Country:
City:
Access: From the D908, cross the village of La Trivalle and follow the signs for Verdier Haut Gorges d'Héric.
There is a car park with a barrier, which is paid from April to September.
(S/E) From the car park, walk up the road for 50 metres and then turn immediately right towards the gorges.
Continue for about 200m on this tarmac road until you reach a stone staircase on the right.
(1) Take the stairs down and cross the Passerelle des Soupirs footbridge. Turn left just after the footbridge and follow the Chemin des Gardes.
This is the most physically demanding part of the route: a 470m climb, but it's relatively easy if you pace yourself. The path climbs in the shade, winding its way up to the Col de Bartouyre.
The red and yellow markings are clearly visible. The end of the climb to the Col de Bartouyre takes you through some absolutely splendid dry stone walls.
(2) The trail levels out, goes around the huge Bartouyre rock on the left, and continues towards the Saint-Martin crossroads, which is marked on the map but not identified.
Pass a series of six cairns and arrive at the Saint-Martin crossroads and its splendid cairn.
(3) Saint-Martin crossroads: turn left towards the Font Salesse refuge, still following the Gardes trail. From this point onwards, you need to be careful as the markings are not very visible and few and far between.
Continue along this stony path which climbs through the bushes before reaching open ground.
(4) The path leads to an arid, stony area. The trail is not very visible in places, so keep a close eye on your surroundings.
Orientation is not a problem; just follow the cairns and red paint marks on the rocks. You will occasionally see the orientation table on your right, higher up.
The trail alternates between ascents and flat sections until it reaches the Caroux plateau.
(5) Here you have two options:
- either head east for 100 metres through the scrub to reach the path leading to the orientation table, then take this path to the right, heading east (marked route)
- or, for those less confident in their navigation skills, choose to go to the refuge first, then take the second path to the orientation table.
(6) Orientation table offering a 180° view of the Pyrenees and, on a clear day, the Mediterranean. Turn back towards the Font Salesse refuge.
(7) Go around it on the left and continue towards the village of Douch on theGR®®7.
(8) Just before the village of Douch, turn left and follow the red and white markings.
There is also a more passable path on the left, a little before this point, which runs across the field and joins the same GR®®.
(9) Pass the Col de l'Airole and begin the long and tedious descent to the village of Héric.
(10) Do not cross the village of Héric. At the entrance to the village, before the terrace of the small bar on the right, take a very narrow lane on the left, between the walls of the houses.
If, in the village of Héric, you come to a crossroads with severalGR®® signposts, you have gone too far.
This small alleyway, which you must take, leads you behind a house and down a stone staircase to the concrete road below.
Continue along this wide tarmac road, following the stream with its waterfalls and pools, until you reach the car park at the start (S/E).
Visorando Member
Moderate 
Very difficult 
