Mont du Marseillais via La Destrousse

A walk to the lovely 360° viewpoint of Mont du Marseillais in the hinterland of the Marseille region.

Details

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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 5.80 mi
  • ◔
    Average duration: 4h 00 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 1,562 ft
  • ↘
    Descent: - 1,585 ft

  • ▲
    Highest point: 2,060 ft
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 807 ft

Description of the walk

The start is at the end of Chemin de Mule, in La Destrousse, where there is a small hunters’ car park just in front of a barrier.

(S/E) Take thePR® route, heading due west, ignoring the track branching off to the right.

(1) After about 1.3 kilometres, continue along the track to the left until the first hairpin bend.

(2) There are two options here:
- either continue up the track.
- or you go down a path on the left in the bend for about a hundred metres and take the first path on the right, which brings you back onto the track. This is the route option. On this path, keep to the left and then further on to the right. Once at the top, continue left along the track towards Mont du Marseillais.

(3) Continue the climb along the track which turns to the right. About 150 m further on, on the left, a marked path climbs towards the antennas. Take the one on the right. After a 250 m climb, turn left towards the summit.

(4) Once at the top, pass the Mont du Marseillais transmitters and head back down the track to the fork (elevation 568).

(5) Turn left and follow the track for about 500 m.

(6) Take a path visible on the right.

(7) Follow the start of a track on the right for about 600 m.

(8) When you see a road, head straight up the path on the right.

(9) After 350 m, turn left onto the path that will take you back to the track you took on the way up, ignoring the paths that branch off a little further on to the left and then to the right. You’ll reach this track and turn right onto it.

(3) At this point, leave the route you have already taken and head down a path on the left which leads to the Col du Marseillais.

(10) At this pass, take a path on the left. At the end of this, after about 500 m, you come to a track which you follow down to the right, then you reach a field. At the end, the track turns into a path which you continue to follow straight on.

After the long descent into the valley and a left-hand bend near the first houses, you’ll reach the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : mi 0 - alt. 833 ft - Hunters’ car park
  2. 1 : mi 0.79 - alt. 1,280 ft - Turn left
  3. 2 : mi 0.9 - alt. 1,329 ft - Path in the bend
  4. 3 : mi 1.52 - alt. 1,745 ft - Crossroads of the circular loop
  5. 4 : mi 1.84 - alt. 2,047 ft - Mont du Marseillais (628m)
  6. 5 : mi 2.32 - alt. 1,867 ft - Junction on the left
  7. 6 : mi 2.62 - alt. 1,873 ft - Path on the right
  8. 7 : mi 2.92 - alt. 1,601 ft - Junction on the right
  9. 8 : mi 3.3 - alt. 1,381 ft - Route
  10. 9 : mi 3.51 - alt. 1,588 ft - Turn left
  11. 10 : mi 4.4 - alt. 1,552 ft - Col du Marseillais (479m)
  12. S/E : mi 5.8 - alt. 833 ft - Hunters’ car park

Always be cautious and plan ahead when you're outdoors. Visorando and the author of this route cannot be held responsible for any accidents occurring on this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

Reviews and comments

4.2 / 5
Based on 6 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.3 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.7 / 5
Route interest
3.5 / 5
Philippe Parazols
Philippe Parazols
• Edited:

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 06, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

To make the climb more interesting, we turned off towards the Balcon des Tourdes (or Tourdres, which – apparently – means ‘thrushes’…) as indicated by a sign a little way below the summit (probably after point 3). This alternative route takes you over Lascours and offers views down over the Grand Vallon via a good, level path. Very pretty. You then simply head back up to the right to rejoin the Défens plateau. After a well-deserved break, we head back down towards point 4 (I had the impression we could go straight to point 5, but Elsa convinced me to head towards the antennas and rejoin the track by keeping to the left). The descent into the valley is nice (I can see how it might be slippery in wet weather). The long climb back up to the antennas seemed a bit ‘odd’ to us (why go down if you have to go back up to get back onto the morning’s track?), but in the end it adds substance to the hike, so why not... And the final descent after the Col du Marseillais lets you escape the sun. It’s a bit tricky (the path is narrow), but it’s lovely. Back to the car park without any trouble. Oh yes, a very beautiful view at the top (the Écrins, etc.), but the climb is a bit uninteresting unless you go via the Balcon... Best avoided in hot weather.

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Yves Pere
Yves Pere

Not scheduled for early September

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Yves Pere
Yves Pere

Not yet, it’s scheduled for early September, so it won’t be long now

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phildaix
phildaix

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 07, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Beautiful scenery, stunning views of the Alps in this lovely, cold, sunny weather.
No problems with the route (note, however, that at WP7 it is not the ‘start of a track’, but the bed of a stream – fortunately dry – which is indeed a bit tricky and sometimes a little slippery, but very manageable even in this very wet season).
200 m from the finish, you need to go to the left of the house blocking the path (via a small path that starts to climb).

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EZQUERRA
EZQUERRA

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 18, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

The view from the summit of Mont des Marseillais is exceptional, but the descent and the walk through the valley (from point 6 to 8) is not very pleasant; the path is narrow and stony, and is sometimes overgrown with vegetation

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DominiqueAIX
DominiqueAIX

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 26, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Hello,
Mont des Marseillais is a wonderful reward; you’re rarely disappointed when you reach the top.
On this hike, however, there are several points to note.
- It’s big game hunting season, with hunters in position; we preferred to stay on the tracks where possible (between WP2 and WP3)
- The section from WP6 to WP9 took us down a very difficult stream bed, with slippery slabs and stones at this time of year.
I would therefore advise doing this hike at a different time of year (hunting season + damp ground)
Thank you for this suggestion!

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scarabee2508
scarabee2508

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 17, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely route with stunning scenery in our hills, especially in fine weather...
Best regards... Zen13......

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marcarbasse
marcarbasse

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 19, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

First of all, thank you for sorting out my membership card issue... I’ve taken the liberty of ‘saving’ the two hikes, as I might one day be able to put them on the agenda for an outing...I must admit that I organise outings every Friday, but I find it hard to get started on making suggestions... I’ll give it a go one day... Best wishes...
Marcel Carbasse

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