La Montagnette from Saint-Michel de Frigolet Abbey

A peaceful countryside walk, ideal for relaxation.

Details

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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 16.66 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 5h 35 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 276 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 267 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 167 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 9 m
  • ⚐ Country: France
  • ⚐ City: Tarascon (13150)
  • ⚑
    Start/End: N 43.859433° / E 4.728379°
  • ❏
    IGN map(s): Ref. 3042OT
  • Hour-by-hour weather

Photos

Description of the walk

Park in the Saint-Michel de Frigolet Abbey car park.

(S) Head due west and head onto the trail. A sign points in the direction of Boulbon.

(1) Go straight at this junction. In the third branching of the roads, turn on the path on the left and continue straight at each intersection cut across a track twice.

(2) At the next crossroads of paths, go straight. Roughly 150 m away, turn right to get to the summit of La Montagnette (alt. 168 m) a few dozen metres on. Retrace your steps, turn right and follow the marked path that passes through the valleys and ridges. Cross a path and pass by a wide path on the left.

(3) Arrive in a water reservoir, take the level path on the right for 100 metres.

(4) At the junction, follow the trail on the right uphill along the hillside. Keep to the main path ignoring all paths to the right and left.

(5) Walk along the path that is marked in Yellow; the markings can be faded or a little inconspicuous at times. We see a power plant with red and white chimneys.

(6) At the junction, follow the path that turns right and pass by another path that goes straight towards Moulin Bonnet. A little further on you will see the mill on the ridge to the left. Continue to the cemetery of Boulbon.

(7) Pass the cemetery and turn left.

(8) Then cross Boulbon southbound successively following Rue de la Clastre, Rue de l’Hôtel de Ville and Rue Font de Bernard for about 40 m to the right. Continue on the left onto Rue de l’Église, which extends into Rue du Barri. Turn right onto Rue de Meteline which then becomes Chemin du Breuil.

(9) Walk along the Saint-Christol allotments, Avenue Charles de Gaulle. Pass the treatment plant on your left, turn slightly to the left.

(10) After about 400 metres take a forest road to the left that climbs gently. After a few hundred metres, the path follows a fence with signs for "élevage de taureaux”.

(11) 150 metres before the D35 road, head off at an acute angle on the left along the forest path (Chemin du Pas de Bouquet).

(12) At the crossroads near a water tank, up to the right is the rise up Mas de Monge and on the left Chemin Forestier de San Salvador. Take this path to the left. Cross the valleys covered in fairly sparse and lush pine forests in spring and ignore all paths leading off to the left and right.

(13) At the firefighting water tank identified as "citerne N° 123 San Salvador”, take the right path that descends slowly zigzagging. Pass multiple paths on the right. At the last fork, turn left to reach a T-junction a few metres away.

(14) Turn right and continue on this path marked in yellow.

(15). At the next T-junction, marked "MO 107" and “MO 108", turn right. Following the well-marked path you will reach the route from the start.

(2) Take the right fork. At the second junction with a path, turn left and continue straight to quickly reach the Saint-Michel Frigolet Abbey car park (F).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 101 m - Abbaye car park
  2. 1 : km 0.11 - alt. 107 m - Carrefour, go straight on
  3. 2 : km 0.95 - alt. 147 m - Carrefour, go straight on
  4. 3 : km 1.98 - alt. 134 m - La Luzerne waterhole, take the path on the right
  5. 4 : km 2.1 - alt. 138 m - At the crossroads, turn right up the path
  6. 5 : km 3.95 - alt. 101 m - Yellow markers from time to time
  7. 6 : km 4.67 - alt. 105 m - Junction, turn right at an acute angle
  8. 7 : km 5.53 - alt. 22 m - Boulbon cemetery
  9. 8 : km 5.7 - alt. 12 m - Boulbon, Rue de la Clastre
  10. 9 : km 6.71 - alt. 11 m - Left-hand subdivision
  11. 10 : km 7.81 - alt. 9 m - Leaving the road and taking the path
  12. 11 : km 8.54 - alt. 10 m - Take the forest track on the left
  13. 12 : km 10.41 - alt. 87 m - Left: San Salvador Forest Path
  14. 13 : km 12.51 - alt. 132 m - Cistern, take the path on the right
  15. 14 : km 14.53 - alt. 132 m - Crossroads, turn right onto yellow signposted path
  16. 15 : km 14.93 - alt. 134 m - MO 107 MO 108, turn right
  17. S/E : km 16.66 - alt. 101 m - Abbaye car park

Notes

There is a more direct way to get to Boulbon at the crossing (4) (walk time indicated at the abbey: 50 minutes).

Worth a visit

The Saint-Michel de Frigolet Abbey is a calm and natural place. It is quiet out of season. The abbey can be visited (check prior to visiting as the hours are quite limited).

