The Les Seyes circular route

Date of your route : Sep 27, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

We took advantage of a rare sunny day to go on this hike. Beautiful views of the Durance valley. Everything is fine, but at (2) things get tricky. The trail is barely visible in the grass and takes us eastwards away from the GPS track. No matter, we just need to pay close attention to the faint trail and we reach (3) without difficulty.
Before Seyes, we encounter Champcella's herd of sheep and goats. Warning: 4 dogs! So we stop and wait to be accompanied by the very friendly shepherd. Half an hour of discussion about the herd, wolves and the not always appropriate behaviour of some mountain bikers (throwing stones, tear gas, etc.). It's a bit disheartening to hear this. Return and picnic at the Combaret fountain, in a pretty spot.

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Date of your route : Nov 09, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely autumn hike. Just past “point 2”, to clearly mark the unobtrusive turn-off to the right of the path, I built a cairn. However, thanks to the Visorando app and its geolocation feature, finding the route was made much easier.
On reaching Les Seyes, to “truly complete the ” circular loop, we took the path that climbs gently to the Cabane du Clot des Vignes. We then continued along a forest track to the small pass at 1751 metres on the IGN map. We then carried on straight ahead on level ground to reach another small pass on the Crête de Bouchet. From there, we descended a path on the left to reach junction “2” described in the hiking guide, before returning to the car park.

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Date of your route : Oct 04, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

As mentioned, we parked in the hamlet of Ponteil where, in early October, there were spaces available. It was a very sunny day, and the forest hadn’t yet taken on its autumnal colours;
We followed the map from point 1 to point 2 (Carne trail junction) where the walk along the balcony path, after crossing the Ru on the footbridge, is interesting, without difficulty, and offers a beautiful view of the valley and the surrounding mountains.
However, when we turned right onto the path marked by cairns, the route didn’t seem obvious to us, so we decided to return to point 2 and head up towards point 6 to the Fontaine de Combaret (signpost 1536m). (There was no water, but it is a very pleasant, green spot to take a break, and the view of the Barre des Ecrins brought back fond memories.)
From the Fontaine de Combaret, we followed the route to the Seyes track (point 4) and quickly reached the hamlet of Les Seyes. (Point 5) There, I had a chat with the former innkeeper of the chalet (which has been closed for five years). He explained that the previous winters, which had been quite harsh, had caused many trees to fall, rendering some paths impassable, and the lack of visitors to the area meant that the paths had become somewhat overgrown.
We didn’t meet any other hikers, apart from four mountain bikers coming from Seyes.
Despite everything, we enjoyed this family walk.
From the hamlet of Seyes (signpost) to the hamlet of Ponteil and back, walking time 1 hour 10 minutes.
René P.

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Thank you, Glaciers
Visorando has nothing to do with the
trail markers Enjoy your future walks with the route description and map from Visorando.

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Date of your route : May 25, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

We started the route at point 1.
We think it would be a good idea to improve the signposting of the path from point 2 to the next junction.
Indeed, the tall grass at this time of year and the path, which is still poorly marked by hikers’ footsteps, do not make for easy navigation...
Otherwise, a lovely route with magnificent scenery.
Thanks to the creator for sharing it...

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