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When arriving in Opoul via the D 5, follow the road signs for "Toutes directions" (all directions) then "Périllos - Château". Once you reach Rue d'en Haut, park in the small car park next to two old picnic tables under the trees.
(S/E) Walk back down towards the village for about 30 metres until you reach the junction with Rue Traverse de Périllos.
Yellow PR® markings
Turn left onto the tarmac road, keep left at the fork about 450 metres further on and take a sharp left turn. At a very imposing cairn, turn right off the tarmac road and walk alongside a vineyard.
(1) At the end of the vineyard, turn left and follow the path, which is sometimes difficult to see on the very stony ground. After a few bends, the path heads north and leads to a fork in a small clearing among the pine trees.
No markings
(2) Leave the PR® trail on your left (the map is inaccurate at this point) and follow the path on the right, which leads to a wider track opposite a vineyard. Turn left to quickly rejoin the tarmac road and follow it to the right.
(3) At the start of a right-hand bend and opposite a stone building on high ground, leave the road on the left and take a wide grassy path. Go around the building and you will come to a five-way crossroads.
Take the first path on the right: this is not shown on the IGN map but is clearly visible on the OSM map. Follow the path, which quickly becomes a trail, keeping in the same direction and heading towards a solitary slender tree that is easily spotted in the heath.
About twenty metres before it, turn left and descend the gentle slope to the pine grove on the edge of the tarmac road you left earlier. Turn left, leave a track on your right and continue past the Cortal d'en Lalena, an imposing, perfectly restored stone building.
(4) Turn right onto a stony path. Keep left after a few metres and do the same at the next junction. Continue to a four-way crossroads.
(5) Turn left. At the new crossroads opposite the ruins of an old sheepfold, turn right, keep to the right again a few dozen metres further on and you will come to a fork marked by an old, very faded green marker on a rock on the ground.
(6) Turn left and walk a few metres to reach the path that descends to the right and leads to the Caune cave (or Cauna on the map). Walk around this beautiful cave, which has an open section flooded with sunlight, then return to the fork.
(6) Follow the path to the left. Once on the plateau, the trail becomes difficult to follow on the very stony ground interspersed with sharp limestone pavement. Be vigilant and attentive to spot the few carefully placed cairns that help you along the way. Then begin the descent of a south-west facing valley and, once at the bottom, cross a meadow then turn left to climb up to the Santa Barbarà Chapel.
(7) Then join the road that leads to Périllos. Cross over to follow the path opposite, which cuts across the bend, rejoin the road and turn left. Go around the hairpin bend.
(8) A hundred metres further on, don't miss the cairn on the left embankment that marks the start of the small path leading directly to the abandoned hamlet of Périllos. Once on the road, turn right to visit this moving place; go around the church to take a look at the small cemetery.
(9) Retrace your steps. Leave the hamlet, cross the dirt car park, turn right then left towards a small relay antenna. Pass it and continue on flat ground until you reach two small isolated shrubs on the right-hand side of the path.
Very dense blue markings + cairns
(10) Delicate fork where I have placed a cairn: turn right and head south over very rocky and uneven terrain where orientation becomes particularly difficult. Be sure to locate the next blue mark, often reinforced by a cairn, before continuing.
This double marking leads to Serrat de la Murtra, where a gigantic cairn stands topped by a statue of Christ with open arms in a welcoming gesture, whose apparently destroyed face has been replaced by a painted stone touching in its naivety. The route then continues over very rough terrain, where you need to be extra vigilant so as not to lose the trail or sprain an ankle...
After a laborious descent, you will come out at the bottom of a small valley and continue to the right. The path then heads south-west, winds its way through the Coma d'en Canaval and leads to a fork in the shape of an inverted Y.
(11) Turn left at the hairpin bend, continuing to follow the markings. After a steep climb, the path flattens out and continues east towards the large flat rock bearing the ruins of Opoul Castle. At the junction with a path coming from the left, also marked in blue, continue straight ahead.
(12) Turn right downhill, following the blue markings, and you will come to a wider path. Turn left, continue to a tarmac road and follow it to the right for about 20 metres.
Yellow PR® markings
(13) Leave the road and turn right onto a path running along the base of the Opoul rock. When you reach a fork, turn right to visit the remarkable site of the old castle. Taking the usual precautions, continue to the southern edge of the rocky plateau to enjoy the 360° view.
(14) Return to the fork, turn right to reach the castle car park and the tarmac road.
(15) Cross over to take the path opposite (large cairn). Pass an old rusty cistern and a picnic table on your right, approach the road below but ignore the path leading to it, keeping to the left. Further on, take a hairpin bend to the left, pass two covered cisterns below and continue until you reach a crossroads opposite a house.
(16) Turn left. When you reach a vineyard, continue on the right to quickly reach Rue d'en Haut. The car park is a few metres away on the right (S/E).
Visorando member
Moderate 
Association / Club / Walk leader
Easy 
