Florac - Cassagnas

Tenth stage of a complete journey on the Chemin de Stevenson between Le Puy-en-Velay and Alès. This stage may involve significant changes to the GR®70 signposting. This stage essentially follows the Mimente valley before it flows into the Tarnon at Florac.

This walk is part of a multi-day hike: Chemin de Stevenson (Robert Louis Stevenson Trail)

Technical sheet

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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 19.89 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 7h 15 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Difficult

  • ⚐
    Return to departure point: No
  • ↗
    Vertical gain: + 554 m
  • ↘
    Vertical drop: - 296 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 817 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 547 m

Photos

Description of the walk

The route starts in front of the Florac church. It makes a short detour into the heart of Florac to show some of its typical features.

(S) With your back to the church door, turn left down Rue de Remuret to admire the small reservoir and waterfall among the houses. Cross Rue Armand Jullie without taking the bridge and continue to the square (Esplanade Marceau Farelle). You're now opposite the Protestant church. Turn right into Rue des Marchés, then left onto Rue du Pêcher. Go to the end of this street and you'll end up on the D16 (Quartier de la Croisette). Follow the D16 straight ahead. You pass the café/snack bar "Le Commerce" and just after the Total petrol station, you come to a roundabout.

(1) At this roundabout, continue straight ahead on the D907 (direction Barre des Cévennes / St-Jean-du-Gard). You gradually leave Florac along this D907, which is also the Avenue des Cévennes. Follow it for another 700m until you reach an old bridge (Pont de Barre) spanning the Tarnon.

(2) Turn left to cross the old bridge. Immediately after this, take the path on the left. This takes you upwards into the trees, before dropping down a little to find yourself alongside the Mimente river. In an instant, you've gone from the Tarnon valley to the Mimente valley (which flows into the first river not far to your left). You come to a small road which you follow, keeping to the lower left for about 450m. Just as you reach a more open area, a small road arrives from your right; ignore it and continue on your left. 250m farther on, you come to a Y-intersection.

(3) Take the right-hand branch, which begins to rise as you turn right. A little farther on, at another Y-junction, continue to the right. You're back in the wood. From the first Y-junction, follow the road for about 1.6km. After a left turn and a right turn, you are again in front of a Y-intersection.

(4) At this point, take the left-hand path which, after 900m, brings you very close to the N106. However, avoid the latter by following the track which rises to your right to run alongside the Ruisseau des Oulles. As you wind your way through the woods, you pass over the stream. After a short climb, you come to a road at the start of a hairpin bend.

(5) Turn left and follow this small road for 300m to the next bend, where you'll find a path opposite you (to the right of the road). Take this path and follow it for 1.7km.

(6) After passing over a small stream, you come to a track which you take to the left to stay at the same height on the hillside. 500m farther on, you come out of the forest and reach the small road leading up to Balazuègues. Cross the road and take the path opposite, which descends another 400m to join the N106. Take this for a short while to the right as you come to a small bridge over the Mimente.

(7) Cross the bridge (direction Col du Sapet / Pont-de-Monvert). You're now on the D20. But leave this one immediately after the bridge and turn right towards the old railway station. Go to the bottom of what looks like a parking area, pass to the right of the hangar until you reach the entrance to an old campsite around the old railway station. Go through the gate and continue along the path. You start out on a path along the Mimente, which is an old railway line and which you will actually follow all the way to Cassagnas. The first 4.2km of this old railway line will be followed. You'll pass through two old railway tunnels during this section. At the end of this section, the track rejoins the N106, which has just crossed the Mimente at Pont des Crozes.

(8) At this point, turn left along the N106 for about sixty metres, then cross it to rejoin the old railway on the other side between two safety rails. Your path winds between the N106 and the Mimente for about 3.5km (passing through an old railway tunnel) before arriving at the former Cassagnas station, now a hikers' stage gite. The last kilometer before the gite is asphalted.

