Col de Risoul and Rancié Mines circular.

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A beautiful route alternating between beech forests, stunning views of the Os Valley and old iron mines, starting from the small village of Sem, above Vicdessos. Best done in dry, clear weather.

Details

n°4178471
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 9.11 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 4h 05 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 512 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 508 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 1,339 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 968 m
  • ⚐ Country: France
  • ⚐
    Area: Pyrénées
  • ⚐ District: Sem (09220)
  • ⚑
    Start/End: N 42.766963° / E 1.518793°
  • ❏
    IGN map(s): Ref. 2047ET, 2148OT, 2148OTR
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Photos

View from the Col de Risoul

Description of the walk

Park in the car park at the entrance to the village of Sem.

(S/E) Follow the D208A road up to the junction with the Village trail, which starts on the right.

(1) Continue along the road to reach the Col de Sem and its cross.

(2) Turn right and continue for a few dozen metres to reach the Palet de Sanson glacial dolmen.

(3) Return to the pass via the same route.

(2) Descend the road towards Sem and return to the Village trail junction.

(1) Take it on the left, go down the path for 250 m and, after the first houses, turn right onto the steps to return to the starting car park.

(S/E) The circular now begins in earnest. From the car park on the right-hand side of the road coming from the pass, locate the stone shelter and take thePR® short hike trail, marked in yellow, which climbs to the left heading south (accessible to small 4x4s). The path is wide and stony and climbs quite steeply through the undergrowth: the stream is on your left. Leave the first path that comes from the right and continue to a second intersection.

(4) Take the path that climbs to the right; this path, still marked with yellowPR® signs, is wide and well marked. Follow it until you reach a crossroads with several directions.

(5) Stay on thePR® to reach the paragliding launch area at Col de Risoul.

(6) Go back a little and turn right down the forest road. You will soon reach the Nagot Forest Shelter.

(7) Leave the forest road here and turn left onto a narrow path that is not always well marked and sometimes overgrown with broom. Shortly after a small, fairly well-marked valley (talweg) with a spring below, the path turns sharply left to reach the spring. Leave it on your left. Continue along the path, which is still little used and overgrown with broom. You will then come to thePR® crossroads you passed on the way out.

(5) Turn right onto thePR® again until you reach the crossroads you passed on the way there.

(4) Turn right towards the Sem stream and cross it. Continue along the well-marked path, which then climbs slightly. Pass another stream, then a cross overlooking the path on the right before arriving at the fenced-off Galerie de l'Auriette and the Anciennes Mines de Rancié, whose large cave-like entrance is on the right.

(8) Start a new descent on the left, passing in front of the Font du Minier. Return to the village of Sem. Cross the Sem stream again before returning to the village car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 981 m - Car park in the village of Sem
  2. 1 : km 0.27 - alt. 987 m - Crossroads Village trail
  3. 2 : km 0.6 - alt. 993 m - Col de Sem
  4. 3 : km 0.76 - alt. 1,015 m - Glacial dolmen known as the Palet de Sanson
  5. 4 : km 2.7 - alt. 1,196 m - PR intersection
  6. 5 : km 3.08 - alt. 1,250 m - Crossroads circular
  7. 6 : km 4.1 - alt. 1,334 m - Col de Risoul (1320m)
  8. 7 : km 4.58 - alt. 1,326 m - Nagot Forest Shelter
  9. 8 : km 6.95 - alt. 1,295 m - Auriette Gallery and Old Mines of Rancié
  10. S/E : km 9.11 - alt. 981 m - Car park in the village of Sem

Notes

From Tarascon-sur-Ariège, take the Os valley. Just at the entrance to Vicdessos, turn left and drive up to the village of Sem. Park in the car park at the entrance to the village.

The circular is essentially unmarked except for thePR® sections (in yellow). Be sure to know your bearings as there are many half-abandoned paths.

Worth a visit

(3) Glacial dolmen, Old Mines of Rancié, village of Sem.

(5) Col de Risoul: paragliding take-off point and beautiful view to the north over the Os valley and its villages.

(8) Old Mines of Rancié

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.

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Reviews and comments

4.4 / 5
Based on 12 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.8 / 5
Ease of following the route
3.9 / 5
Route interest
4.7 / 5
philjomar
philjomar

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 03, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hello,
Once you arrive at Pic de Risoul, to return to the mine, do not take the forest track as indicated because it does not lead to the right place (we had to turn back because we were getting seriously off track, thank you IGN map), but take part of the path that leads to the peak.
It's a very beautiful hike and the end at the mine is interesting. The information on the explanatory signs is very well done.
Best regards, fellow hikers.

