The Cross of Saint-Micisse and the Gorges de l'Hérault

A short but fairly difficult hike offering exceptional views of the Gorges de l'Hérault. The climb is on a shady but stony path to reach the vertiginous edge of a cliff. The route is generally well marked except for one section.
Moderator's warning on 02/04/2021: Caution! Some sections are overgrown with vegetation; see the reviews of this hike at the bottom of the page

Details

442933
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 4.33 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 1h 55 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Difficult

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

  • ▲
    Highest point: 315 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 167 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Park at the entrance to Agonès in the car park indicated at the entrance to the village (limited spaces).

(S/E) Walk a few metres up the main street and turn right onto Rue de Saint-Micisse, which leads to the top of the village. At the end of the street, three roads form a three-way junction: take the tarmac road in the middle, which leads to the reservoir marked on the map (a single-storey building with three small windows and a stone staircase in front of the door). Go around the reservoir on the right to begin a fairly steep climb up a stony path lined with low stone walls. Continue up to the crossroads with the signpost, ignoring the paths on the left. This part of the route is marked in yellow.

(1) Take the first path on the right towards the Croix de Saint-Micisse. You will reach the cross after a short climb. Please note: from this point onwards, the path runs alongside cliffs, so keep an eye on the children!

(2) Head north without taking the same path, walking along the cliff to pass by the ruins of the Church of Saint-Vincentian. Marked with yellow dots and blue arrows.

(3) Continue north-west and return to the signpost.

(1) Be careful! At this point, do not follow the main path but take the narrow path to the northeast that continues along the cliffs. The markings consist of alternating blue and yellow marks of varying ages and spacing. In the forest, stay on this path in the same northeast direction, ignoring a path descending to the right. You will reach a flat area in the middle of a cliff. The summit is approximately 10 metres above your head. Follow the cliff along this flat area, which has some tricky sections.

(4) At the end of the cliffs, the path plunges to the right towards the east and descends steeply. A blue arrow indicates this fork.
Be careful! This short descent is steep and requires you to hold on to tree trunks. Follow the blue markings for about 30 metres to a flat rock promontory marked in yellow and blue, which marks the junction with a perpendicular path. Turn left towards the north. About 150 metres further on, the path turns left towards the west, skirting around a rocky outcrop. It continues through the forest and is no longer difficult. It is marked in yellow. You will come to a junction with a wide bridle path.

(5) Take this wide path to the left, heading south-southeast towards Agonès, ignoring all the small paths to the right or left (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 167 m - Agonès
  2. 1 : km 0.78 - alt. 275 m - Signpost
  3. 2 : km 1.04 - alt. 310 m - Cross of Saint-Micisse
  4. 3 : km 1.16 - alt. 315 m - Ruins of Saint-Vincentian Church
  5. 4 : km 1.85 - alt. 290 m - Tricky passage
  6. 5 : km 3.24 - alt. 189 m - Junction with bridle path
  7. S/E : km 4.33 - alt. 167 m - Agonès

Worth a visit

(2) Superb panorama towards the entrance to the Gorges de l'Hérault and Saint-Bauzille-de-Putois.
(3) A few bird's-eye views of the Gorges de l'Hérault.
Between (3) and (4), there is a small cave on the left.
About 150m after (4), there is a very clear view of the gorges, Laroque and Ganges, with the sometimes snow-capped Aigoual massif in the distance.

Reviews and comments

4.3 / 5
Based on 22 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.2 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.1 / 5
Route interest
4.6 / 5
User 24289601

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

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

Nice little walk

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Stephane F
Stephane F

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 15, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

As described and commented.
Beautiful view from the St Micisse cross.
After walking along the side of the cliff for a few hundred metres, you take a steep descent: this is the most difficult part of the hike.

After the descent, I found the trail a little further south than the actual route: just stay on the path. But that may be due to my GPS.

Worth doing again when you don't have too much time. The walk must be nice in summer too: the entire route is under leafy trees except for a few viewpoints.

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athmos.oner
athmos.oner

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 13, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A short hike that offers truly sublime views, but you have to work for them!
The climb isn't that bad, but it's clearly impossible to follow the route without a GPS.
There's a lot of vegetation in spring, but I didn't have any particular difficulty following the paths. The cliff path is easy but quite dangerous, so I wouldn't recommend it for children or adults who are afraid of heights.
The descent is very slippery, so this hike should only be done in dry weather.
Apart from on the paths near the village, I didn't meet anyone.
A sign warns of vipers at the start of the hike, but I didn't see any.
Most of the hike is shaded, which is a treat.

