The upper Ganière valley and the Sentier du Facteur

Access: from Les Vans, take the Route de Brahic from the main square. At Brahic, go around the village and take the small road (very narrow, caution advised) to Murjas. Park at the La Croix Martrimas car park 1.2 km after Brahic, 100 m after a hairpin bend, under a high-voltage power line. The trail is normally marked with yellow signs all the way.

(S/E) From the car, return along the small road to the hairpin bend. Leave the road and take a small path that branches off to the left in the bend, going downhill. Rejoin the road and continue straight ahead, entering the hamlet. Follow the arrows for "La Coste" or "Sentier du Facteur", then look for a path on the left that descends, marked "Fabre", which you will take to return. Pass between the houses on the right and continue for 200m on a slight incline.

(1) At a fork in the road (the left-hand path descends to the river, while the middle path leads to the woods for logging), take the right-hand path, which climbs slightly. You are now on the "Sentier du Facteur", which you will follow until you reach La Coste.

The path quickly opens up, offering unobstructed views of the landscape. The first viewpoint is on a promontory 500m after the fork. The path quickly becomes a trail, then more uneven. Be careful to follow the yellow markings. There is a descent followed by a traverse over rocky outcrops.

(2) At this point, admire the numerous stone walls (made of schist and slate) in front of you, which serve both to support the path and to make small plots of land horizontal and accessible. The path bends in the stream valley, then climbs up alongside a magnificent stone wall. Continue to the village of La Coste, where you will join a small tarmac road.

(3) Turn left along the houses. The small road runs alongside them, then bends to the right. Just after the bend and a small rounded area for one or two cars, the path branches off to the left at a right angle and descends towards "Perriès". It is a paved slanting street that descends to the river.

At the river, turn left (red dots) to find the footbridge. Climb up the other side, which is quite steep. You will come to the first chestnut groves. Look for a group of beehives made from chestnut tree trunks on the slope opposite you on your right. Just before the entrance to the hamlet of Perriès, on the left behind a low wall, there is another group of beehives made from tree trunks covered with slate tiles. A beekeeper lives in the hamlet.

(4) At the entrance to Perriès, on the flat area in front of the houses, you have two options: either take the path on the left that descends (avoiding the hamlet), or go up into the hamlet towards "Fabre" (yellow markers). This route takes you through the hamlet, which is worth a look (you may meet the beekeeper). The two paths rejoin further on. Cross the stream bed and continue along the south-east balcony, with views of the villages and the Serre de Barre. The trail continues through the chestnut grove, climbs in several switchbacks (which do not appear on the IGN map, but don't worry), becomes calmer, until it joins a wide DFCI-type path on the right.

(5) Follow it downhill to the left. The path makes a large loop to the left, then a short straight section downhill. At the entrance to a hairpin bend on the right (a place called La Tourette), look for the path on the left at a right angle that descends, marked "Murjas".

(6) Take this path downhill and through the woods. Notice the numerous low walls or remains of low walls around the largest chestnut tree trunks, built to create a relatively flat area for harvesting chestnuts. Just before crossing the stream bed, in a small clearing, note the house on your left. Visit it; it is an old chestnut drying house. Cross the stream and continue for 200 metres.

(7) The path slopes steeply downhill, so be careful not to slip, even in dry weather (leaves, twigs, gravel). Follow the markers carefully at the end of the descent, near a stream that you will eventually cross. The path levels out and joins another chestnut drying shed, which has been preserved and maintained. From here, go under the drying shed. The path becomes extremely steep and rough, with lots of small switchbacks. Note the remains of old stone steps in places. Descend gently to the river, which you cross via a footbridge (note the old bridge pillars).

(8) Take the old stone staircase opposite, which is still very beautiful at the beginning but fairly dilapidated further on. Climb back up between the low walls to the village of Murjas. Turn left, then right at the end to rejoin the tarmac road and your car (S/E).

Very steep route, fairly steep climbs, even steeper descents, especially the descent on the Ganière between points (7) and (8).
Public water (fountain marked Font Bonne) on arrival at La Coste.

For enthusiasts (like me), there is the option of total nudity throughout the route, except in the hamlet of La Coste, of course.

Sentier du Facteur: after La Coste, you are in the Gard department. The village of La Coste has always been linked to the villages of the Gard, but is located in the Ardèche. As a result, the postman had to walk from Brahic until the new road from Brahic to La Coste was built. No doubt he didn't do it every day! Note how this path was literally built, with retaining walls and specially constructed passages. At the point (2), admire the work that went into taming the slope.

This valley, along with those of Thines and La Drobie, is one of the last places where you can see these beehives carved out of chestnut tree trunks and covered with slate. The honey produced here is mainly chestnut honey.

The small houses on the slope are chestnut drying rooms. A fire was kept burning below (see the traces), and the chestnuts were spread out above on a floor through which the smoke could pass. The drying process took several days, and someone probably stayed there to sleep. The enclosed space formed by a low wall, attached to the building, was used for storage.

The Ganière is a gold-bearing river in its upper reaches. Further downstream, in the Gard department, there were gold panning sites and "harvests" were made. Nowadays, gold is considered too rare in this region to be worth mining. Try your luck!