Country:
District:
First of all, "let's give credit where credit is due... or rather to Dédé... and to "Randonnée Cévenole"...
Thanks to Dédé, a "passionate hiker" who told me about this hike, and thanks to the webmaster of the "Randonnée Cévenole" website, which I drew heavily on for this description and who kindly gave me permission to publish this hike on Visorando.
I haven't invented anything, I've just added my own little touch...
A quick note: taking the time to take photos, I completed this circular route in 6 hours.
Park next to the church in Tournemire (12250). If this car park is full, there is another one on the outskirts of the village.
(S/E) From the church, take Rue de l'Église on the right. Cross the main road and continue straight ahead (red and whiteGR® markings). After a few minutes in the village, you will reach the Ruisseau du Brias stream, which you will follow (picnic tables).
(1) Before crossing a bridge, leave the small road and take a grassy path on the left. Look for the sign saying "espace naturel sensible" (sensitive natural area). This path also runs alongside the river and then starts to climb slightly. You will find yourself at the foot of some beautiful cliffs. Shortly after passing a house and a short descent, you will cross the Brias stream via a footbridge.
(2) Be careful! A few metres after the footbridge, take a path on the left, the start of which is not very visible. The path climbs quite steeply through the box trees, then crosses upwards through the deciduous oaks and finally, after passing some water tanks, joins the track that you need to take on the left.
Looking back, you can enjoy beautiful views of the Cirque de Tournemire. The track climbs, makes a sharp right turn (follow theGR® markings) and then ends. Take a hairpin path on the left. After about twenty minutes of climbing this path, with some nice views, you will reach the plateau.
(3) Take the track on the right.
(4) After a few hundred metres, at the first T-junction, take the track on the left marked in yellow (ignore theGR® markings that go off to the right).
Walk for a good quarter of an hour along this uninteresting track and you will pass a series of viewpoints on your left. Three minutes later, you will pass close to the superb Fournials farm. After the farm, the track climbs towards a high-voltage power line.
(5) At the first crossroads, quickly leave this track and take another one on the left, but a few minutes later you will find yourself back under the power line.
(6) Fortunately, there is a crossroads here and we take another track on the left, which is more or less horizontal, towards a pine grove. This time we turn our backs on the EDF line and the views towards the valley become quite pleasant.
After a good five minutes, the track turns right and at this bend, it is worth leaving the path to visit a very beautiful viewpoint.
After another ten minutes or so of climbing, you will reach the highest point of the walk, marked by an ugly ruined building. Then you begin a descent along the edge of the plateau, with some very beautiful views.
(7) At the bottom of the descent, ignore a path coming from the right and continue straight ahead. You are now walking horizontally, ignoring a path that starts diagonally to the right.
(8) Shortly after passing under the power line, take care not to miss a small path that starts on the left (cairn).
After a short descent through the oak trees, the path makes a magnificent traverse along the southern slope of the Roquesquatres mountain. Then you arrive below a cliff area and the path changes direction. You are now on the western slope, which is much more wooded.
The descent offers superb views of the village of Montclarat. At the T-junction, turn left onto a wider path.
(9) After another short descent, you will reach the road, where you turn left and walk for 80 metres.
(10) Leave the road and take a path diagonally to the right. After walking through the woods, you will come to a crossroads.
(11) Turn right and you will reach the water source. This is a very pleasant place to take a break if it is hot and to fill your water bottles if the spring is flowing.
Go back up to the path, turn right and you will rejoin the road almost immediately.
Follow it to the right for about a kilometre.
(12) Take the track on the left. Be careful, as there are two tracks starting here, one after the other. Make sure you take the first one, which goes uphill, and not the second one, which goes horizontally into the woods.
The track climbs up to an EDF transformer. Here, at the T-junction, turn left. After a flat section and another climb, you will come to another junction. Take the track on the right which descends, following the signs for "Roquefort par Carcan".
After a ten-minute descent, cross a railway line. Immediately afterwards, you will come out onto the road. Take this road to the left and cross the Soulzon.
