Country:
District:
Enter Thézan-des-Cobières via the D611. Take the small street at the corner of the Cave Coopérative, then turn right to reach a car park with space for three or four vehicles.
(S/E) With your back to the Cave Coopérative, follow Rue de la Croix Rousse, immediately leaving the narrow road that leads back to the D611 on your right. Continue to the first crossroads.
Yellow and green signposts + yellowPR®
(1) Turn left onto Rue de Montagut, which you will quickly leave behind, along with thePR® markings, by turning right at the fork.
Yellow and green markings
Follow the small paved road until you reach a sharp left turn.
(2) Leave a wide grassy path on your right leading to a few vineyards. Continue climbing on the road, which loses its surface about 30 metres further on, giving way to a dirt track.
The slope becomes significantly steeper where the dirt track is replaced by a wide cement path which, further on, gives way to a stony track. The path winds pleasantly between pine trees and heathland until it reaches a crossroads.
(3) Turn left and continue along the track until the next intersection (the wide path on the right shown on the IGN map, which would allow you to cut the bend, no longer exists).
(4) Leave a grassy path blocked by an electric fence on your right and continue straight ahead. The track flattens out and crosses the Plat de l'Aven, planted with sparse pine trees, before emerging into open terrain. Ignore a wide turn-off on the right and continue to a fork marked by a solitary pine tree.
(5) Take the shortcut on the right, then turn right again onto the track that descends into a small valley to reach a large crossroads (fire hydrant + hunting post).
(6) Go straight ahead, leaving a path on your right, and come to another intersection (signpost + wooden sign "Liaison Cirque de Viviès - 1.6km").
(7) Turn right. Cross a high point where the view opens up, then continue slightly downhill to a fork (large rock with yellow and green markings a few metres to the right).
(8) Turn left to reach the viewpoint over the Cirque de Viviès. Take care, especially with children, as the site is not secure.
Retrace your steps and continue to the left. Join a wide path coming from the right and continue straight ahead to a three-way junction where two paths go straight ahead and a third starts to the left at a right angle (metal barrier).
Yellow and green markings topped with a yellow dot
(9) Turn left at a right angle and begin a very steep and difficult descent where the path becomes narrow and cracked (caution). Once on flat ground at the bottom of the Cirque de Viviès, pass a first information board about the geology of the site. Leave two paths on your left.
(10) Turn right at a 90° angle and start a long straight stretch where you will find two other signs about the birdlife and wildlife of the Mediterranean heath.
Continue straight ahead until you reach a vineyard (hiking trail sign).
(11) Turn right, following the sign for "Thézac", and walk along the vineyard. At the end, go through a wooden barrier that prevents access to two-wheeled vehicles, then cross a small footbridge over a dry stream.
After passing through a very dense wooded section, the trail emerges onto heathland, crosses a few log steps and then a second wooden barrier before arriving at a new intersection (this short section is not shown on the IGN map).
Turn left towards the signpost that marks the junction with a wide stony track at a hairpin bend.
(12) Turn right and climb slightly. Continue straight ahead, ignoring the paths on either side, including a detour to the Cirque de Viviès on the right. At the fork at the end of a sharp left-hand bend, take the right-hand branch to reach the Château de Caraguilhes wine estate, where you will rejoin the tarmac road.
(13) Pass between the wine storehouse and the château, turn left at the corner of the château and continue along a small, perfectly straight, tree-lined paved road. You will arrive at a crossroads (road sign "La Grangette").
(14) Turn right onto a small road that loses and regains its surface several times before reaching the first houses of Thézan-des-Corbières. Continue right onto Rue du Moulin à Vent.
(1) Continue along Rue de la Croix Rousse to return to the car park (S/E).
Visorando member
