Gaude, the dovecote of Montaigu

A loop which poses no problems so can be undertaken with children to discover a dovecote which is still in a good state.

Details

198235
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 5.21 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 10 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 224 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 220 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 627 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 449 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Access : At Manosque, take the Voix road (D4096), then turn left to take the Chemin de Valverane and follow it to the end. Park on the left at the entrance of the ancient Gaude mines.

(S/E) Head north-westwards until you reach a path. Take the left, going through the barrier. Take this path alongside the amenities, leave the path to the right until you meet a fork in the path (1).

Leave the path, head towards the right at a right angle and take the small path heading east-south-eastwards. Climb this path which zigzags up and leads to a large path (2).

Take the left and carry on for 400 m up to the start of another path on the left (3). ("_be careful not to miss this path_"). Follow this path which curves to the left and leads to another path on a sharp bend.

Take the path on the right for 200 m until you arrive at a wooden post with a green band at the top situated on the left (4). Turn left on to the path which is poorly marked at the start. At the T-junction, veer towards the right to discover a magnificent dovecote (5). Turn around and go down the path which leads back to the path.

Turn right, passing the big bend, then take the path on the right. Head downwards to join the path a few metres from the point (1).

Take the path on the right and follow the outward route in the opposite direction back to the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 451 m - Car park at the entrance to the old Gaude mines
  2. 1 : km 1.09 - alt. 499 m - Fork, take the path on the right
  3. 2 : km 1.95 - alt. 584 m - Wide path, left
  4. 3 : km 2.35 - alt. 624 m - Path on the left
  5. 4 : km 3.04 - alt. 618 m - Wooden post with green banding
  6. 5 : km 3.17 - alt. 623 m - Dovecote
  7. S/E : km 5.21 - alt. 451 m - Car park at the entrance to the old Gaude mines

Notes

As usual, hiking shoes and water.

Worth a visit

You park at the entrance to the ancient Gaude mines mines de Gaude where you will find a sign with information about the mine. It is located next to an underground gas reserve, one of the biggest in France.

Reviews and comments

4.2 / 5
Based on 3 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.3 / 5
Ease of following the route
5 / 5
Route interest
3.3 / 5
fanee
fanee

i didn't do this hike due to lack of time !!!

Machine-translated

bancaus
bancaus

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

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

A very pleasant walk for the summer. It's almost always in the shade.

Machine-translated

Annie VIAL-UZEL
Annie VIAL-UZEL

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : May 08, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

A big problem at the start: the car park is in front of the Géosel / Géométhane site, which is not mentioned at all in the description. Once you take the tarmac track to the left, a few dozen metres further on you'll find the old entrance to the Gaude mine!

Machine-translated

YvesProvence
YvesProvence

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 29, 2016
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

It's a place I know because I've been there, and for those who are interested, you can geocache there.
On the highest part of the circuit, it's not unusual to come across herds of cows.

Machine-translated

Other walks in the area

For more walks, use our search engine .

The GPS track and description are the property of this route's author. Please do not copy them without permission.