Pic de Bernardez as seen from the Bellevue forest lodge

To reach the starting point: from Seyne, head towards Saint-Pons then follow the signs for ‘maison forestière de Bellevue’. There, at the junction, you can park easily.

(S/E) Walk back up the Route Forestière du Col Bas for a few dozen metres, then turn right onto a well-signposted path marked ‘Col de Bernardez’.
Follow the path uphill for about 1 km until you reach the Route Forestière de la Chaumasse, which you follow to the right.

(1) After a hairpin bend to the left, continue up the track, ignoring a signposted turn-off to the right marked “Col de Bernardez”. It’s a steep climb.

(2) 200 metres further up, take the track starting on the right, then immediately turn left – unfortunately, this is the steepest section.
The other, more direct path on the right is becoming overgrown, so ignore it.

(3) After 700 m, carry on left along the^GR® 6, which takes you through a magnificent larch forest, and it climbs, and climbs. At the source of the Chandelette, you begin the ‘arid’ section of the climb, where you may occasionally spot an ibex or a marmot.

(4) At the Chandelette hairpin bend, turn right and head straight on to the pass, 1,600 metres further on.

(5) At the pass, you can admire the views on either side over the high-altitude valleys, the Grosse Motte de Neillière to the south-east and, above all, to the north-west, very close by, your next destination: the Pic de Bernardez.
The path is narrow, steep and challenging but fairly well signposted, so it’s nothing a moderate hiker can’t manage.

(6) You reach the peak, which has a brand-new cross; the old one lies on the ground. The 360° panorama is magnificent. To the west, you can clearly make out the mountains of the La Blanche ski resorts: Le Grand Puy, Chabanon, etc.; then to the south, the three ‘évêchés’ of grim memory, the Tête de l’Estrop and, closer by, the Aiguillette and the Tête de Chabrière. To the east lies the Ubaye valley, which rises towards Barcelonnette and its resorts.

(7) We begin the descent from the peak, which is very steep, towards another vantage point that offers nothing new in terms of the panorama but allows you to gaze upon the impressive Pic de Bernardez, from which we have just come. The path is sometimes very poorly signposted, but you simply need to follow the ridge. We cross another hilltop before heading back down towards the start of the descent.

(8) Here, the path leads down towards the mountain pastures. A little further down, take care not to miss the path; after about 1 km, you’ll reach the Col Bas.

(9) Head down the path which immediately turns right off the Col Bas track to join the forest road of the same name after a fairly rugged and heavily used descent.

(10) Follow the road southwards for 700 m until you reach a hairpin bend to the right, which you leave behind, taking a long track that continues in the same southerly direction – a bit of a nuisance as it is sometimes narrow and on a slope. There’s no risk of going astray until you reach the junction from the outward journey, which you’ll find after one final leg-breaking climb.

(2) We retrace our steps along the same route as on the way out until we reach the car park (S/E).