Fabas Forest and Saint-André Lake

Date of your route : Jun 16, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful hike between forests and lakes, very pleasant. The weather was overcast, but we will happily do it again when the weather is better.
Section 4-6 is indeed sometimes difficult to follow with fallen trees and muddy paths after rain.
Thank you for this route.

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Date of your route : Feb 23, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

This lake is a wonderful discovery!
Be careful, I did this hike on Sunday 23 February and there was hunting going on. Not very reassuring with a dog!
Be careful, at point 4 the trail is not very well maintained, so I misidentified the path and ended up back at point 4. I decided to stick to the departmental road to be on the safe side...
Otherwise, it was a really nice hike!

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Date of your route : Feb 17, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful hike, especially on the way back, done in February without too much mud.
GPS tracking recommended.
Thank you for creating this route

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Date of your route : Jan 19, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant hike as the trail takes you through woods. At the end, there is a superb view of the Pyrenees. The lake is also very beautiful and is a great place to picnic by the water. The only downside is the lack of signposting and a section that is difficult to find at points 4 and 5, where you have to pass through branches and brambles, but it's doable. The app is highly recommended.

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Date of your route : Aug 27, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely, easy hike in the sunshine. Very pleasant thanks to the diversity of the environment: forest, viewpoints, and a lakeside that you have to approach to see. Very quiet as it is not very busy. You need to pay attention to your bearings in some places, so a GPS device is necessary.

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Date of your route : Jun 25, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Between 9 and 10, the climb to Fabas is along a wide, well-marked path. It's a bit wild, but very nice.

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Date of your route : Jun 25, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful and varied hike along small roads, through wide woods and along a long path beside a reservoir. We had a picnic at the top of the lake, with a magnificent view of its grandeur.
Between points 4 and 5, "At the first path, turn left and go down to the junction with another path." About 200 metres from the D52, the path on the left is in a large open space, hidden by grass and branches, not very visible but easily passable. At the junction of the three paths, take the one to the left of the tree marked with a large faded red X. The path becomes a trail that descends and then climbs towards the D52, then turns sharply to the right to join the "wide path".
The pretty village of Fabas. Pass between the village houses to avoid a short stretch of tarmac, then take the steps from the church and follow a small, well-hidden path near the podium. The landscape will be even more beautiful in autumn.

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Date of your route : Dec 02, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

I did this route at the beginning of December. The section along the lake is magnificent, with the autumn colours. I went down to walk along the water's edge because you can't see much from the track.
The long trail through the forest is less interesting; I would have preferred small paths like the ones closer to the lake.
This area is very beautiful, with views of the Pyrenees on the way back to Fabas.

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Date of your route : Aug 28, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant and enjoyable walk through woods and fields.
Picnic by the lake with a lovely view of it
I recommend it

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Date of your route : Feb 01, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

hello
a beautiful hike to do when the weather isn't great at high altitude. The tour takes 2.5 hours.
The forest paths are not muddy.
My only regret is that there is no path in the woods connecting the upper forest track to the one by the lake near the reservoir when you do the loop starting from No. 7

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Date of your route : Jul 28, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

hello,
we did this route starting at point 3 to avoid walking on tarmac in the heat. This means you enter the forest straight away and climb very gently for about 3 km.

It's an easy, mostly shaded route with no difficulties. The forestry work has been completed, leaving a small clearing with a tree trunk to climb over to continue the path before descending further towards the lake on the left, without taking the D52, just crossing it at a bend before reaching the lake.

Two and a half hours of peaceful walking with some beautiful stretches, especially along the lake. This is where we found people fishing or relaxing by the lake.

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Date of your route : Aug 22, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike in overcast weather, which meant we didn't get too hot. Contrary to a previous review, we found the forest crossing very pleasant. You can see hundred-year-old oak trees, which makes for a beautiful, easy hike in the shade when the sun is strong. The lake is magnificent! We particularly enjoyed this hike, but be careful, as the route is sometimes difficult to follow and even non-existent in places. The GPS route helped us to avoid getting lost. Point 4 is difficult to find as there is no longer a path in the undergrowth, but there is a beautiful forest instead. The path then goes straight ahead, following the tracks of a forest machine. You need to be careful to find the path on the left, but with the tracker, everything is fine. There were some passages where we almost needed a machete to clear the way. The fact that it is not very busy is not only an advantage, but we made it there nonetheless. ;-)

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Date of your route : Jun 03, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

The trail through the coniferous forest is monotonous and uninteresting.
after point 4, the path is rutted by logging equipment (see photo), making it necessary to pass through the undergrowth on the right, which makes it difficult to spot the path to take on the left
Walk along the lake with little of interest. Lake not very visible
exit to be avoided.

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Date of your route : Apr 03, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hello,

The route is only partially marked, for the section that follows the GR86 trail (between the start and point 3, then between points 6 and 9). I can confirm the huge tree felling operation between points 4 and 5. As we were doing the route in reverse but had mistakenly taken the path that passes through point 358 (therefore off the route), paradoxically we were able to find our way quite easily by using the houses on the ridge as landmarks, which were becoming visible!

Finally, access to Fabas from Rieumes can be much quicker: 15 minutes less (if you stick to the speed limits!) and more comfortable. The D3 does offer pretty, rolling countryside, but it twists and turns and climbs and descends terrifyingly! At the Rieumes roundabout, take the D7 (towards Savères), then the D23 to Pouy de Touges. Continue on the D23 (towards Aurignac), then the D48B to climb up to Fabas.

PS: For Celinde, who reported partygoers playing loud techno music, the mayor of Saint André has posted a notice dated July 2020 near the lake prohibiting this type of event.

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

taking into account a recent opinion, to avoid too much tarmac at the start of Fabas, we left the car at the dam and joined point 3 to do the loop in the right direction. Problem at point 4: there is currently a lot of tree felling and the logs are being stored within 100 metres to the right after turning left onto the road = no trace of the path, large ruts making it impossible to try to find it further on. We reached point 7 via the D52 road!!!
this makes the circuit less interesting, especially on a grey day like today, when the lake wasn't very nice: green and murky

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