Reviews and comments

4.5 / 5
Based on 23 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.5 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.6 / 5
Route interest
4.4 / 5
User 28575525

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 11, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hike completed on Tuesday, 24 February 2026.
Very nice weather. We only encountered three other hikers and two runners. A Canadair aircraft circled above us for two to three hours; they should be ready to respond in the event of a fire this summer.

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shumash
shumash

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 21, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant route with lovely views on both sides of the massif. Good footwear is recommended on these stony paths. Visit to the Abbey before starting the hike. Quite a few false flats and ascents/descents. When the wind blows, you can feel it. Passage through Boulbon with at least 2 churches and a ruined castle to visit.

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Fam_Dfr
Fam_Dfr

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

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

Hiking along forest tracks with a section of road along the departmental road.
The start/finish of the walk is in a landscape burnt after the fire a few years ago.
The passage by the Abbey is worth the diversions

/!\ to hunters and very aggressive shepherd dogs after the 1st plateau

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cavalier70
cavalier70

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 13, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Course followed on gpx track Sunday 12/11. Many walkers near the abbey. We only did part of the route: abbey-Boulbon-abbey as the whole is long. Beautiful views.

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cesarine390
cesarine390

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 30, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

very pleasant walk overlooking the Rhone valley, but regrets the lack of markers to follow the route

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Klodeko
Klodeko

Overall rating : 4.5 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 06, 2022
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Done with my dog from the village of Boulbon, teasing the bumps and ridges on more or less existing paths for a final 30km and D+1000m. There are lots of possible variants around the track, just waiting to be explored. The GPS is very useful.
Before point 9, we took the Chemin de la Tombée de l'Eau, which runs along the foot of the cliffs and avoids part of the road. A little further on, we took another detour along a path (visible on the OSM map) to get back to point 10.
After San Salvador, we took the limestone ridge to the south of the path to the east of the Ravin de Millet. Nice viewpoint as you walk along the cliff.
The diversions to the Bonnet mill is a must.
Many thanks to the author.

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marcheur97400
marcheur97400

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 25, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk with 2 main points of interest: the abbey of Saint Michel de Frigolet and the village of Boulbon. We chose (4) to go through the Saint Michel valley, which is very green and deep, and contrasts pleasantly with the rest of the route. Before arriving in the village, we made a small diversions to the Bonnet mill, for the well-restored mill, the panoramic view and also for the "aerial" view of the remains of the castle. It's true that the return journey to Saint Michel is a bit long on the track. We were lucky enough to see some bulls in their pen at Mas de Raousset.
Yellow markings .... can be seen from time to time ... far and far between on the forest road after Boulbon.

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FIGEROU
FIGEROU

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 27, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Nice hike up to point 6. Then a diversion to the Bonnet mill, which is well worth the effort, and from there a direct descent along a path to the Château de Boulbon. From the château, we went directly to point13 via the ridge that overlooks the château to the SE and the track to the south that passes the San Salvador. We followed the topo as far as point 14, but then, for variety's sake, we preferred to go straight to the abbey via the paths to the east rather than the tracks.

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Alain5130
Alain5130

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 21, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant and easy route. Lots of people on the way back to the abbey. At point 6, the mill is well worth the diversions for its own sake and for the view.

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PIERRE MONNIER
PIERRE MONNIER

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 17, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Nice easy hike. A few paths and lots of tracks. The area is pleasant, a little busy at first as the beautiful abbey site attracts tourists. Beautiful panorama from the top of the montagnette.
PP and MM

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viaplata
viaplata

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : May 30, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

On the third and fourth Saturdays of the month, the Bonnet mill, slightly off the path, can be visited in the afternoon. The path after Boulbon was not passable (high grass) so we continued on the main road before taking the forest path again.
Beware of the high temperatures and the hiking restrictions due to the fires.

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André trunfio
André trunfio

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 07, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Good evening,

I actually did this hike today, as a reconnaissance to do it again on Tuesday
with a group.
80% of this hike is on a stony path, with some interesting viewpoints and panoramas,
A must-do at this time of year, despite today's mistral wind, but not recommended in the heat of April or May, as there's no shade whatsoever on this route.
not the slightest shade on this route.

Yours sincerely
André

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FABRE SYLVETTE
FABRE SYLVETTE

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 11, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

NICE HIKE BUT NO SIGNPOSTING BUT WITH THE GPS NO PROBLEM

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duster83
duster83

With the Mistral at 110 km/h, I couldn't enjoy it without worrying about the forest fires.

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Normann74
Normann74

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 05, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

An interesting walk with panoramic views. Quite long, with many tracks used. A good sense of direction is essential, as there are many possible directions and hardly any signposting.

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