The Remène ravine from Chapias

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A short hike that will take you to many interesting sites around Chapias: the Notre-Dame Tower, the Maison Unal, the Remène waterfall and the Rocher des Curés site.
Take care on certain tricky sections; please read the practical information carefully.

Details

n°1021880
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 5.40 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 1h 55 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Difficult
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 131 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 136 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 280 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 144 m
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Photos

Maison Unal
Bassin
Footbridge
Waterfall

Description of the walk

The starting car park is located at the entrance to the village of Chapias, on the left as you go uphill.

(S/E) From the car park, head up the road to the left and cross through Chapias. Turn right at the first junction, pass by the Chapias Tower, and leave a road on your left. Leave the road and take a path to the right alongside a vineyard. After 300 m, you will see the Unal house on your left.

(1) After the house, take a path on the left, which can be identified by traces of old white-and-yellow markings. A little further on, just before a section over rocks, turn right. Pass by the Valla pond and take the road on the right.

At the three-way junction, turn right. In the next section, the IGN map is out of date; rather than a path, you are actually on a dirt track whose continuation is not shown. (See instead the satellite photo or the OpenStreetMap).

(2) When this track turns left, continue straight on along a path. Do not take the parallel track, which ends in a dead end at a viewpoint. You can make a round trip to this viewpoint and then return to the path, which descends very steeply to the tarmac road. Take the road on the right and follow it to a left-hand bend in front of a small hut.

(3) Go round the hut and take a white-and-yellow signposted route to the right. Cross the stream via the footbridge, slightly downstream from the route shown on the map. Continue climbing the path until you reach the stream again.

(4) If there isn’t too much water, cross over and continue straight on along the marked path , ignoring the GPS route shown here, which you’ll rejoin a little further on.
However, when there is a lot of water, the waterfall downstream is magnificent but the crossing can be very difficult. In this case, go back a little way, climb the rocks and head up the left bank through the undergrowth. Go round the confluence of the two streams and rejoin the path a little further up. The water actually emerges from a resurgence located right at this confluence. Upstream, there is no water at all.

Further along the path, before reaching the top, you’ll notice a cave on the left bank of the ravine. You’ll arrive at a viewpoint on the edge of the plateau.

(5) Take the path on the right. Leave the road leading to La Mare aux Anges on your right.

(6) At the junction with the D315, turn right to reach the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 261 m - Car park at the entrance to the village
  2. 1 : km 1.13 - alt. 264 m - Maison Unal, path on the left
  3. 2 : km 1.78 - alt. 224 m - Road not shown on the IGN map
  4. 3 : km 2.59 - alt. 144 m - Hut, white-and-yellow markings on the right
  5. 4 : km 3.15 - alt. 187 m - Crossing
  6. 5 : km 3.79 - alt. 236 m - Path on the right
  7. 6 : km 5.28 - alt. 250 m - Crossroads. D315
  8. S/E : km 5.4 - alt. 261 m - Car park at the entrance to the village

Notes

Update June 2024: the route via the Rocher des Curés, which was indicated in the previous version of the route, is no longer possible (private property). The route and description have been updated to correct this point. It is still worth visiting the site on a short round trip from the car park. Turn right after the church onto a path, signposted with signs.

Although very short, this walk is classified as difficult due to a very steep descent after the point (2).

Please note, at the point (4), read the description carefully: if it is possible to cross the stream, ignore the GPS track and continue straight on along the marked path. The GPS track is a guide to bypassing the difficulty if the crossing is not possible, but the passage through the undergrowth must be classified as very difficult.

Beyond point (2), earthworks and road construction are underway; perhaps a future campsite. Let’s hope that access via the path will remain possible.

Worth a visit

For information on the Rocher des Curés and the Chapias tower, see the well-documented website of Labeaume Town Hall.
A staircase leads up to the tower, offering views of the surrounding area.

The Unal house is a concrete shell house, built by its owner. See the photos on the website.

The Remène spring is a resurgence with a strong flow after periods of rain. Unfortunately, it is not possible to reach the exact point where the water emerges, as it is hidden in the undergrowth at the bottom of a ravine. However, further downstream, the stream forms a magnificent waterfall visible from the road.

Reviews and comments

4.3 / 5
Based on 6 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.5 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.3 / 5
Route interest
4.2 / 5
mancusoagnes
mancusoagnes

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 13, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

combined with a day-long hike from Labeaume to Chapias. Beautiful views; the descent to the waterfall was a bit rough. Very little water at this time of year. The climb back up after the campsite was quite steep but not very long. We had a lovely day exploring, particularly in the village of Chapias

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jamu
jamu

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 22, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

The description, though sometimes precise, requires interpretation at various points.
Furthermore, we encountered two difficulties:
- At point 2, we did indeed continue straight ahead along a path, but we ended up at a right angle (rather than parallel) to the dead-end track leading to the viewpoint. This led to a long period of uncertainty before we carried on.
- At point 6, we did not see the meadow where we were supposed to leave the road.

In dry weather, the lack of water makes the climb up rather uninteresting.
That leaves the Chapias tower, the Unal house—unfortunately guarded by menacing and very noisy dogs—and the banks of the Beaume, which can be reached via a detour off the main route. It’s not much.

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GAUDIN Jean-Louis
GAUDIN Jean-Louis

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 03, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very difficult and little-used trail for experienced hikers. A reverse section at the exit of the valley beneath a rock means that shorter people cannot reach the handholds above. This path is signposted on the ROSIERES side but the markings are lost
in the wilderness when approaching from the hamlet of Valla.

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JPC07
JPC07

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 22, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely, varied walk with a few pleasant surprises in store (a pig farm near the Intermarché in Rosières). With a few exceptions, it’s suitable for all seasons.

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alaincoudene
alaincoudene

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 05, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A short, fairly easy and pleasant walk.

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jeanorset
jeanorset

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 18, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk, with plenty of interesting sights
The descent and ascent are a bit tricky
The dry waterfall isn’t easy to find!

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