Carrieres Romaines - L'Arbre taillé - Hollowed-out tree trunk serving as drinking trough

Starting from Col du Rousset, head towards the Queyrie valley, where you will find the ancient Roman quarries, the famous carved tree, and a breathtaking view of the Grand Veymont.
This is a fairly long hike, but the landscapes are magnificent, and you may even see marmots and their young, as well as griffon vultures soaring in the sky.

Details

7998
Creation:
Last update:
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 13.37 mi
  • ◔
    Average duration: 8h 50 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Difficult

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 3,094 ft
  • ↘
    Descent: - 3,110 ft

  • ▲
    Highest point: 6,339 ft
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 4,554 ft

Photos

Description of the walk

Go to the Col de Rousset station and head towards Montagne du Beure, where there is a large car park.

(S/E) Head towards the Chalet des Ours, Cabane de Pré Peyret, discovery trail.

(1) Once you reach the highest point, join theGR®93and turn left, continuing towards Pré Peyret until you reach Pas des Écondus.

(2) Continue straight ahead, go around the Tête du Faisan and arrive at Pré Peyret.

(3) Leave the trail to Pas de Chabrinel on your right and continue to the junction with theGR®91.

(4) Continue straight ahead (no direction indicated, but the path is clearly marked in the grass) towards Plaine de la Queyrie, Roman quarries on the IGN map. After a short climb, you will arrive at a promontory from where you can clearly see the "Arbre taillé" (maintained by shepherds for generations) and, on your left, you can see the ancient Roman quarries, where 2,000 years ago the Romans cut blocks of stone, which they then transported down to Die! Titanic! It's hard to imagine that a road could pass so high up (1,700 m) and that they could cut blocks with almost nothing! And transport them.

(5) Continue to Pas des Hollowed-out Tree Trunks (spring) to climb further up to the highest point at 1,935 m, almost below Grand Veymont, which seems gigantic and impossible to climb on its southern flank!

(6) For the return trip, we turned around, but we took the gorge that extends from Pas des Bachassons, which is very arid at this time of year, but full of flowers, all kinds of flowers in these rocky areas, magnificent! This continued until we reached the carved tree again! In fact, we were walking as if in a dry stream!
From there, we took the same route as on the way up, not forgetting the marmots along the way, which were everywhere (in July, the little marmot babies are born and not very shy, a real treat) and returned to the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : mi 0 - alt. 4,580 ft - Montagne du Beure, large car park
  2. 1 : mi 1.32 - alt. 5,374 ft - Junction with the GR93
  3. 2 : mi 1.97 - alt. 5,144 ft - Pas des Econduis (1546m)
  4. 3 : mi 3.69 - alt. 5,259 ft - Pré Peyret
  5. 4 : mi 3.88 - alt. 5,299 ft - Junction with the GR91
  6. 5 : mi 5.12 - alt. 5,837 ft - Roman quarries
  7. 6 : mi 6.33 - alt. 6,322 ft - Pas des Bachassons (1903m)
  8. 7 : mi 12.2 - alt. 5,246 ft - Pas de l'Échelette
  9. S/E : mi 13.37 - alt. 4,577 ft - Montagne du Beure, large car park

Notes

Water sources at the Fontaines des Endettés below the Pré Peyret hut, at the Pas des hollowed-out tree trunks serving as drinking troughs, and elsewhere depending on the season (we took 4 litres of water, which is what you need!!!).

(1) A slight variation for the return journey: at the junction at Chalets des Ours, we went straight on along theGR®93, which leads straight to the edge of the cliffs at the Col de Rousset and allows you to stop at the Pas de l'Échelette to admire the Romeyer and Die valleys and, with a bit of luck, see some griffon vultures (not seen on this day).

(7) From there, head straight down the lawn to the north to reach the Échelette ski lift, the starting trail, which takes you straight to the car park (S/E).

This route passes through a protected area, which may be subject to special regulations:

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

4.6 / 5
Based on 12 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.5 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.5 / 5
Route interest
4.8 / 5
User 4366783

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

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

Very beautiful landscape on the high plateaus. The path is completely ruined at the start. It is better to take the ski trail that runs alongside the ski lift

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Eric04
Eric04

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 13, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A very beautiful hike, easy despite the distance. Marmots and ibexes are not shy.
On the way back, a short, easy detour off the trail to the Sommet de Peyre Rouge from the Fontaine des Hollowed-out Tree Trunks serving as Drinking Troughs offers a different view of the Veymont, the Prayet cliff and the Pas du Fouillet. There is also a beautiful view to the east of Mont Aiguille.

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andrebayle
andrebayle

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 23, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

The icing on the cake was that I saw a herd of deer crossing the Queyrie meadow a few hundred metres away from me.

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oponcin
oponcin

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 07, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hike to the Roman quarries
https://youtu.be/sN-sg7UnoxM?si=CeWk90sw...
but starting from the Romeyer car park. You join the suggested route at the junction with the GR91.

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Jeepers38
Jeepers38

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 20, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : Not used / Not applicable
Route interest : Not used / Not applicable
Very busy route : No

Hike partly along the route to the Pré Peyret hut. On the way back, turn off at the viewpoint.
A total of 12.5 km and 445 m of cumulative elevation gain.
The snowshoes stayed in the bag, but we used small crampons throughout the hike.

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Duche
Duche

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 31, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A superb walk, requiring a full day's walking.

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Phil07
Phil07

Overall rating : 5 / 5

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

A very beautiful route with stunning scenery! Recommended early in the morning to spot marmots in peace and quiet. There are many hikers at the foot of the Grand Veymont. The route is well signposted.

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mygery
mygery

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 19, 2015
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A day-and-a-half hike with a bivouac above the Pre Peyret hut. Alternating clouds and sunshine gave the landscape even more character.
The evening of 19 September was very cool for an outdoor snack! The night in the tent began very early!

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skyppyy38360
skyppyy38360

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 14, 2015
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

I stopped at the Pré Peyret hut for personal reasons. I can't wait to finish the whole thing, because it's absolutely enchanting! For your information, I went further west to see the orientation table. The GR then passes by a peak, the But Sapiau. Beautiful landscapes towards Die and a beautiful view of the But de Névé.

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arkadus
arkadus

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 28, 2014
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A superb hike of about 20 km. Long but not difficult. Beautiful scenery, animals visible and not shy. Recommended unless there is fog.

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07400
07400

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 10, 2014
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

great hike

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randonneesfredy
randonneesfredy

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 06, 2014
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Nice hike, but there are no landmarks after the pruned tree when you
cut through the woods. Luckily, we followed a group
who seemed to know the route well, otherwise we would have got lost.

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