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andrenino
andrenino

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 16, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very beautiful hike
It's a steep climb at the start, but the reward is great once you reach the cross.
Very good description of the route, follow the compass carefully as some sections are not obvious
Breathtaking views!
There's a nice cave to visit along the way
Much of the circuit is through woodland, which is very pleasant in summer.
Many thanks to the author for this discovery
I highly recommend it

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Blanchoco
Blanchoco

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : May 15, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

This hike is best done in good weather; I would advise against it in wet conditions, as the rocks are limestone and likely to be slippery.

To follow the hike, after seeing the cross (2) and then (3), follow the loop that takes you back to point (1).
From there, follow the path to the right. A few metres further on, we thought we saw a fork in the path. Take the right-hand path to walk along the cliffs.
After about a hundred metres, you will see a path leading down to the right, which you should not follow according to the description.
The yellow and blue markings are rather absent on the first part of this section. You will regularly see slackline lines: you are on the right path. Some cairn remains are visible.
You will find the blue markings again at the point where you need to descend 30 metres. Be careful not to slip; hold on to the trees or use the technique of descending on your bottom!

Follow the cliff to reach the rocky outcrop. At this point, on the left of the outcrop, you will see a small natural staircase.
From there, the route is well marked again.

The hike is well worth the effort. The view is breathtaking, and with a bit of luck, you will see black kites.

NB: I would not recommend this hike for children, but rather for more experienced hikers.

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gwenn
gwenn

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 26, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Hike done today. I can confirm that the route is difficult to follow between points 1 and 4. We couldn't find the trail and finally managed to find a trail a little further down, which joined up with the rest of the route (and as a result, it took us 1 hour 50 minutes just to get to point 4). Then there were a few difficult sections, particularly for those with shorter legs (a bit of climbing), but it was entirely doable, and the end of the route was quick.
There are some nice views.
Please note: the terrain is slippery in wet weather... Best done in dry weather.

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NicolasRougagnou
NicolasRougagnou

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 30, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful, peaceful hike with no other people around and 90% shade!
However, be aware that the section along the cliffs is feasible, but the descent is quite challenging.
We did it with four children aged 7 to 11, but it took a lot of concentration and was quite stressful (mainly on the descent).
Thank you for sharing this beautiful walk!

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oponcin
oponcin

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 30, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely circular walk along beautiful shaded paths offering stunning panoramic views of the Hérault Gorges
We did this hike at the end of July and were completely alone along the entire route. Great for families.
Video of the hike: https://youtu.be/8Q6O1rtdvFQ

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maryvonneg
maryvonneg

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 05, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very beautiful hike. Magnificent paths, very pleasant. Very good signage. We did a loop from Agones to Cazilhac and back to Agones. Easy and without any major difficulties. It was great, the view is beautiful. A very good day to remember.

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BenjoSauv
BenjoSauv

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 04, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Superb hike, but currently, from the return to point 1, the markings are very difficult to follow. You can hardly see the yellow or blue markings, and the path is often completely overgrown with vegetation, lots of sarsaparilla!
I loved it. I got lost and then found my way again. The views of the Hérault gorges are amazing

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davdoue
davdoue

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 10, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant little walk with a lovely view upon reaching the St Micisse cross

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Platypus
Platypus

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 24, 2020
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant adventure trail with beautiful views from point 2 to the northern end of the route, which then becomes more bucolic.
No problem following the route with a GPS app. Trail poorly marked between points 1 and 4. After that, the markings are easy to follow.
Good footwear is recommended.

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idelettestrasbourg
idelettestrasbourg

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 16, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

i was a bit tired, and this little trip revived me. We couldn't reach the second part of the journey because we didn't understand the signs

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henri57
henri57 ★

Hello,

Thank you for taking the time to give your opinion.

By "route on map", we mean assessing how accurately the route shown on the map corresponds to the actual terrain.

Did the route cause any problems? If so, how can we fix it?

See you soon

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anemari34
anemari34

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 28, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

the various dolmen sites, unfortunately poorly preserved, and the spectacular views make this walk well worth doing.
thank you for all the information on your website, which allows us to repeat the tours without having to travel too far (which bothers some people)

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