Circular walk from Sournia to Campoussy via Font and the Dolmen de l'Arca

In Sournia: park in the car park at the entrance to the Village Vacances near the reservoir. Alternatively, there are plenty of parking spaces near the fire and rescue station (D619). You can also start from (2) by parking at the picnic area.

Red and white GR®36markings

(S/E) Head down to the footbridge via the interior of the Holiday Village (except during the summer season). Caution: the footbridge is wide but has no handrail. Cross it and turn left along the reservoir, continuing to a fork in the path after the dam’s embankment.
Note: if you cannot cross through the holiday centre, go back a short way along the access road, turn right onto a path between two buildings and turn right again to reach the footbridge over the Desix

(1) The IGN base map is inaccurate in this area on the outward journey and particularly on the return. Keep left, cross a wide footbridge over the Ravin de Pomeins, stay along the Desix, pass the picnic area (possible starting point from here) and join the D619.

Yellow PR®markings

(2) Take care along this road. Follow it to the right, leaving behind, as you come out of a right-hand bend, a track and then a path that descend to the left towards the river and a spring. Continue for another hundred metres or so along the road. Take note: leave the D619.

(3) Turn left onto a macadam track, Chemin Las Ribes d'Avall (lower banks path), until you reach a left-hand bend at a junction of three tracks. Signpost: Campoussy.

(4) Head up to the right along a small gravel track, following this direction, which will be the only one signposted until you reach the village. Look out for the yellow markings, which confirm you are on the right track. Note the numerous retaining terraces and an orri on the right. Cross a stream at a sharp left-hand bend and continue climbing.
You’ll reach a wide right-hand bend with a bench and a viewpoint on the left. Keep going straight on along this small gravel track. You’ll come to a dilapidated wooden hut on the left and a gate. Note the yellow ‘turn right’ sign on the gate post on the right. This can be confusing.

(5) Do not follow the low stone wall. Climb up opposite onto a path running parallel above the track and continue to a junction with the track down to the left.
The IGN map is inaccurate in this area. Turn sharply right onto the path ahead, pass three hairpin bends in the forest and continue for a further 150 m. Note the yellow right turn.

(6) Head up to the right along the path and join the D67. Follow it straight ahead for 100 m. Look out for the yellow left turn.

(7) Turn left, heading due south, onto an ascending path. You’ll reach a fork. I’ve placed a cairn on the fallen tree on the left, which had the yellow markings. Continue climbing straight on towards the edge of the forest. On the right is a lovely viewpoint and a stone marker with a cross and the inscription ‘Sainte Marie’. A very nice spot on the right for a break.

(8) Note the yellow markings on a telephone pole on the left. Follow this lovely, straight Camí Vielh with a low stone wall on either side. Join the D67 and follow it straight ahead for about a hundred metres.

(9) Leave it and head up the pretty Camí Vielh, lined with low walls and trees, which joins the D67 and the GR®36 once again. Cross.

Red and white GR®36markings

Continue straight ahead on the D67 and enter the pretty village of Campoussy.

(10) Two options:
- either follow the GR®36 and rejoin the route further on.
- or, off the marked route, take the first street on the left, Camí del Rc Blanc (sign for suggested walks). Immediately turn right onto Carrer Fosc, passing in front of the façade of Saint-Étienne Church. Continue straight ahead, emerging on the right onto the village square where a huge tree stands, surrounded by four benches. Turn left onto Carrer de l'Orta, then immediately right and straight ahead into a tiny alleyway with a porch at the end. You’ll come out onto Chemin du Cimetière and follow it to the left. Pass the Oratory of Saint-Roch. You’ll reach a viewpoint, a bench and the Font de Bill to the left of the street. Do not go all the way to the cemetery.

(11) Turn right onto a pretty grassy path that winds through the rocks. Pass the Oratory of Saint-Just and Pasteur and join the GR®36.

Red and white GR®36markings

Follow it to the left along this gravel track until you reach a right-hand bend at elevation 673. Do not cross the stream.

(12) Climb up to the right onto a wide gravel path, which is rutted in places. Pass an unfinished building with breeze block walls. Continue climbing. You’ll reach a flat area with an unobstructed view. Take note: the IGN map is incorrect here, as there is no junction; use OSM instead. Look out for a substantial cairn on the left, topped by a stone and a yellow marker.