(13) Take the yellow-marked path on the left. After about 50 metres, you will come to a fork; take the left path towards "Menhir du Soulzon". The path then runs alongside the river, first on the left bank then on the right bank, in a beautiful forest setting. Finally, you will come to a footbridge that allows you to cross the Soulzon easily.
(14) On the other bank, you will soon reach a crossroads where you turn right towards "Roquefort direct". The path is steep and supported by wooden logs to prevent erosion. After about ten minutes, the climb ends at a T-junction where you turn right horizontally. You will come out at the car park of the municipal technical centre.
(15) Take the road on the left uphill. At the crossroads, head for a very large, wide staircase sloping up to the right. You will arrive in front of the church (a visit is recommended).
(16) Opposite the church entrance, turn right and cross Avenue de Lauras. Immediately turn right onto Rue des Baragnaudes, which turns sharply to the right and climbs up into the village. Follow the signs for Sentier des Échelles (pictogram representing a ladder). The climb is steep and, at the top, it feels like you're arriving at someone's house, but you're not...
(17) In front of a fountain, make a sharp left turn and you will see the start of the Sentier des Échelles. The path climbs very steeply, often consisting of steps carved into the rock. Higher up, the path levels out a little and enters the pine forest. Don't miss the superb view on the left.
After a minute or two of climbing, you will arrive at an astonishing and impressive rock formation. The old route crossed the rock formation, but it is now closed and the yellow markings now indicate that you should take a path on the right just before crossing the rock formation.
This path winds through the undergrowth and then emerges once again into this alpine-sized chaos.I don't think there is anything else in the region that compares in terms of the size of the collapsed boulders. It is impressive, especially as the path winds its way through the middle of these boulders. After seven or eight minutes, the path stops climbing and, at this point, before tackling the short descent, be sure to climb a few metres to the right to reach the top of a large boulder on which stands a large cairn.
From this spot, you can enjoy a panoramic view of the chaos. Then descend and rejoin the yellow-marked trail, which continues along the landslide area before changing direction. Here, note the impressive fault on the right. The trail then continues its ascent through the woods.
It should be noted that after the landslide in 2016, the old route, which was too exposed, was replaced by this new trail. The work that went into creating this route deserves our congratulations!
You walk for a long time along a wooded ledge on the north side, then gradually change sides to the west side and come out at the foot of a small cliff that blocks access to the plateau. Here, a brand new, ultra-safe ladder has been installed, allowing this new route to retain the name Sentier des Échelles (although the plural should be changed to singular).
You then come out abruptly onto the plateau, which is completely flat. There are orientation tables and superb 270-degree views. Continue following the yellow markings on a path and then a track, passing at the foot of a huge telecoms pylon (viewpoint with railings on the left) and then continuing downhill on a track.
(18) Leave the track for a path on the left. The path now runs along the edge of the Combalou plateau. Superb views and "jasse"(sheepfold).
Follow the Sentier des Échelles markings. Further on, you move away from the edge and start a slight climb through the pine forest. You then reach a change of direction where it is worth leaving the path to access a remarkable viewpoint on the left. Next, continue westwards for a few minutes and then leave the plateau.
You now begin the final descent. A very pretty passage through the rocks, then a downhill crossing through beautiful low vegetation with lovely views.
(19) At the crossroads, leave the Sentier des Échelles and turn right downhill towards Tournemire.
After five minutes, you will come to a road (Col des Aiguières).
(20) The trail starts to the right of a disused track on the other side of the road (Tournemire sign). Continue downhill following the yellow markings. The end is quite steep and heavily eroded.
(21) Be careful, in the forest, the trail branches off to the right. At the bottom, at the T-junction, turn right (left leads to Roquefort via the Bousquet farm). Join a track and follow it to the left. After the water treatment plant, take the track on the right. Follow the Soulzon river and you will reach a tarmac road. Follow the road to the left to cross the river. Then cross the railway line at the level crossing. At the next crossroads, turn left. Walk about 50 metres and take Rue de l'Église on the right to return to the car park (S/E).
Visorando member
Moderate 
Easy 
Association / Club / Walk leader
