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Departure from the village of Finiels.
(S/E) Leave the village by following the road that climbs towards the pass. In the bend after the last houses, turn left onto the path that goes around a farm building and follow it to the next crossroads. It climbs gently, revealing a magnificent panorama of the heights overlooking the Tarn valley.
(1) At the crossroads, take the path on the right that climbs towards the forest and, after reaching the first trees, turn right again. At the next crossroads, turn left and follow a wide forest track for 1,400 metres.
(2) When you reach another forest track, turn right and, a few dozen metres further on, turn left onto the path through the woods. Although off the beaten track, this path is well marked and signposted as it is very well used. In fact, from Finiels, you are on the Stevenson Trail -GR® 70, and its red and white markings are regularly maintained.
(3) As you approach the summit, the forest thins out and suddenly gives way to grassland. When you reach the forest track that runs along the ridge, turn left and, 175 metres further on, follow the path on the right that climbs to the summit.
(4) If you are lucky enough to arrive on a clear day, the view from the summit is magnificent: from the Cantal mountains to the peaks of the Grands Causses in the south, the panorama allows you to make out the Mézenc, the small pyramid of Mont Gerbier de Jonc and the massif of Tanargue. In the distance, in a more or less hazy sky, you may be able to see Mont Ventoux, slightly to the left of the ridge. To the south, the Montagne du Bougès and the Aigoual massif block the Cévennes valleys, while the Causses de Sauveterre and Méjean stretch out to the west.
At the summit, at the signpost for Mont Finiel, turn left (west) and after 1 km, at the second hillock, turn right. There is a mark but it is illegible. Go straight down the slope, through the heather and blueberry bushes.
(5) At the junction with the Route des Chômeurs (a track built after the last war to provide work for the unemployed), turn right and follow this road to the ski slopes of the Mont Lozère resort. The view of the north face of the mountain is particularly striking in late summer when the purple hues of the heather blend with the orange of the blueberry bushes at the end of their growing season. It is a moorland landscape common to certain peaks in Brittany, which is hard to imagine in these almost southern regions.
(6) Just before rejoining the RD20 (col road), turn right onto the path that runs alongside the last ski slope and climbs up towards the ridges (GR® 70). As soon as it emerges from the forest shelter, the path is marked by raised stones (montjoies) which you follow to the summit. Note the marks on these stones left by the metal wedges used to cut them.
(7) At the ridge line, leave theGR® 70 trail climbing up to the summit of Finiels (the highest point of Mont Lozère) and start the descent opposite. The path quickly rejoins the forest and takes on the appearance of a mountain trail with its stony slopes and hairpin bends. As you descend, the murmur of streams becomes more noticeable.
(8) Once you reach the pass road, follow it down to the village to return to the starting point (S/E).
Visorando member
Difficult 
Very difficult 
