The Colbas Dolmen

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A mainly wooded walk, following numerous dry stone walls and terraces, evidence of a significant agricultural past. A beautiful view from the Colbas Dolmen.

Details

n°68768374
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 5.37 mi
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 10 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 768 ft
  • ↘
    Descent: - 774 ft
  • ▲
    Highest point: 2,178 ft
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 1,453 ft
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Photos

Rabbit hutch
Long dry stone wall
Small drystone shelter at the entrance to the village
Ruins and dry stone wall

Description of the walk

Park in the car park at the Saint-Cézaire-sur-Siagne caves

(S/E) Walk along the D613 (Route des Grottes), heading south, taking great care with the traffic. You will soon reach a path on the left, marked by a cairn.

(1) Leave the road and turn left onto this path lined with rockroses, then follow it to a track.

(2) Turn left, continue through the scrubland, and reach a four-way junction. Carry on straight ahead along an unmarked path through the undergrowth. Walk past a beautiful rabbit hutch made of a pile of stones at the edge of the fields and reach an olive grove.

(3) Turn right, follow the terraced fields, then continue through the heath. A few steps further on, you’ll come to another crossroads.

(4) Head left, occasionally following dry stone walls. Continue the climb, keeping to the left at the path junction; take care here as the path becomes somewhat lost amongst the rocks. Reach the top of this climb.

(5) Carry on straight ahead along a gently sloping path and join a wide track as you leave the woods.

(6) Head down to the right for about a hundred metres and, before the gate, turn left. Leave the track about a hundred metres further on to reach the megalithic site on the right, featuring the Colbas dolmen.

(7) Turn back and return to the previous crossroads.

(6) At this crossroads, there is a beautiful drystone shelter. Go straight on to reach a junction of trackways, just before marker 28 in the Bois d'Amon, marked by a cairn.

(8) Turn left to join the long forest track known as Le Pré d'en Bertrand. Pass under a power line and continue to the cairn at the Prignon crossroads.

(9) Turn left onto a path that is sometimes obscured by vegetation. After passing a beautiful ruin, follow a dry stone wall downhill to a crossroads with several routes.

(10) Take the path on the left, descend steeply and pass under the power line again to reach the village. Continue along the tarmac road and arrive at the junction at the end of Chemin de Prignon.

(11) Cross the road with care, continue along the path opposite and reach a fork in the road. Turn left onto Chemin du Plan des Grottes, taking great care with traffic, and reach a memorial stone.

(12) Leave the road and turn left onto the path at the foot of the memorial. Please note that this path is not marked on maps; follow it until you reach the D613, then easily return to the Grotte Saint-Cézaire car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : mi 0 - alt. 1,516 ft - Car park at the - Grotte de Saint-Cézaire (Saint-Cézaire-sur-Siagne)
  2. 1 : mi 0.17 - alt. 1,486 ft - Crossroads of the circular loop
  3. 2 : mi 0.36 - alt. 1,463 ft - Crossroads of paths
  4. 3 : mi 0.63 - alt. 1,549 ft - Olive grove
  5. 4 : mi 0.76 - alt. 1,516 ft - Path
  6. 5 : mi 1.33 - alt. 1,942 ft - High point
  7. 6 : mi 1.69 - alt. 1,969 ft - Crossroads: megalithic site
  8. 7 : mi 1.92 - alt. 1,959 ft - Dolmen de Colbas (Saint-Cézaire-sur-Siagne)
  9. 8 : mi 2.25 - alt. 2,008 ft - Cairn
  10. 9 : mi 3.45 - alt. 2,051 ft - Prignon
  11. 10 : mi 4 - alt. 1,824 ft - Crossroads of trackways
  12. 11 : mi 4.63 - alt. 1,480 ft - Route des Grottes
  13. 12 : mi 5.04 - alt. 1,460 ft - Memorial stone
  14. S/E : mi 5.37 - alt. 1,516 ft - Car park at the Grotte de Saint-Cézaire

Notes

Please note: there are no signposts along the route.

(3) Olive grove – note the terraces lined up in a straight line; please be careful here and up to (9); the Visorando app is strongly recommended.

(4) In the distance, you can see the Hauts de Grasse business park.

Walking poles and hiking boots recommended.

No water available along the route.

