The Tour du Mont Aiguille

Date of your route : Jul 24, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

It was supposed to be a simple walk, but it turned into a real challenge. Still, the scenery along the hike was very beautiful

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Date of your route : Jun 02, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Trip completed in two days last week. Beautiful weather, splendid views (but no animals). Camped at the foot of the climbing site. A little uncertainty at the foot of the scree (thanks GPS). Don't underestimate the elevation gain, especially when you're carrying a heavy load (18 kg) like I was. Mont Aiguille and the flowers everywhere were a feast for the eyes!

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Hello, I did it on Tuesday, 20 August. There are indeed some uncertainties at the Col des Pellas and at the scree before the Aupet. Fortunately, I had my GPS, which helped me a little.
The climb to the Pas de l'Aupet is steep and there are many roots on the path.
You can see Mont Aiguille from all sides. The view from the Pas de l'Aupet is not the most beautiful

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Date of your route : Sep 02, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike around Mont Aiguille, mainly in the forest, which can be an advantage in hot weather, but nevertheless offering beautiful views of Mont Aiguille and the surrounding peaks.

However, there are numerous issues with the description, which is often difficult to understand. Some directions are unclear and do not seem to correspond to anything on the ground, and obvious landmarks (such as numerous yellow signs) are not mentioned, causing us to take the wrong direction several times. I have therefore taken the liberty of adding a few details, and the IGN map is very useful in any case:

1) Overall, following the yellow and green markers will ensure you don't go wrong

2) At point 2, Col des Pellas, do not take the left-hand path not mentioned in the description, but simply the one opposite when you arrive, which descends from the pass. The left-hand path that immediately climbs up a ridge is not the right one

3) At point 3 in the village of Les Pellas, the signs are very confusing and it is difficult to understand which tracks and crossroads are mentioned. To avoid getting lost, when you reach the "Les Pellas" sign, turn left between the houses and follow the red surface until you reach the road after the bridge. From there, follow the road to the left for 200 metres until you reach the car park and the start of the track. Then follow the yellow and green markers. Be careful, the climb through the forest is very steep and in wet weather walking sticks are recommended to avoid slipping. The same applies to the descent from the Col de l'Aupet.

4) At points 5 and 6, the directions between the scree and the Col de l'Aupet are unclear and there seems to be no possibility or point in avoiding the latter anyway. So after the scree, simply follow the path down to the pass, which is immediately after.

5) At point 7 after La Richardière, be careful: the path that leaves from the pumping station still exists but is no longer maintained or marked. You should actually take the path that heads north at the first intersection after the hamlet, which is poorly marked by a sticker on a sign.

6) At point 9, the climb is more than "gentle"! It's quite steep, especially at the end of the hike, so don't underestimate this last effort.

The most beautiful section is the Col de l'Aupet, with the added bonus of a female ibex spotted through binoculars at the top of the Aiguille, followed by two does and a fawn just after the descent.

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Date of your route : Aug 20, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Yesterday, I did the tour starting from Richardière and going counterclockwise, heading towards Trézannes. I had no problems navigating, as I had the map on my Twonav app on my iPhone. You can see Mont Aiguille clearly from all sides. The climb to the Pas de l'Aupet is tough, and I'm 75 years old.
It took me exactly seven hours and I was a bit tired when I arrived. I had thought about starting from Chichilianne (the church), but luckily I didn't follow through with that idea.
It wasn't very busy, but I came across about fifteen people during the whole trip.
There are some nice wide tracks, but also narrow paths full of roots, especially on the climb up to Aupet from the adventure park. On the other side, the descent wasn't too slippery as it hadn't rained recently.

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Hello, I've noted your comment: very muddy before and after the Col de l'Aupet. This is often the case here when it has rained heavily beforehand. One of my friends had the misfortune of slipping on this descent. In the end, she got to enjoy a nice mud bath... for free.
Sometimes hiking in the mountains brings a few surprises, the most pleasant of which is completing this wonderful tour, which no doubt allowed you to see the superb Venus orchid.

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Date of your route : Jun 16, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Very beautiful hike, but very muddy before and after the Col de l'Aupet (recent rain).
Very beautiful site.
Lots of hikers in both directions.
I did it in 7 hours without rushing.
Had no trouble finding my way.

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Date of your route : Aug 02, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hello,

A lovely route that allows you to see Mont Aiguille from all angles. A little long for my taste, especially at the end when you have to climb back up to Trézanne. The paths are mostly quite wide.
As we had done the Parquets hike the day before, part of the route is the same on the way back down. No problem following the trail. The route takes you as close as possible to Mont Aiguille and offers some interesting views. Thank you for this route.

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Date of your route : Jul 24, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

What a beautiful route. Shaded because part of it is under trees, so great in summer, but potentially a little too sheltered for snowshoes in winter. The directions were perfect, fairly accurate, with a note that the distance was 19.8 km instead of the 17.5 km advertised. Like Montu, it goes clockwise, which is the opposite of the map, allowing you to do the steepest part in the morning. No comments on the April lifts regarding the signposting. It must be said that in this direction and with GPS, there were very few people apart from climbing groups at the Col. Morning treat: two chamois at the Col de l'Aupet. A dynamic solo hike, 5½ hours, but that's not including a nap! What a mountain range!

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A friend and I had the same problem as you, and twice at that! (in 2018 and 2022)
Last November, I reported this problem to the signage department responsible for this area, and I was assured that my complaint would be taken into account...
So I doubt that any improvements have been made to the description recently!

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Date of your route : Apr 12, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Lack of precision regarding the route between La Richardiere and Trezanne. (Not enough reliable information)

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Date of your route : Apr 09, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A magnificent and very enjoyable hike.
It was my first time, I'll definitely do it again

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Hello,

There is a significant issue with signage from La Richardière, which we already encountered in 2018
We followed the directions at the pumping station and ended up in a field with no path to follow. We wandered around for about 10 minutes, but as we remembered a little of this hike, we walked through the woods towards the east. We finally found a path leading to Chichilliane and, at a crossroads, a sign for Trézanne. I went to the Chichilliane Tourist Information Centre to report this signage problem, but it was closed at 4.30pm. It won't reopen until 1 December, so I'll let the person who works there know about the lack of signage as soon as we reach the heights of La Richardière.

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Date of your route : Nov 12, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : Not used / Not applicable
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A superb hike that we already did in May 2018. We set off from La Richardière, but due to a lack of signposting shortly after setting off, we continued on a bit at random, walking through the woods until we finally found a path leading to Trézanne. We stopped briefly at the chapel before starting the climb to the Papavet and Pellas passes. We stopped for a snack at the hut just before the village of Les Pellas, with breathtaking views of Mont Aiguille and Grand Veymont. It was a beautiful but somewhat challenging climb to reach the Col de l'Aupert before beginning a pleasant descent along winding paths back to the car park near the restaurant in La Richardière.
Total duration: 7 hours 30 minutes, 18 km and 1,100 metres of elevation gain. A fairly sunny day with mild temperatures for 12 November!

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Date of your route : Nov 09, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Two comments following the Visorando directions:
- At the Papavet pass, as the Pelles pass is not indicated on the signs, the direction to take is not obvious.
- Back at La Richardière, the directions after the pumping station to reach the Trezanne car park did not enable us to find the car park.
Instead, you should follow a sign for "Trézanne" before the station

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