The Rocher des Abeilles

A peaceful walk that starts in a shady valley, approaches the Rocher des Abeilles, and crosses the heath of the Var plateaus.
Please note that fires ravaged this area during the summer of 2017.

Details

26941
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 12.99 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 4h 20 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 216 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 216 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 519 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 303 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Parking is available at the starting point in front of the waste collection centre (small road from La Tuilière and La Verrerie from the D560).
(S/E) Just before the waste collection centre, take the track that starts on the right and go past the shooting range. Don't be put off, the track then crosses an old landfill site and it shows!

(1) Continue to the first intersection and take the left-hand track (unmarked) which leads into the Rocher des Abeilles valley. The path climbs gently between woods and steep rocks.
About 1.5 km after Rocher des Abeilles and its jagged peaks, the valley widens slightly before an intersection (elevation 454).

(2) Take the track that branches off to the right and climbs gently towards the plateau. Stay on this track until you come to a track that is almost perpendicular.

(3) Continue to the right. At the next intersection, turn right to join a very wide track, which you will need to follow to the right (towards a large antenna not shown on the map!).
Stay on this track, which crosses a plateau of heath and stones, until you reach the Pourresque cistern, then take the track on the right (marked fairly sporadically in yellow), which descends towards the shooting range and takes you back to the starting point of the walk (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 303 m - Parking in front of the waste collection centre.
  2. 1 : km 0.79 - alt. 322 m - Left-hand track
  3. 2 : km 5.25 - alt. 453 m - Crossroads at elevation 454
  4. 3 : km 7.06 - alt. 501 m - Plaine des Séouves crossroads
  5. S/E : km 12.99 - alt. 303 m - Parking in front of the waste collection centre.

Notes

The walk takes place on wide, unmarked tracks.
Access to the massif is regulated in summer, so be sure to check before you go.

Worth a visit

Saint-Maximin, its basilica, its royal convent...
The vineyards of Var.

Reviews and comments

4.1 / 5
Based on 14 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.2 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.6 / 5
Route interest
3.5 / 5
Daniel Ganem
Daniel Ganem

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 03, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful walk through the woods on dirt paths that are easy on my fragile feet. Lots of flowering thyme. No clear views. The bee rock: you'll need to look up to your right so you don't miss it. Beautiful vegetation that hides the bee rock. No uphill or downhill sections, or very few, making it super easy to do.

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Jeanlin
Jeanlin

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 09, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

A walk with few views but pretty wildflowers.

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didqnk83
didqnk83

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 05, 2023
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

An easy hike, followed using the GPX track, plus a detour via the Stèle de la Résistance on the way back to avoid the illegal dumps spread out over a good kilometre at the start of the trail by the shooting range. We enjoyed the climb up the Vallon du Rocher des Abeilles accompanied by birdsong, but we didn't like the middle section of the route, the plateau and the descent, as there were no views. (13.18 km, 262 m+)

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carp
carp

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 26, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

The route is fine, but it's a shame that the fire passed through there. Although the burned area is not too large.
This is a walk to do in the summer. Climb in the morning, have lunch among the rocks and return in the cool of the evening.
Next time, I'll make my way back via Puits d'Agnié.
To avoid starting at an old open-air bulky waste disposal site, above the car park and upstream from the current waste collection centre, a small path climbs into the woods and arrives at an intersection higher up, offering another view.

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Christine_aix
Christine_aix

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : May 26, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

The route is pleasant and fairly shaded despite the fire.
On the other hand, the view of the rocks is limited due to the vegetation.

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henri57
henri57 ★

Hello,

Thank you for your feedback.

And by the way, after WP3 at the intersection, you should turn right, not left!

It's been corrected, thank you.

See you soon

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phildaix
phildaix

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 12, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Sure, it burned, but it's growing back, and only one area was burned, where the landscape is bitterly beautiful and tortured. Elsewhere, there aren't many panoramic views, but there are magnificent rocks, so it's worth hiking there. I agree with other hikers that the detour to La Bastidasse is worth it.
The description is a bit sketchy; it seemed obvious before we set off as we were following tracks, but there are multiple junctions; What's more, the IGN map provided with the guidebook no longer corresponds to reality: on the map, there is no waste disposal site, no cistern that exists a little after WP3 (when you have to turn off), but on the other hand, there are two cisterns on the map (500 m then 1.5 km after WP3) that do not exist in reality, all the paths that cross the route are missing... In short, a few clarifications would have been welcome (but perhaps a lot has changed since the fire?).
And by the way, after WP3 at the intersection, you should not turn left, but right!

Otherwise, I hope these comments will bring hikers back to this beautiful route that has been unfairly abandoned!

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gazok54
gazok54 ★
• Edited:

Thank you, chantalrandonne
It's true that hiking in an area that has been burned is less appealing. Has the entire route been burned?
I have added a note in the introduction to inform hikers.
Also, did you have any problems with the description?

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chantalrandonne
chantalrandonne

Overall rating : 2 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 05, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing

Please note that this area burned down this summer and there is currently a large amount of charred wood around Rocher des Abeilles and on the Puits d'Agnié trail. Unfortunately, hiking in this area has become uninteresting. There is no greenery left at all.

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provencal13330
provencal13330

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 27, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing

Disappointing route. Unless you go to La Bastidasse, there are few points of interest apart from the bee rock and the monument to the resistance fighters. The rest is rather monotonous, but the paths are easy to walk on and well sheltered.
There were 11 of us senior hikers.

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RickyH5
RickyH5

I tried, but it doesn't work... I'm not very good at it.

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bibi
bibi ★

For photos, simply click on the action menu on the hike page and then add photos.

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RickyH5
RickyH5
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 11, 2016
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

Hike organised by the tou'a'zimuts83 association with an improved route covering a total of 20.6 km.
Enjoyable but not particularly interesting for those who love beautiful views...
The highlight is obviously the "Bastidasse", which is a nice place to stop for lunch.

I would have posted a few photos, but it seems very complicated...

A hike for everyone.

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roland13
roland13

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 12, 2016
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Easy and very pleasant hike
We extended our walk to include the "Bastidasse", where there is a botanical trail that is well worth seeing!

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ehd4751
ehd4751

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 12, 2016
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Good hike, but we set off from the village instead.

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