Circular Banne route via Le Mazel and Montgros

A short walk that climbs up to the heights above the charming little village of Banne and descends back down via a pretty paved slanting street.

Details

1969795
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 5.93 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 10 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 159 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 160 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 410 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 256 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Park on Place du Fort.

(S/E) Head towards the church or Saint-Paul-le-Jeune. Follow the D251 for about 1.6 km.

(1) Just before the road turns 90° to the left, a small stream runs under the road. Take the path on the right just before the stream. A few metres further on, ignore the path on the right leading to a property and continue straight ahead.
Further on, the path splits into two branches. Take the left-hand one, which descends into the stream bed before climbing back up.
A few metres further on, you come to a large rock. Go round it on the right.
Continue until you reach a road and take it on the left. You’ll come to a fork in the path.

(2) Turn right onto theGR® marked in white and red. At the next junction, turn left.
The path leads onto a road; head left. A little further on, you’ll reach another road. Turn right. You’ll come to a right-angled bend at Le Mazel.

(3) Leave the road and take theGR® which crosses the village of Le Mazel. At the end, turn right and continue to a fork.
Do not turn right as the path leads to a field; instead, continue straight ahead. About a hundred metres further on, you will come to another fork.
Carry on straight ahead to take a paved slanting street that descends to a stream.
After the bridge, the path climbs back up to a much wider track.

(4) Turn left. The path gives way to a road. This joins the road you started on; turn left to return to the Place du Fort (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 264 m - Place du Fort
  2. 1 : km 1.68 - alt. 299 m - Uphill path.
  3. 2 : km 3.13 - alt. 402 m - Start of the GR
  4. 3 : km 4.16 - alt. 397 m - The hamlet of Mazel
  5. 4 : km 5.41 - alt. 280 m - At the junction, turn left
  6. S/E : km 5.93 - alt. 263 m - Place du Fort

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.

Reviews and comments

3.6 / 5
Based on 10 reviews

Reliability of the description
3.8 / 5
Ease of following the route
3.4 / 5
Route interest
3.6 / 5
Nather
Nather

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 27, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

The first part of the walk wasn’t very interesting: a long tarmac road followed by an unkempt path through the forest where nature has reclaimed its territory. It was difficult to follow the trail through the tall grass, brambles and undergrowth (thank goodness for GPS)… After that, it was a pleasant route once we joined the GR. A lovely descent through the pine trees and superb views of the mountains and the village of Banne

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EricF07
EricF07

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 12, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

The tarmac road at the start is a bit too long. After that, the path is fine, but watch out for the fork on the left, as you tend to keep going straight along the most obvious path.

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patriciaversieck
patriciaversieck

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 27, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk through the heart of the forest. Part of the route takes you through the authentic Ardèche countryside; be careful around the hamlet of Le Mazel, especially if you’re a dog lover: there’s a vicious stray dog and a scary goose...
You’ve been warned: keep your dog on a lead and stay alert; get away from this hamlet as quickly as possible.

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jesuisenrandonné07
jesuisenrandonné07

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 15, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Between 1 and 2, the path is a bit overgrown, but if you follow the directions, you can’t go wrong. An interesting trail that takes you off the beaten track.
Between 3 and 4, the paved slanting street is very beautiful and well worth a detour.
We couldn’t find the cave near 4.
We started the walk at the beginning of the D309 on the road leading to Les Vans. Take the D309 for 150 m, then a wide path on the left which leads directly to Place du Fort (an extra 3 km return, 115 m elevation gain). But you get a different view of Banne.

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PatPros
PatPros

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 13, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Beautiful natural sites where human influence is still evident on the walks.

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diabloqueur
diabloqueur

Overall rating : 2.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 29, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Good evening,
Hike completed this morning in sweltering heat (30°C).
The first section was very disappointing, starting with 1.6 km of tarmac. Then the path was hard to find (the description was unclear). And when we did find it, it’s now just a thicket! In short, there’s nothing to it apart from the physical challenge in this first section, as there’s no other attraction... The second part was much more pleasant once we reached the paved slanting street after the hamlet of Mazel. A few blackberries as a treat and we were revitalised. The village of Banne itself is very pretty and well worth a visit.
In short, it’s a real shame about this first section, especially as a much better-marked path starts a little further back.

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siobud
siobud

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 23, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

very pretty, lovely.

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chrisber01
chrisber01

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 25, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

We didn’t actually follow the same route, as we initially went by the directions on the village signposts. It was a very pleasant walk through the pine woods, which was lovely on such a hot day. We only came across three people. The village of Banne is very pretty and well-maintained.

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bececoste
bececoste

As we spend several months a year in Banne, we’ve been doing this hike every year since the path was cleared (the date my guidebook was published). Having done it again this year, we’ve noticed, just like you, that the path is deteriorating once more, and that if it isn’t maintained in future, it will become impassable, which is a real shame... That said, this year the ‘unpleasant’ section was very short. We’ll have to see how it goes in the years to come!

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coco.srz
coco.srz

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 22, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

The first landmark wasn’t very easy to find.
But above all, the path wasn’t maintained, with brambles and ferns over a metre high.
It’s impossible with children!
It’s a shame, as the rest of the walk was quite pleasant, but that ‘start’ ruined it all.

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bececoste
bececoste

Hello sylcol,

I’m sorry you were disappointed by this short hike.

However, regarding the details in my description, I realised, following your comments, that some had been changed, which I don’t understand!!!

So I have just amended my description again to bring it closer to reality, that is to say, to the one I had originally written.

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sylcol
sylcol

Overall rating : 2.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 28, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing

The directions and distances are very poorly described
Nothing particularly noteworthy along the route apart from the beautiful Ardèche houses and the forest

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