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Hibou florensac
Hibou florensac

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 15, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Very informative route on the conditions of iron ore extraction in the 19th century.
Well-maintained trail.

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LOS ESCAPATS
LOS ESCAPATS

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 31, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A very beautiful route, following a snowfall and through the stunning Pyrenean mountains. The explanations about the old iron mines illustrate the difficult life of miners in those days.

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tej
tej

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 28, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Very beautiful hike with stunning views. The history of the Rancié mines (various information panels along the trail) is very interesting and impressive. I highly recommend it.

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CMA31
CMA31

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 26, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very beautiful and interesting hike. Easy route and path.

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TO57207
TO57207

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 28, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hello, we took the forest road to return from the Col de Risoul to the Col de Grail (joining the GR10 along the way) following the comments on the descent given in the guidebook. It was longer but safer. In hindsight, I think that joining the GR10 straight away avoids a long stretch on the forest road and must be better, especially as the forest road is in full sun at midday...
The view from the Risoul Pass and the descent from the mine are memorable. Thank you.
We met three people mowing the grass on the downhill path: a good initiative by the municipality of SEM, I imagine.

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Julian
Julian

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 07, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful hike with some elevation gain (for us young city dwellers).

Be careful on the section between the refuge and the GR trail: the path is cluttered with tree trunks in places, and plants that make the path difficult to see. You really need to use GPS, and honestly, I would be careful in wet weather (which was not the case for us).

Otherwise, really beautiful views of the Pyrenees mountains!

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Bouconne VTT
Bouconne VTT
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 24, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike. The elevation changes are quite varied, and the return route from the Col de Risoul is currently a bit cluttered with a few tree trunks.
I put the return trip to Le Palet last because part of it is on a paved road.
All the data is accurate.
You could indeed make a small variation via the GR10.

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Patrone G.
Patrone G.

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 03, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

An easy, varied and interesting hike overall, which we did not follow to the letter; we decided to take a longer, and in our opinion, easier route: from Sem, we climbed to the Pic de Risoul, from there we followed the GR10 via the Col de l'Esquerus, then the Col de Grail; we left the GR10 before Lercoul to join the Visorando route, which descends to Sem via the old Rancié mines. We finished with a round trip to the Palet de Samson.
NB: if you do not wish to display my comments in this section but in the comments section, that's fine with me.

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roujol
roujol

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 01, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Watch out for ticks along this route (we caught several).

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GAUSSENS Marie-Claire
GAUSSENS Marie-Claire

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 15, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

beautiful hike with magnificent views of snow-capped peaks; long climb at the beginning of the hike

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Michel HORTE
Michel HORTE

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 19, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Lovely walk for late autumn

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yvesmerciey@free.fr
yvesmerciey@free.fr

Hello Étienne, thank you for your reply.
I now have a better understanding of how moderation works.
However, on a route where the landmarks on the map do not always correspond to the terrain (poorly marked paths or farm tracks that do not appear on the map), which can only be seen on the ground, it may be useful to add details. Given the changes made (change of waypoints, different wording, etc.), I think it would have been better if we could have discussed it. Well, it's always strange to spend time describing a route in detail and then see the description changed without notice.
No hard feelings.
Yves

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Netra
Netra ★

Hello Yves, and thank you for your comments.

As part of the moderation process, each hike is reviewed and modified by three different moderators. When we consider that the modifications are not very significant, we do not ask for validation by the author. It may then happen that the author does not recognise the changes. In this case, two situations must be distinguished.

If the changes have introduced an error or errors, the author is free to make corrections. The modified hike will be reviewed again by a moderator who will contact the author for discussion if necessary.

The second situation is the removal of numerical data that we do not consider essential. This is typically the case with azimuths, as this information is only useful to a minority of hikers who are equipped and accustomed to using this type of data. Unless you are really off-trail, we recommend indicating directions by reference to the cardinal points and favouring directions that are accessible to all, such as "1st on the right" or "the path that starts at the foot of the post".

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yvesmerciey@free.fr
yvesmerciey@free.fr

Message for the moderator who approved the description of my hike.
Hello and thank you for approving the hike. However, I find it unfortunate that you have substantially modified the description of the route that I had made, based on my experience in the field. Some of the information I had included and which has been deleted (e.g. elevations, directions/azimuths, the fact that a path can be used by a 4x4) seems useful to me, even for a hiker who is not an expert in navigation. If you recommend using IGN maps, why delete the information they provide?
In conclusion, I do not agree with the changes made by the moderator.
Yves MERCIER

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