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Access: From Malaucène, reach the village of Beaumont-du-Ventoux via the D153 departmental road.
Cross the village and continue to the hamlet of Les Valettes. Park in the small car park behind the wash house on the right at the entrance to the hamlet.
(S/E) From the car park, walk past the hamlet's wash house. The hiking signpost is opposite it.
Turn right towards Plan de Vau,GR®4, walking along the D153 departmental road.
After 250 metres, climb the stairs on the left that lead to the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre.
Then return to the road and, after about 100 metres, turn left onto the slightly uphill track at the houses on the outskirts of the hamlet.
(1) At the fork after 100 metres, continue left on the track. There are no markings. Follow the track uphill alongside the orchards.
(2) At the next fork, continue to the right. Walk alongside more orchards. The track becomes a little grassy but is clearly marked. Ignore any other tracks and continue straight ahead. The track heads east, continue to the end until you reach a fence.
(3) Cross the fence and take the path veering slightly to the left. There are no markings. The path climbs steadily over stony ground. It alternates between small scree slopes and undergrowth as it crosses the Combe d'Arnoux.
After about 1.2km, the path curves sharply to the left and climbs up a scree slope to reach the Col d'Arnoux.
(4) At Col d'Arnoux, marked by a small plateau, take the path on the right. The trail then climbs through a gravelly and stony passage. The slope becomes steeper towards the end. There are no markings.
(5) You will arrive at a grassy plateau with a cairn. Turn left towards the east on the ridge line. Follow the ridge through the boxwood trees. The well-marked trail continues, alternating between wooded areas and open spaces offering wide views of the north of Mont Ventoux. The path climbs very slightly. Reach the Sommet de la Plate marked by a large cairn.
(6) Continue along the visible path on the ridge towards the east. The path descends and then climbs steeply for about a hundred metres to reach the Pic du Comte.
(7) At Pic du Comte, the path branches off to the north-east and then descends fairly quickly along the ridge at the edge of the woods.
As you approach a reforested area of tall pine trees with bare lower trunks, the path makes a sharp right turn and then continues along the slope through the pine trees towards the south. The forest track is visible below on the left.
Continue for about 600 metres. You will come out onto the forest track, then continue straight ahead on it for about 75 metres.
(8) You will reach the Col du Comte at the large crossroads. Pass to the left of fire hydrant no. 225.
At the hiking post, turn left towards Mont Serein via theGR®4. White/red markings.
(9) After 1.8 km, cross a forest track. At the signpost, continue on the second track on the left leading into the woods, towards Pra Long. Stay on theGR®4. White/red and yellow markings.
(10) After 250 metres at "Pra Long", you will cross the forest track again. Continue straight ahead towards Le Contrat. White/red and yellow markings. After 2.1 kilometres, you will cross a wide track coming from the right. Continue left on theGR®4.
(11) At "Serrières", at the crossroads, take the path on the right towards Le Contrat. Stay on theGR®4. The route follows a wider, stony track.
After about 450m, continue right on theGR®4and walk south for about 500m.
(12) You will come to a small tarmac road. At the "Le Contrat 1" sign, continue left on theGR®4towards Mont Ventoux.
After 200 metres, you will reach the "Le Contrat" sign. Continue left on a beautiful wide track towards Mont Ventoux. TheGR®4andGR®9are now the same.
(13) At the "Combe de la Mine" sign, continue right on theGR®4towards Mont Ventoux.
After a few metres, you will reach the "Les Mélèzes" sign, continuing straight ahead towards Mont Ventoux.
The route initially climbs through the forest, with increasingly tight hairpin bends. It then crosses rocky terrain where vegetation is sparse. Shortly before the summit, pass close to the D974 road at a hairpin bend.
(14) Continue the ascent on the bare ground. TheGR®4then leads to the D974, just below the orientation table.
Cross the road towards the buildings. Pass the "Mont Ventoux" sign. Head up towards the main building of the antenna, passing in front of the souvenir shop to reach the sign marking the summit.
(15) At the summit of Mont Ventoux, head back down the south side, walking along the D974 road to the first bend. From there, continue straight ahead towards the west and descend to the Sainte-Croix Chapel.
(16) At the Sainte-Croix Chapel, take the path on the right that crosses the scree slope while following the road (towards Malaucène). Reach the hairpin bend on the D974 below, then take the wide track on the left towards the radar. There are no markings.
(17) Go behind the radar station, passing to its right. Continue eastwards along the ridge line. Aim for the weather station visible 600 metres away. The path is fairly well marked. There are no signposts.