(13) Turn sharply left onto a narrow path, heading due south-west. (The path was completely flooded in early March 2026.) You will reach a large orri on the right (possible shelter). Continue through this marshy area. Reach another orri, then continue straight ahead. You will reach a grassy track crossing the path.

(14) Turn left for a few metres at the Font de l'Arca and its catchment (potential water source, filter or purification point). Turn back and continue along the grassy track that climbs straight ahead to join the D619. Take care: confusing area. Cross the road and climb left, due south, along a path to reach the Dolmen de la Font de l'Arca behind an electric fence.

(15) Do not go down, nor follow the electric fence which leads back to the road. Two Yellow Crosses are present. Head due west to find a path with blue markings at the start at elevation 760. Further on, the correct route is confirmed by yellow and blue markings. You will reach a fork. The IGN map is incorrect.
Leave the path on the right with the Yellow Cross. Continue straight ahead and you will very quickly find a yellow marker confirming the route. Join a gravel DFCI track at an elevation of 814 metres. A lovely spot for a break.

(16) Option: you can head to Roc Cornut by turning left onto the track, then right onto the road, and climbing up by turning right.
Follow it to the right, taking in the scenery. Yellow markings a little further on to the right. Much further on, you’ll reach a stone engraved with the number 312 on the right and a left-hand bend in the track, at an elevation of 841 metres. Take note: just a cairn with a stone on top and a yellow marker! But a superb viewpoint.

(17) Option: climb up to the right, heading due north for 50 m, to reach a viewpoint.
Leave the track and head straight ahead along a path through the low vegetation. Descend steeply due west along this gullied path. You can’t go wrong: turn left-southwest onto the only path available and, much further down, you’ll come to two streams to cross. (Plenty of water in early March 2026.) Climb back up opposite along the rest of the path and reach a fork with a wider path to the left marked by a Yellow Cross.

(18) The next ford in the Ravin de Pomeins may not be passable. Two options:
- If crossing the two previous small streams proved difficult, then I advise you to head left despite the Yellow Cross, join a track and follow it to the right for 500 m to rejoin the route.
- Otherwise, head down the path opposite to cross the famous ford at the steel gate and climb back up the stony path to join a track (end of the option) and follow it to the right. You’ll come to a barrier, a cross-country track and yellow markings. A very beautiful spot with a lovely view.

Yellow and red markings of the GRP® Tour des Fenouillèdes

(19) Head right along a small, overgrown track, and arrive at a sharp left-hand bend (Garrabet). Take care: very poor signposting, potential for confusion, old wooden sign broken on the ground. Look out for very old yellow and red markings on the right in the bend, by the electric fence.

(20) Cross this fence and head down a gully-like path. At the next fork, continue down the gully-like, stony path opposite, then reach a flat area and a grassy path. Continue straight on and arrive at a small tarmac road at elevation 671.

(21) Follow it down to the right. Note a right-hand bend well before a fork and the start of a track to the right at elevation 654.

(22) Head up this gravel track and reach a junction of three tracks. Ignore the track on the right heading towards the woods. Keep left, heading due east, then north-east, and further down reach a junction of three tracks at a sharp left-hand bend at elevation 620. Take care.

(23) Turn sharply left and follow the yellow and red markings. Continue down the north-easterly track until you reach a right-hand bend at elevation 570. Take care.

(24) Leave the track, keep straight ahead on a path, continuing in the same direction for 200 m. Note: the IGN map is incorrect up to the initial fork. There is no fork on the ground; continue straight down the steep, sunken path to the next, barely visible fork. Take care: ignore the path on the left marked with a Yellow Cross and a Red Cross. Continue straight on along a narrow path that descends steeply. Blue markings on the ground. You will soon reach a junction. Continue down the path straight ahead and rejoin the initial fork.

White and red markings GR®36 (and GRP®)

(1) Turn left and follow the path back along the route you took on the way out to reach the car park (S/E).

Drinking water available in both villages. Two springs tapped along the route. A shelter near the path that can be used for shelter, as well as the village of Campoussy. Benches and viewpoints for breaks are also along the route. In Sournia, various activities and sights to discover.
If necessary, from (9) continue due south along the road, then follow the GR®36 to the right until (2), then return to Sournia.

Hike completed on 12/03/2026. Duration via the app: 4h 35m

The two villages of Sournia and Campoussy, the osier beds, the captured springs, the Camì Vielh on arrival in Campoussy, etc.