Clue de la Melle

Date of your route : Jun 14, 2025
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : Not used / Not applicable
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

The climb from the car park is gentle and pleasant, and we really appreciated the shaded areas in the very hot weather! We had a quick dip and a picnic in the stream, then visited the chapel. The gorge is spectacular! The end of the walk is a bit monotonous, but there are some beautiful views.

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Date of your route : Apr 06, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hike completed on 6 April in beautiful weather.
The Melle gorge is magnificent and is the highlight of this route.
Our group had a picnic at the foot of the chapel, a very pleasant spot.
We spent quite a bit of time on trails, but I don't see how we could have avoided them.
Thanks to the author for this beautiful hike.

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Date of your route : Mar 08, 2025
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant and varied hike. Beautiful views. The return route via the last forest firebreak track is a bit long and tedious. For us, following the route to the letter, we had 450m of elevation gain for a 4½-hour walk. Thank you for sharing.

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Date of your route : May 29, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike at this time of year, the entire route is covered in flowers, it's like something out of a Walt Disney film!
Easy start from the point indicated on the map.
No technical difficulties and the route is well marked, either before the gorge or obvious afterwards. The gorges are quite impressive and the safety measures in place make the route accessible to all. The only downside is that the old path to the chapel has become a giant scree slope that is almost impassable, especially in the rain. And the new path requires you to ford the river. But on this day, it had rained for the previous two days and was still raining, so unless you took off your shoes (what is the river bed like?) and waded through knee-deep water, it was impossible to cross. But the gorges themselves are worth the walk.

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Date of your route : Dec 24, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Best done in summer or autumn as it is very shady.
The path is a bit tedious... but the valley scenery is very beautiful.
Steady climb... long...
We couldn't do the whole thing because we were too tired and the day was short, but we got a glimpse of the beautiful gorge.

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Date of your route : Oct 31, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

The route is very easy to follow on the way there (yellow markings). Between La Clue and La Chapelle, you need to be very careful as the path has been somewhat damaged. On the way back, there are no markings but the path is obvious. However, we measured a 550 m elevation gain (less than advertised) and almost 18 km (more than advertised).
Even if the approach and return are a little long, the Clue and Chapel sites are magnificent, especially at this time of year. We only met a few hunters (very friendly!) but no other hikers!

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Date of your route : Oct 10, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Starting from Sénez, you really need to go all the way to Melle to appreciate the diversity of the route
@+
Stéph.

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Date of your route : Jun 12, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

In the end, it's good to read reviews: we were warned about the trails and were pleasantly surprised. Especially the climb—I was expecting a wide DFCI-type trail, and while it was indeed a trail, it was pleasant and fairly clear (less so for the descent, which was fortunately shorter)
After leaving the Melle gorge, it was indeed very pretty, with the feeling of entering an isolated world far from everything (except for the three 4x4s that arrived at the chapel from the other side... even though we hadn't seen anyone until then!)
We left from Senez (16.3 km according to the GPS) and finished off nicely at points 1 and 2, which are also nicely shaded

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Date of your route : Feb 01, 2020
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful hike in a fairly isolated and very peaceful area.
I didn't meet anyone else that day.
I had a little trouble finding the path that leads to the chapel... Probably because I'm not very good at it.
Other than that, no problems to report, the trail is reliable.
Photos of the hike https://www.instagram.com/p/CKEDKt5AnEC/

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Date of your route : Sep 07, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Beautiful hike
Impressive passage through the gorge
Very beautiful spot at the chapel;
The last 3 km on a track are uninteresting but undoubtedly unavoidable

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Hello,

Thank you for your feedback.

you need to continue on the GR until the junction with the track that climbs up from Senez, which adds about 30 minutes to the walking time

It has been changed, thank you very much

See you soon

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Date of your route : Sep 02, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

At the junction indicated in the description as No. 2, you cannot enter private property. You must continue on the GR until the fork with the track that climbs from Senez, which adds about 30 minutes to the walking time, but the hike remains very beautiful, with the chapel and the gorge being majestic

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

great hike, three very pretty views

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Date of your route : May 02, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A very beautiful hike.
Although the outward journey and the end of the return journey are along wide forest tracks that are a little monotonous, the view is very open.
The best part is the Clue de la Melle, with its impressive view from the elevated walkway with railings.
Above, after a slightly tricky river crossing, I enjoyed the "Roman" bridge and the tranquillity of the chapel.

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Date of your route : Sep 23, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Hello

a very pretty walk, especially the section climbing up to St Elizabeth's Chapel and the return path to the track leading back to the starting point

however, be careful at KM 1.214, where the priority path denies access and requires us to continue on the GR (which is nice) in order to reach the track leading back up to the route. This detour adds 2 km to the hike.

Well done to Viso Randonneur for mapping out this hike

Happy hiking, everyone!

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