Once you have passed the weather station, you will arrive at the start of the Rochers de Cachillan. Facing west, the route stays as close as possible to the rocky ridge on the right for most of the way. The route alternates between scree, sharp limestone pavements and a short section through undergrowth. Although there are quite a few cairns, you need to be careful to follow the direction. There are no visible tracks on the sharp limestone pavements (only rock).
After 1.7km through the undergrowth, the path turns right to go around a rocky outcrop. The cairned path then descends fairly quickly into the forest.
(18) Cut across the Tête du Chauva trail at Casseù. At the hiking marker, continue straight ahead eastwards on the trail entering the forest. Then follow the edge of the forest to cross the clearing. There are no markers.
After 450m, ignore the turn-off to the right (blue snowshoe hiking sign). Continue eastwards along the edge of the forest.
You will arrive at a deforested area (ground littered with cut wood and shrub regrowth). At this point, leave the edge of the forest to cross this passage.
At the end of the clearing, enter the undergrowth. You will find a cairned path. Take this path on the left. Continue eastwards for about 650m through the undergrowth on sloping ground.
(19) At the bottom of the descent, at the crossroads, turn right and then immediately left. Follow the mountain bike trail, marked in black. After 350m, you will come to a small clearing.
(20) Head south-west (left then diagonally) on the visible path marked by a few cairns before the undergrowth.
After crossing the trail, the path heads west on downhill terrain via an old access track. Follow the red or green markings on a white background downhill.
(21) At the bottom of the descent, cut across a path and take the one on the right. Yellow markings.
At the fork that appears quickly after 75 metres (not shown on the map), continue to the right along the box trees. Yellow markings.
After 200m, at the fork, continue left. After about ten metres, leave the yellow-marked path and continue left, then turn left again after about 100m.
At a fork below (not shown on the map), continue straight ahead on the wide path. Yellow markings.
(22) At the "Près de Michel" signpost, continue straight ahead towards Col de Comte. Cross the D974 coming from Malaucène, then turn right onto the wide track. Yellow markings.
After travelling about 900m on this wide track, look for a small collapsed cairn on the left. It is located just after the sign marking the entrance to the national forest.
(23) Take the descending path that winds through the box trees. No markings.
(24) At the bottom of the descent (after about 600m), you will come to a wide, rutted track (not shown on the map). Continue along this track to the left, descending.
(25) At the next fork (not shown on the map), continue to the right. After 1.6km, you will come to a small clearing.
(26) Cross it straight ahead and arrive at a track suitable for vehicles. Continue straight ahead on this track for about 600 metres.
(27) Look for a path on the right leading into the undergrowth. Follow the red markings on a white background on the tree trunks. The path descends through a cleared area. After about 100 metres, you will come to another path. Turn right onto this path.
(28) At the Saint-Sidoine Chapel, turn right towards Les Alazards. Take theGR®4(route differs from the map). White/red markings.
After about 1.1km, you will come to a small tarmac road. Continue right on this road to enter the hamlet of Les Alazards. Continue on theGR®4.
(29) At the "Les Alazards" signpost on the D153, turn right towards Plan de Vau via theGR®4. Then, after 250 m, take the uphill track on the left alongside an orchard (track parallel to a wide track on the right leading to private property). Continue along this track uphill until you reach the villa. There are no signposts.
Then continue north (straight ahead) until you reach an uphill paved slanting street. Continue straight ahead until you reach the edge of a fenced olive grove, ignoring the small paths you encounter.
Then walk along the left side of the grove on the grassy path. After a few metres, the path turns north, still running alongside the fence.
(30) At a small grassy fork, continue left downhill and continue on the path that then winds through the undergrowth (facing east). No markings. After about 400 metres, you will come to a path.
(31) Turn right onto this path heading east. After a few metres, ignore the cairn and the path branching off to the left (not visible on the map). Continue eastwards until you reach the fork after 500 metres. There are no markings.
(32) Take the path on the left. There are no markings. At the next fork (after 250 metres), continue right on the path heading east.
(33) After 250m, you will reach a small path branching off to the right. It leads to ancient Roman quarries. Walk there and back.
Then take the path on the right. This follows a paved slanting street downhill (slightly different from the route shown on the map).
(1) At the fork near the houses, descend to the left to reach the D153 road. Follow this road again to the right to reach the hamlet of Les Valettes and the starting point (S/E).
Visorando member
Difficult 
Moderate 
Easy 
