The Monvert Bridge: towards the Tarn bridge

A very beautiful hike that takes you from the undergrowth of the Bougès National Forest up to the Tarn plain and the foothills of Mont Lozère.

Details

91014
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 17.77 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 6h 25 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 478 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 472 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 1,328 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 1,034 m

Photos

Description of the walk

To get there: from Pont de Monvert, take the D998 towards Croix de Berthel. After La Baraquette (1 to 1.2 km), park in the car park on the right-hand side of the road.

(S/E) Take the discovery trail on the other side. Follow it until you reach a path on the right.

(1) Follow it to the right and join the path on the left at Col des Rouvières.

(2) Follow it to the left towards Masmejan (north-west).

(3) In Masméjan, cross the road, go straight ahead to cross the village and take the path on the left (still heading north-west, follow a sign for Felgérolles).

(4) Before Le Poncet, the path leads to a road, which you follow for a short distance before taking a path on the right. Follow this path to the first houses in Felgérolles. Cross the village via a small road.

(5) 100 metres after the last houses, take a sharp right turn onto a track towards Mas de la Barque.
Head back towards the village, passing above the stopover lodge and then turn left onto a concrete driveway leading to a house.
Just before the entrance, turn right onto a path marked with a sign for Gasbiel, Pont du Tarn and Mas de la Barque.
After a short but steep climb, you will cross a water channel at a fence (please respect this water channel, which is used for irrigation. This environment is very fragile).
Turn left along the small canal. Follow this small canal until you reach theGR®72.

(6) Follow it to the right (you can also continue straight ahead and return to the bed of the Tarn. With a little acrobatics, climb up the riverbed and enjoy the pools and waterfalls. A great place for a picnic and sunbathing).
Walk up along the Tarn (in the right season, raspberries and blueberries are within easy reach).
Reach the Tarn plain and climb up to the bridge that spans the Tarn. Beautiful view of the Tarn plain and Mont Lozère.

(7) The return journey will be along the same route back to the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 1,035 m - Car park. D998
  2. 1 : km 0.84 - alt. 1,138 m - Fork in the road
  3. 2 : km 1.18 - alt. 1,119 m - Col des Rouvières
  4. 3 : km 2.58 - alt. 1,080 m - Masméjan
  5. 4 : km 2.99 - alt. 1,102 m - Le Poncet
  6. 5 : km 4.54 - alt. 1,166 m - Gîte Equestre de Felgérolles : Lng 3.79 / Lat 44.37
  7. 6 : km 6.04 - alt. 1,298 m - GR°°®°°72
  8. 7 : km 8.87 - alt. 1,328 m - Bridge - Tarn (rivère)
  9. S/E : km 17.77 - alt. 1,034 m - Car park. D998

Notes

Wear sturdy shoes (to walk up the irrigation channel and the Tarn, if you wish).
Shelter available in Masméjan (restaurant) and Felgérolles.

Worth a visit

This route follows a man-made canal known as a béal. It is a fragile place. This béal is over 500 years old. It had, and still has, a vital purpose: watering meadows and gardens and providing drinking water for animals. Its deterioration and destruction would be a real ecological and economic disaster.

See the ruins of Montcuq (1) (but do not enter).

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 7 reviews

Reliability of the description
4 / 5
Ease of following the route
4 / 5
Route interest
4.7 / 5
Touraine
Touraine

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 29, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Shady hike. Not very difficult. Be careful of the elevation gain.

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jmoroche
jmoroche

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 18, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A beautiful hike, especially between the village of Felgérolles and the Tarn bridge.
The path beyond the Col des Rouvières (point 2) is sometimes no longer visible. At the Col des Rouvières, it is best to take the path to the left of the trail (the two paths rejoin a little further on).
This hike complements the "Pic Cassini Sources du Tarn" hike well.
The walk can be shortened by starting from Masméjan or Felgérolles.

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Rolag
Rolag

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 20, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

An interesting hike, the only difficulty being reaching the Col des Rouvières without getting lost.
The path is not very visible and the signposting is in poor condition.
We returned via the GR 7, following Micheline and Pierre's directions.
At point 1, we followed the yellow markings back to the car park.

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esla
esla

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 03, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A very beautiful hike, magnificent scenery and atmosphere, and no real difficulties.

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Geosusi
Geosusi

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 07, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A beautiful hike offering numerous spots where you can cool off by the river, ideal in summer.

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elinor
elinor

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 23, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

pure joy
no difficulty

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bernardperona
bernardperona
• Edited:

Finally, through the PONT DE MONTVERT tourist office, we discovered a route that avoided having to go back and forth on the same path.
Superb tracks, paths and woodland.
So I approve of the region but cannot judge this route.

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monnierpierr@aol.com
monnierpierr@aol.com

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 07, 2015
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Very beautiful scenery. We preferred to do a circular route rather than return by the same route.
After taking our time at the magnificent Tarn bridge site, we retraced our steps for 200 or 300 metres to the intersection with the GR 72, which we took on the left. This is very well marked. At the junction with the GR6, stay on the GR 72 (straight ahead). About 1,500 metres before St Maurice de Ventalon, take a forest path on the right that will take you back to point 2. Then head towards point 1 and the starting point.
19 km, 900 metres of elevation gain, 6 hours: A very beautiful and easy hike.
Micheline and Pierre.

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