Cheiron Peak

Date of your route : Feb 10, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hike completed in February, with mild weather and no snow on Cheiron.
The starting point, marker 205, is easy to find.
The main attraction of this route is that it is very quiet and the reward is at the summit, with a beautiful 360° panorama of the snow-capped mountains and the sea.
The route is generally well marked, but requires some attention, which makes it intuitive (particularly the section with cairns and the final stretch on the ridges).
Despite the previous comments, I did not find it particularly difficult to find my way. With a GPS or compass, the route can be completed without any problems.
Be sure to bring good shoes and plenty of water.
It is possible to go a little further, to Jerusalem, to get away from the multiple antennas scattered across the Cime du Cheiron.
I clocked 15km in 5 hours and 15 minutes (excluding breaks) on my watch, which is fairly accurate to the description.

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Date of your route : Sep 18, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Group hike on 18 September 2023.
The description is fairly well done and the beginning is easy to follow. Marker 205 is clearly visible behind a few parking spaces. You do need to be very careful on this route so as not to miss the cairns that mark the trail. In the second half of the route, we couldn't find the path described in the guide, but this wasn't a problem as we followed the GR trail that passes nearby and arrives at the same place, at the summit of Cheiron. We couldn't find it on the way down either, but this wasn't a problem either.
All in all, a magnificent hike with a 360° view that is not to be missed. However, be sure to go with at least one other person (rough terrain) and with a hiking GPS (for navigation).

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Date of your route : Apr 16, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant hike in mid-April. The trail starts in the forest, then follows a cairned path that requires a little attention (but presents no particular difficulties), and finally arrives at bare slopes leading to the summit, which offers beautiful views (the sea on one side, the mountains on the other).

The cairned section is easy to navigate (both uphill and downhill) and it is quite possible to set a course afterwards as the terrain is so easy. I would like to reassure any hikers who might want to take this varied and charming route that with a minimum of concentration and the right reflexes and hiking tools, you will do just fine.

I admit that I find it hard to understand how, with 40 years of mountain experience, one could get lost in this area (easy terrain, cairns clearly visible, summit regularly in sight).

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If you're not good at using a GPS or a map, stay at home. We did the signposting in 2013! Since then, I've noticed that there aren't many volunteers to do it again. It's very easy to criticise, but when it comes to working on the signposting, there's no one around. And above all, in the mountains, you should never go alone!

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Date of your route : Jun 18, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

:!(!)!(!)!(!)!:

Hike to be avoided as there are no markings. And even TO BE REMOVED from VISORANDO, as there are too many dangers due to sharp limestone pavement.

On a clear blue day, I got lost and had to call 112. The high mountain police had to guide me, even though I was only 200 m from the trail.

In limestone regions, the most spectacular surface features of karsts are often sharp limestone pavements (also known as lapiés, sharp limestone pavement, lapiez, lapiès or karren). These are limestone surfaces covered with more or less pronounced "dissolution channels".

1- the path starting from marker 205 = not marked but a path, so ok.
2- the track due east = ok
3- On the trails, the cairns are ok, but there are almost too many of them.
4- Between stages 2 and 3, I stopped seeing cairns at some point and was unable to reach stage 3.
5- Then I went round in circles and ended up back down in the impenetrable scrub after taking the wrong sharp limestone pavement.
I found myself facing a cliff, exhausted, and called 112.

Two minutes from my car, I met two police officers who had come to look for me.
At the car, there were three high-mountain police vehicles with six or nine police officers ready to come and look for me at 8:30 p.m.!

SO THIS HIKE SHOULD BE AVOIDED AND REMOVED UNTIL IT IS PROPERLY MARKED.

I have 40 years of mountain experience under my belt and this has never happened to me before!
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Date of your route : Mar 21, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

We climbed Cheiron from this side for the first time and really enjoyed it. The starting point is a little hidden, but there are two parking spaces. I think it would make a nice snowshoe trail when there is enough snow.

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Date of your route : Oct 07, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Many thanks for the cairns, which restore a beautiful hike, and what's more, the bellowing of the stag.

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Date of your route : Jul 12, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Nice route (already done differently in part), the return trip is a bit long, so you'd need to find a way to make it circular (not essential) for me.
BEWARE: it's uphill all the way, so avoid in hot weather.
There were nine of us and we enjoyed the hike.
For your information, marker 205 has been removed.

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Date of your route : Sep 06, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A beautiful hike, passing through a variety of places.
Thank you for the description.
The only minor downsides to the route were the uninteresting track at the start and the fact that it was a round trip.
Just before rejoining the GR4, we lost the cairns and it took us a while to find them again.
Be careful, as the rocks are slippery when it rains
Finding the starting point of the hike wasn't very easy. As mentioned in other comments, the marker isn't really visible from the road. You have to check every "spot" on the side of the road. The marker is located in a slightly developed area with a few large paving stones.

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Date of your route : Jun 04, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Very beautiful views. A bit tough in the rocks.

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Date of your route : Mar 31, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Great views of Mercantour and the coast.
The summit of Cheiron is cluttered with antennas, so you have to continue a little further towards Jérusalem to enjoy nature.
For the return trip to Gréolières, there is a nice alternative at marker 193. Take the Front d'Antony trail to marker 192, then return to Gréolières. This easy trail offers a beautiful view of the Cheiron ridges.
A total of 15km and 1,100 metres of elevation gain.

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Date of your route : Mar 26, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : Not used / Not applicable
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

See my comments from Sunday, 11 October 2015 at 5:12 p.m.
Date of hike: Tuesday, 29 September 2015
I have done this route twice since then because of the beauty of the site

I stand by "my" opinion and my question: Why make a round trip when there is such a beautiful route for our legs and our eyes?

Don't forget your windbreaker and avoid getting caught in the fog once you reach the summit

Georges

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Date of your route : Mar 26, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Thank you very much... without your cairns, I think we'd still be up there! No, I'm joking, but at the end of winter, the route isn't easy to follow.
Be sure to download the app.

Not too difficult a hike with absolutely magnificent views... picnic in the sun in a small grassy hollow that calls for a nap.
The return trip isn't really a problem because the views are different on the way up and down.
A great hike for us.

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Thank you for your feedback, but did you take the map and description with you? See the Visorando app (free) which would have helped you find your way. At Visorando, we try not to use markers, instead providing the most accurate description possible to accompany the routes on the map.
Best regards

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Date of your route : May 29, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing

As a beginner hiker, but having already done some hiking, you first have to find the hidden marker 205. What's more, the start of the trail is marked in yellow, and then, oops, you arrive in an open plain with pieces of wood cut and burned everywhere (forest protection!!! ) on the path. Then, heading east with no yellow markings, we found two or three cairns reassuring us of the direction, and then we saw orange arrows. We wanted to believe, but unfortunately our initial motivation waned as we hiked on, with the signage almost non-existent, so we turned back.

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