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Park at the Notre-Dame du Cros car park (Caunes-Minervois).
(S/E) From the car park, follow the yellow markings along the small path that branches off to the right of the church. Descend to the concrete bed of the Cros stream and cross it. Climb up to the right on a stony path and pass a cross.
(1) Leave the signs at the hairpin bend and take the path on the left to avoid the detour to the Sicard farm. Look for the Réseau Vert® signs to return to the track. Immediately turn left at the fork, heading towards the "Caunes-Minervois" branch of the marbrières circuit and leaving the Escaliers quarry on your right.
(2) Turn right and continue to the Protohistoric site of Cros, ignoring the yellow signpost on the left at the information board. Then follow the old quarry and continue north. You will reach a crossroads at the Aude-Hérault departmental boundary (altitude 388 m). Go almost straight ahead, towards the north-east, to reach the Castillou quarry.
(3) You can find it by following the yellow markings (formerly blue) on the right. Then rejoin the main track. Continue on the Grande Traversée de l'Hérault (Réseau Vert® signposting) which heads towards the Domaine de la Matte. Leave a farm access road on your right and ignore two successive paths on your left. After turning right, look for the signpost for La Planette on your left (La Matte signpost).
(4) Turn left. First climb north, then turn northeast onto the Planette plateau.
(5) A detour to the left on a very stony path leads to the Planète quarry (shelter). Avoid this loop by continuing straight ahead and rejoining the yellow markings. Follow them again for about 750 m
(6) Leave the signposting for a shortcut on the right in the clearing. Keep left shortly afterwards and climb a little further up to the Font Dal Rainard junction and rejoin the yellow signposting.
(7) Turn right, then descend southwards and join an intersection in a bend. Leave thePR®® for a moment to take a link to a marked path further down to the south-east. Turn left and descend more steeply. Go around the prominent feature on the left, where the castle was built (beautiful view from the promontory), then finish the descent along a path lined with low walls to reach a technical building for mobile phone relays. Turn right to reach the Ventajou refuge for a picnic break in the shelter.
(8) The refuge was built by a local association and is owned by the town hall of Félines-Minervois. After regaining your strength and admiring the view of the Minervois plain, head back towards the ruins of the old village via a path marked in yellow.
Continue along the hillside towards the north-west, then cross a first valley before making a little more effort to cross the Lauzerda rock barrier between two other ravines. Then descend more steadily towards the south-west and finish with a series of steps to arrive at the Bessous site, another marble quarry.
A passage on the right leads to the marble extraction site. A few remains and traces bear witness to this activity, which provided the noble material used to decorate the fireplaces of the Palace of Versailles.
(9) Head back towards a ravine along the path strewn with marble debris. After a bend, join a track.
(10) Turn right. After a hairpin bend, turn south then south-west and you will reach a crossroads near the Fraissé farm (panoramic view). Leave the access road to the house and take the one above, still following the "marble quarry circuit". Arrive at the Moulin de Biot, a windmill built to saw marble (see the "During the hike" tab).
(11) Stay on the path and follow the instructions: there is a risk of rockfalls in the ruins of the buildings. Follow the Ruisseau de la Boriette stream for a while before descending to a track.
(12) Follow it to the right. Ignore the return to Félines via Brama on the left and cross a ford
(13) Stay on this track until you reach La Boriette. On the right, rejoin the shortcut taken at the start of the route (near a large block of marble) to avoid going as far as the Sicard crossroads.
(1) Complete the loop by retracing your morning route in reverse to Chapelle Notre-Dame du Cros (S/E).
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