From Montségur to Prades via the Gorges de la Frau

From the starting point (car park at the foot of Montségur Castle), you can climb directly up to the castle, but the ascent and descent must be added to the route described (see ‘Practical information’ section).

(S) From the car park, head to the crossroads of paths a few metres away: this is the starting point of the walk. Follow the^GR®107“Chemin des Bonhommes” (red and white markings) towards the village of Montségur, which you can see below. Cross the D9 and continue along the small road opposite (still following the^GR®).

(1) Pass the Croix de Ferrocas and continue along the small road that descends to the village.

(2) Join the D9 again and follow it to the right towards the village. At the corner by the cemetery, where the D9 takes a sharp right-hand bend, carry on straight ahead along Rue du Village (D409). Walk past the town hall and then past the church.

(3) At the end of the street, turn right. After about a hundred metres, take the^first left. At the junction that comes up straight away, first turn right then left. Continue along a path that runs alongside gardens and heads towards the campsite.

(4) At the junction, carry on straight ahead (leave the ‘official’^{GR® trail}, as the path is overgrown with grass). Walk through the campsite’s accommodation blocks and join the road on the right (car park).

(5) Follow the road to the left downhill for about fifty metres. Then turn left onto the signposted^GR® path and join the D9 a little further down.

(6) Cross the road and continue straight ahead on the path, which very quickly joins a track. Follow this track to the right and cross the Lasset. Continue along the track, which soon turns into a path. At the junction, carry on straight ahead and climb steeply. You’ll come out onto a road; follow it to the left for about 75 metres.

(7) Leave the road and take a path on the right (^GR® signposted). At a fork in the road, follow the^GR® along the left-hand path and climb gradually through woods and meadows, with lovely views of the village and its castle.

(8) At the junction, turn right. Climb a slightly steeper slope through the forest and ignore all the paths branching off to the right.

(9) At the junction, take the path on the left (east-southeast) and head back down, still following the^GR®. The path continues alongside the Ruisseau des Rivels in a small, deeply cut valley. It then emerges into a clearing in a less steep-sided area and joins a track at a crossroads.

(10) Continue straight ahead along the track (east). You’ll reach the hamlet of Pelail, where the track turns into a tarmac road.

(11) At the junction on leaving the hamlet, turn right onto the Route des Gorges de la Frau (D5). Follow the river for about 2.5 km, staying in the valley floor.

(12) At the end of the tarmac road, continue up the valley along a footpath, still following the GR^®. Climb steeply over boulders and up the hills at the bottom of the valley to emerge onto a track at the top of the gorges.

(13) Follow this track straight ahead (south). Stay on this track, following the^GR®, for about 3 km. Near a sewage treatment plant, the track gives way to tarmac and reaches a junction at the entrance to the village of Comus (cross).

(14) Turn right towards Prades and the Col de la Chioula (no^GR® markings at this point). After a few dozen metres, in front of the last house, take a path on the left towards Prades (^GR®). Follow the Hers stream, then veer off to the right across the meadows.

(15) At the T-junction, turn right. At the next junction, turn right again. The path runs above the D5a road, which runs from Comus and Camurac to Prades.

(16) At the T-junction, turn right. Continue south-west along the hillside. Enter Prades via Rue de Lagadiou and reach the end of the stage (E).

This route is part of a two-day hike from Montségur to Luzenac, in the Ariège Valley (between Tarascon and Ax). It follows the^GR®107“Chemin des Bonshommes” trail, named after the Cathars, who claimed to be closer to the true teachings of Christianity.

In terms of transport, during the season, a bus runs from Pamiers station to Montségur in the morning. At the end of the second stage, you’ll reach Garanou-Luzenac station, from where you can return to Pamiers by train.

On the evening of^{the first} day, you’ll stop in Prades, where there’s just one place to stay (but it comes highly recommended): La Bexane, which serves as both a restaurant and a lodge.

Another option to ‘lighten’ the first day if you wish to visit the castle before setting off on the route is to
spend the night in Montségur, a charming tourist village, so you can set off early the next day. In fact, you need to be a very keen walker to tackle both the climb to the castle and the first stage on the same day (the climb to the castle is not included in the itinerary).

(1) Ferrocas’ Cross.
In the 19th century, a blacksmith nicknamed Ferrocas (iron-dog) claimed to be a Cathar and caused a scandal during Mass, resulting in his excommunication and burial at this spot, outside the village, in 1860.
Amid rumours of a curse, his remains were eventually moved back to ‘hallowed ground’ in the cemetery.

(11) Gorges de la Frau:
‘Frau’ means ‘terror’. There is a very pleasant picnic spot shortly after you reach the road that runs alongside the river.

Visit the Chemins Cathares website for more photos and historical anecdotes.