Country:
District:
The hike starts in the village of Vieussan, on the D14E27, the main road leading up to the village. Parking is available along this road in the designated parking spaces.
(S/E) At the lowest car park, take the steps to Rue du Cimetière. Follow this road towards the village for about 150 metres and turn left up the stone steps to reach the upper path, which you then follow, turning right. Pass the waterworks. Continue along this road and, at the archway leading down to the village, turn left and follow the path out of the village. Ignore a path coming from the left.
(1) 20m further on, when you reach a fork, follow the path that climbs up to the right towards the electricity pylons. The start of the walk is marked in blue. After 100m, do not go down to the right towards the village, but follow the path that climbs to the left towards the Col du Roc Traucat, keeping south-east. Once under a high-voltage pylon, stay more or less under this line for 150m until you reach a crossroads under another pylon.
(2) Then turn left and walk alongside it until you can touch it. Climb up until you reach the ruins of a stone house bordering the path, where there is a stone bench where you can sit and admire the view of the Col du Roc du Traucat.
(3) As you pass along the path above the house, don't forget to stop and admire the view of the Caroux from the viewpoint. Ignore the path that branches off to the left a few dozen metres after you resume your route and continue to a hairpin bend.
(4) Turn right onto the path marked "VTT FC" and take a detour to admire a cave carved out of the rock. Follow this mountain bike trail for about 150 metres, then climb up a path on the left, which gradually fades away, to reach the cave a hundred metres further on.
(5) Turn around and retrace your steps.
(4) Take the path again, turning right and climbing up the other side.
(6) Just before the path widens into a track with a crossroads and the vegetation thins out, turn right onto the path to reach the Tour du Pin. Leave the path you will follow on the descent on your left and continue straight ahead. Climb up around the tower to reach the top. Be careful of the steep drops! Before the summit, there is a rope to hold on to along the tower.
(7) Turn around and 30 metres after leaving the tower, take the path in the opposite direction, this time turning onto the path that descends to the right. Continue straight ahead to reach a dirt road accessible to vehicles, which you should follow to the right. Pass between the wooden pylons and when the path widens on the left, two paths branch off to the right in succession.
(8) Take the second one, turning diagonally. When you reach the crossroads, turn right downhill and then immediately right again. You will come to a clearing and descend to the bottom of it.
(9) Turn left and descend to come out onto a fairly clean dirt track. Turn right towards the descent.
(10) Once you reach the third chicane on the left, leave the road and take the path on the right. After a few metres, at the crossroads, turn left onto the mountain bike trail and continue for about 250 metres until you rejoin the clean road you left a few minutes earlier. The village of Le Pin is now below you.
Turn right towards the descent and at the next crossroads, continue to the right (in fact, do not take the first chicane on the left but the second one immediately after). Then follow a vineyard on your left which descends steeply and pass the chicane on the left.
(11) About 100m later, leave the path and take the trail that branches off to the right. Shortly afterwards, do not go down to your left, but keep to the right and follow the path that quickly runs alongside the Orb to the village of Vieussan. You are now in the heath. Follow the blue markings again to the end. Once in Vieussan, take the village lanes straight ahead until you reach a fork.
(12) Then turn left down the descent to reach the paved road, which you simply follow to the right to return to your vehicle (S/E).
A very pretty area; thank you.
Visorando member
Easy 
Difficult 