Worth a visit

(S/E) Saint-Cézaire Caves.

Between (1) and (2), rockroses are plants that are ideal for covering rocky slopes.

(6) See the drystone shelter: a large dry-stone hut and a water trough for sheep flocks.
The drystone shelters were established following a royal edict by Louis XV dated 1766, designed to facilitate the development and clearing of new land. The decline of these drystone shelters came with the rural exodus around 1914, which brought an end to their construction.

(7) The megalithic site at Corbas.

Between the points (11) and (12) see a drystone shelter

-

Reviews and comments

3.7 / 5
Based on 6 reviews
Reliability of the description
3.8 / 5
Ease of following the route
3 / 5
Route interest
4.3 / 5
bernard bb
bernard bb

Thank you Pat 06 for this very clear opinion
best regards, B.

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Pat 06
Pat 06

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 11, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hello and thank you for this hike
As you suggest in the description, it is difficult to do without the Visiorando app because the trails sometimes get lost (between 2 and 6) and private properties can add to the confusion. We also missed the trail at 9, so we created a variant to reach point 10. I discovered that the beautiful drystone shelter at 6 was actually a well with quite a lot of water despite the drought. It is worth mentioning the beautiful view of Lake Saint Cassien from the dolmens.

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Averel
Averel

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 11, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely, easy and varied walk, well signposted with cairns. I recommend it

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bernard bb
bernard bb
• Edited:

Thank you, Farigou, for your feedback

The name of the digital file has been changed and indeed the cysts are growing fast
Best regards, b.

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bernard bb
bernard bb

Hello Coldom

The hikers who went before you followed the trail through the rockroses and other low vegetation. We didn’t encounter any impenetrable brambles; that’s just part of the adventure of hiking off the marked trails.

As noted, the Visorando app is highly recommended.
We hope, however, that you enjoyed the old walls and the magnificent drystone shelter
Hiking regards, B

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Coldom
Coldom

Overall rating : 1.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 16, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Described as "easy", this route starts off pleasantly up to the olive grove but then becomes completely lost between points 4 and 5, where it is almost impossible to follow the track on the Visorando app. You find yourself stuck in brambles amidst dense vegetation that requires suitable clothing to make any headway. We decided to turn back and reach the Colbas dolmen via a track further to the east.
At the very least, people planning to do this route should be warned that it is not a family walk and that there are difficult sections to navigate.

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Lu06
Lu06

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 21, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Be careful at the educational farm: there’s a very aggressive Patou dog roaming free that nipped our two dogs, who were on a lead and very calm. The farm owner is very friendly but clearly annoyed that people aren’t following the signs.
The scenery is truly beautiful.

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bernard bb
bernard bb

Thank you, tebon, for your interesting comments.
A walk where the route really does matter
Hiking regards, b.

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tebon
tebon

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 16, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very interesting walk, but we had a bit of trouble following the route between points 3 and 5.

To avoid the off-track section between points 3 and 4, we recommend, at point 1, continuing along the D 613 for about a hundred metres, then taking the bridle path on the left after the bend. Just before reaching the ZAC de la Festre, turn left to reach point 4.

The biggest difficulty on the route is at the end of the track you take after point 4. However, by following the GPS track, you can manage to follow a path that is barely visible and sometimes non-existent. Everything becomes easier once you reach the bottom of a small valley where numerous cairns and a fairly well-marked path lead to point 5. A few more cairns and some pruning would help make the route between the end of the track and the valley easier to follow.

At point 9, if you want to avoid the path that sometimes disappears into the vegetation, you can stay on the track, then take the track on the left which leads to point 10.

Taking these difficulties into account, this hike offers beautiful views, varied landscapes and historical remains, with the added bonus of a starting point located on the grounds of the Grottes de Saint-Cézaire

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Farigou
Farigou
• Edited:

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 07, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

An interesting and varied walk; I live in the village but hadn’t come across this route before. We had trouble finding the path on two occasions, between points 4 and 5, and 9 and 10. The first time, we were able to use the app to find the right path; the second time, we went back to the car wreck before following the clear tracks on the map to reach point 10. The cysts are growing fast!

At the risk of sounding pedantic, the digital file is named ‘Dolmen de Graou’, which is another dolmen in St Cézaire near the industrial estate.

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