(9) Just after the station, the official route of the Stevenson Trail takes the road that crosses the Mimente on your right (attention: from this point onwards, you are not following the GR®70 route, which does not pass through the village of Cassagnas; you are following an alternative route to the GR®°70). At this point, continue along the road in front of you, then leave it again and follow the path that bends to the right (in fact, you're continuing along the old railway line). You're about 1km from the stage gite when you come across a path winding up on your left.

(10) You take this path which, after a first right-hand bend, continues on to a second left-hand bend (where you ignore the path on your right). Keep climbing until you reach the first houses in the village of Cassagnas at a place called Cabanis. When you're very close to the N106, take the right-hand bend to reach a small esplanade. When you reach the esplanade, the footbridge over the N106 is on your left (it's sunk into a trench). Cross the footbridge to reach the D62, which you turn right on towards a small electricity transformer. Continue along the D62 into the village of Cassagnas. After just over 500m on this D62 through the village, you come to the washing place, which is the finish point of this trail (E).

Waypoints

  1. S : km 0 - alt. 557 m - Church of Florac
  2. 1 : km 1.6 - alt. 554 m - Pont de Barre in Florac - Tarnon (rivière)
  3. 2 : km 6.23 - alt. 701 m - Left on the road
  4. 3 : km 9.25 - alt. 608 m - Bridge at St-Julien-d'Arpaon
  5. 4 : km 13.73 - alt. 663 m - Crozes bridge at Cassagnas - Mimente (rivière)
  6. 5 : km 17.13 - alt. 692 m - Stopover gîte at Cassagnas station
  7. E : km 19.89 - alt. 816 m - Wash-house in the village of Cassagnas

Practical information

You'll find shops and accommodation in (S) Florac. There are few places to eat along the route. The only options are a small snack hut (7) near the old railway station at Saint-Julien-d'Arpaon and the café-restaurant (9) at the "Espace Stevenson" gîte d'étape at the old railway station at Cassagnas. Apart from the latter, there are a number of B&B and farm accommodation options in the vicinity of Cassagnas (E).

In the nearby area

(S) Florac: old town, waterfall, castle.
Mimente Valley.

 Always stay careful and alert while following a route. Visorando and the author of this walk cannot be held responsible in the event of an accident during this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

Reviews and comments

4.8 / 5
Based on 6 reviews

Reliability of the description
5 / 5
Clarity of route map
4.8 / 5
Route interest
4.5 / 5
CABRU30
CABRU30

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Aug 21, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : Yes

stage on stevenson very hot, fortunately it's possible to cool off at the river near the crozes bridge, before that it's more difficult.

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Mathys
Mathys

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Jul 30, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : Yes

Quite busy at the height of the season.
Very good route, the precision of the visorando gps is really top-notch.
Close to the water all the way, so very pleasant.
The path is fairly wide for most of the way (because it used to be a railway), hence the 4-star rating for interest.
The tunnels are very well preserved and it's great to be able to walk through them.

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Patlemarin
Patlemarin

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of walk : Oct 07, 2022
Reliability of the description : N/A
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : Yes

The accommodation at Cassagnas was full, so we decided to "fall back" on the Barre des Cévennes. A pretty path, a fine climb, and a reward at Didier's gîte-camping. An excellent stage, both for the accommodation and the food!

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Dompie
Dompie

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : May 26, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : Yes

Still some fine gradients.
The landscapes have changed a lot. We head south.
We follow the river "La Mimente" at the bottom of the valley: absolutely magnificent, the river is translucent and all along, you can see the bottom despite the depth in some places. You think you're on an old railway line: tunnels at regular intervals.

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Jolinoix
Jolinoix

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : May 18, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

This stage mainly consists of walking along the Mimente, overlooking the river. The pretty, crystal-clear river that meanders through the rocks is the main attraction of this hike. With its wild creeks and rapids, it's a real eye-catcher. Watch out for accommodation in Cassagnas, as the options are limited and some gites can be quite far from the centre, which can add another 3 or 4 km to the route.

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BOBJOSS05
BOBJOSS05

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Jun 16, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A bit of tarmac at the start and we follow the Mimente all the way along the old dismantled railway line that used to bring coal from the mines in Ales.

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