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Start at the Encanaux car park on the Sainte-Baume road (see also § Practical Information).
(S/E) From the car park, head down Chemin des Encanaux on the left.
(1) After the barrier, take the path on the right which climbs up a staircase and quickly leads to the Glacière des Encanaux: the panels recounting the history of ice harvesting are informative and worth a quick stop. Continue along the marked path and ignore a turn-off on the right. You will come out onto the track you left earlier.
(2) Head right and ignore the side paths.
(3) Cross the Pont des Encanaux bridge and leave the track to take the path on the right that goes up the stream.
(4) At a small ford at the edge of the path, leave this well-marked path to cross the ford and continue uphill on the opposite bank.
(5) At this Y-junction, turn right and climb uphill: the path on the left leads to the source of the Encanaux, which is worth a visit (allow 10-15 minutes for the detour). From this point, there is only one path, with no crossroads. It crosses a small ford and continues to the right on the other bank (beautiful wild scenery on this section) and eventually leads to the bed of the stream, which is usually dry.
(6) Follow it up to the left for a few metres, then turn right (cairn) onto the ascending path. The climb is sometimes steep, but it is the only way to get around the waterfalls that close off the valley.
(7) At the Y-junction, turn left. The path descends towards the bottom of the valley and then continues uphill on the same bank. On the way, there are two short sections along the edge of the cliff where you need to be careful with children or dogs. At the end of the valley, the path crosses a dry ford and continues opposite with an uphill climb over scree (don't forget to turn around to enjoy the beautiful view overlooking the Encanaux ravine and its cliffs). On the plateau, continue straight ahead through the forest and ignore the side paths.
(8) At the T-junction, turn right and join a track that you will follow to the right.
(9) After two bends in the track, leave it on the right and take a wide path, which you will follow for 2 km, ignoring any side paths.
(10) At the crossroads, turn right. You will then come to yellow markings, which you should follow for the entire return journey. Depending on the season or after heavy rain, two fords require a little caution in the beautiful Infernets ravine.
(3) At the junction with the track you took on the way there, turn left and follow it to the car park, avoiding the Glacière circular (S/E).
Visorando Member
Difficult 
Association / Club / Walk leader
Easy 
