The Alose trail

This walk allows you to discover the flat part of Moussan and its surroundings, with the junction between the Aude river, the Cesse and the Robine canal (a branch of the Canal du Midi), as well as the circular streets of the village.

Details

747029
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 9.07 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 45 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 56 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 48 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 55 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 9 m
  • ⚐ Country: France
  • ⚐ District: Moussan (11120)
  • ⚑
    Start/End: N 43.232266° / E 2.950546°
  • ❏
    IGN map(s): Ref. 2545OT
  • Hour-by-hour weather

Photos

Description of the walk

Park in the car park of the Jean Pierre Pépy hall.

(S/E) Follow the D369 for a few metres towards Cuxac d'Aude, turn left at the nursery school, Rue du Lavoir, then continue straight ahead.

(1) Turn right onto Chemin de la Barque. Follow the road downhill and 200 metres after the houses, turn left then right onto the wide path. Go along the right-hand side of the hamlet of La Barque and continue for about 100 metres after the bend to the left.

(2) Take the path between the vineyards (house on the left), then turn right to follow the river and pass under the Eiffel-inspired bridge to the Moussoulens lock.

(3) Follow the canal, cross the road (without crossing the bridge) and continue straight ahead along the canal until you come to a wide path on the right.

(4) Turn right through the vineyards to the Château de Védilhan, and go around the castle grounds on the left until you reach the gatehouse.

(5) Turn left and join the Narbonne road (D169).

(6) Follow it for a few metres to the left, cross the bridge and take the dirt track on the right to the Caritats house.

(7) Turn right. Follow this path, turn left at the intersection of the paths and join the tarmac road.

(8) Turn left and at the next crossroads continue right to Moussan. Continue straight ahead, passing the stadium and the town hall, and arrive at Place du 1er Mai (locally known as Place de La Piale).

(9) Continue straight ahead towards the covered market and walk up the pedestrian street to the church.
Turn right to admire the old streets of this circular village and follow Rue de la Concorde to the war memorial. Turn left at the grocery store to reach the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 46 m - Car park at the Jean Pierre Pépy hall
  2. 1 : km 0.46 - alt. 43 m - Chemin de la Barque
  3. 2 : km 1.55 - alt. 14 m - La Traille - Aude (fleuve)
  4. 3 : km 2.26 - alt. 15 m - Moussoulens lock - Canal du Midi
  5. 4 : km 4.34 - alt. 9 m - Robine Canal - Canal du Midi
  6. 5 : km 5.4 - alt. 16 m - Védilhan Castle
  7. 6 : km 5.95 - alt. 17 m - Route de Narbonne
  8. 7 : km 6.44 - alt. 33 m - Las Caritats
  9. 8 : km 6.83 - alt. 52 m - The Dovecote
  10. 9 : km 8.71 - alt. 47 m - Place du 1er Mai
  11. S/E : km 9.07 - alt. 45 m - Car park

Notes

Water point at the Stadium and Place du 1er Mai.

Worth a visit

(Title) Alose: fish whose local name is "lo caulat"
(2) La Traille
The banks of the Aude, between Moussan and Sallèles-d'Aude, are a crossroads between the Canal de la Robine and the Jonction and Midi canals.
In the past, the barges that frequented this area transported several tonnes of goods: wine, cereals, salt, sulphur and sand. River trade declined and disappeared with the rise of rail transport; however, the charm of these canals has led to a boom in river tourism.

(3) Moussoulens
Moussoulens comes from the Medieval Latin: Moschelingus, Mossolencum
It was on the site of Grand Moussoulens that the start of the canal known as the Robine de Narbonne was built at the beginning of the 15th century. According to some authors, construction work on the locks on the Robine began in 1680 and (according to Bichambis) was completed in 1682, the year in which work on the Canal Royal (or Canal du Midi) was finished. The Robine was not connected to the Canal du Midi until a hundred years later, with the completion of the Canal de Jonction. The Moussoulens Lock was raised after a major flood in October 1940 that inundated Narbonne, submerging the lock and sweeping away its gates.

(5) Védilhan
Name of an estate of Gallo-Roman origin, then a Carolingian villa. It is mentioned in 849 as villa Rubéa (red villa, perhaps because of the colour of the soil) or villa Vitilianum.
In 1194, there is mention of a church dedicated to Saint Martin. At that time, it was a parish under the authority of the chapter of Narbonne Cathedral. Walls and a settlement are also mentioned.
We are therefore dealing with a village different from Moussan, perhaps another castrum.

(7) Las Caritats
Les charités in Occitan. Before the Revolution, this land belonged to the Narbonne hospice. The income it generated was used to run the hospice.

(8) The Dovecote
Pigeons were bred so that their droppings could be collected, which were a highly sought-after fertiliser before the use of chemical fertilisers. Many estates had their own dovecote, which was also a status symbol.

Reviews and comments

4.1 / 5
Based on 8 reviews

Reliability of the description
3.9 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.4 / 5
Route interest
4 / 5
etchebes
etchebes

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 13, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : Yes

this moderately interesting route is poorly marked, particularly in the Vedeilhan area, where the markings are opposite to those on the map, and further on, where they are insufficient.

Machine-translated

Vm11
Vm11

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 01, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

A lovely, pleasant walk along the banks of the Aude, but only for a short while. The rest of the route is along vineyard paths in full sun. Best avoided in hot weather. It's a shame there isn't more shade. Easy to do.

Machine-translated

b-attitude11
b-attitude11

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : May 01, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

A simple and pleasant stroll along the water's edge

Machine-translated

ZITROERAILC
ZITROERAILC

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 28, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

A lovely trail, varied, pleasant, well marked.

Machine-translated

HenDou
HenDou

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 06, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A pleasant walk around Moussan, well marked (yellow), but probably best avoided in the height of summer.
The recommended car park is very busy and only has space for a few vehicles; there is another one near the nursery school on Rue du Lavoir, which is much more spacious and is preferable if you have several vehicles.
It is also worth mentioning the proximity of the Malvézy factory, which can be seen from certain sections of the walk and inevitably raises questions about what it is! Wikipedia provides a wealth of information on the subject, without controversy.

Machine-translated

henri57
henri57 ★

Hello,

Thank you for taking the time to give your opinion.

For your information, "Route on map" refers to assessing the accuracy of the route as it appears on the map in relation to the actual terrain.

The directions could be more precise, especially in point 7, "at the intersection of the paths", which is unclear as there are many intersections!

What additional information would have been useful to you?

See you soon!

Machine-translated

sylviequeval
sylviequeval

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 19, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A lovely, easy walk, the main attraction of which is the intersection of the River Aude, the junction canal and the Robine.
The directions could be more precise, especially at point 7, where "at the intersection of the paths" is vague because there are many intersections!

Machine-translated

Riquet640
Riquet640

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 19, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Hike on 13 November 2018. Yellow marker trail.
No difficulty on the Alose route. Please note that the plane trees lining the Rodine canal are currently being pruned and destroyed. For more information, contact the Moussan town hall or Voies Navigables de France (VNF).
You can park in the nursery school car park, which is more convenient and larger, located at the start of the hike.

Machine-translated

fredalbira
fredalbira

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 20, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A short, very easy and pleasant hike. Although I am from the region, I discovered some unfamiliar paths that will be very useful for my running training. Thank you very much for posting it online.

Machine-translated

Other walks in the area

For more walks, use our search engine .

The GPS track and description are the property of this route's author. Please do not copy them without permission.