the Pic du Midi, which was still covered in snow at this time of year. A 9km climb is no mean feat. But what a treat to have a picnic afterwards! A few stony sections on the way down. Walking poles came in handy. Otherwise, no difficulties. We lost the trail twice, but Visorando quickly alerted us to the mistakes. And we took a detour to the Vierge du Bedat, which isn’t part of the route.

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guyarmengaud
guyarmengaud

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 30, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk.
Between points 2 (Croix de Manse) and 5 (Esquiou roundabout), the route follows a tarmac forest road, which isn’t particularly kind on the soles of your feet.
Before heading up to point 7, we took a yellow-marked path that climbs up to Le Monné, then we descended to Le Petit Monné. Lovely views over the valley and the Pyrenees mountain range.
From there, a marked path leads back to point 8. At point 10, we continued to the right on the GR78, which follows the Allées Dramatiques and winds its way down to the Vallon du Salut. From there, we crossed the lovely park and returned to our starting point, thus completing a circular route. It would be a real shame to miss out on passing by Le Petit Monné, which is a stunning viewpoint.

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fnicoud
fnicoud
• Edited:

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 20, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk. It might be better to do it the other way round if the ground is muddy (I did it in January when there was no snow), as some sections of the descent can be slippery. I would therefore recommend heading back down via the forest road from the Esquiou roundabout and going up via the GR78 – a choice to be made at point 2 of the route.
You can climb up to Le Monné without any real difficulty! It adds 150 metres of ascent but the view is lovely.
Beautiful view of the Pic du Midi de Bigorre on the upper part of the hike.
Following the route via the Visorando or Geoportail app is straightforward.
GR and/or yellow markings depending on the section

Machine-translated

Prau
Prau

There weren't enough signposts on the walk. All the walks have the same markings, and that made it difficult for us, especially at the summit
We were supposed to do a 7 km hike but ended up doing 15 km

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The GPS track and description are the property of this route's author. Please do not copy them without permission.