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In Cauterets, leave your car in one of the car parks near the National Park Visitor Centre, then walk to the town centre and the Mountain Information Office (Place Clémenceau).
(S/E) With your back to the Office de la Montagne and the town hall (930 m), walk along Avenue Charles Thierry for 200 m to the mini-golf crossroads where, at the foot of the blue chalet, turn right onto Avenue du Mamelon Vert. Climb gently behind the hotels and apartment blocks and pass in front of the Ballot-Flurin honey shop; stay on this road for about 1 km.
(1) Behind the Centre de vacances des Marronniers, turn left twice onto the small road to Aoumède.
(2) At a hairpin bend to the left, leave the tarmac and follow the signposted path opposite: Aoumède. After a barn, the path climbs quite steeply through the forest and emerges near the Igau Farm.
At the bend, after taking in the view from the esplanade (1090 m), take the track that climbs gently up the other side of the road.
(3) At the first bend, by the relay mast, leave the track and take the path opposite, signposted: Ferme Basque. A little further up, the path passes a renovated barn and offers a fine view. A footpath takes over for a lovely walk through the woods, crossing two streams.
(4) At the only junction at elevation 1232, by a fence, turn sharply left and head steeply down to Ferme Basque.
(5) Politely cross the inn’s terrace and follow its access path to join the Route du Cambasque.
(6) Walk down to the left along the roadside for 250 m, then, in the bend, look for the start of the Arresto path on the left,GR®10, marked in red and white.
(7) At the next junction, leave the GR® and take the path on the right. Initially winding, it then runs along the mountainside and passes above Cauterets.
Continue straight ahead on a good, almost level path (ignore a junction with a mountain bike track).
(8) Then cross the Route du Cambasque and continue straight on along this easy path on the mountainside, known as Chemin Demontzey. A few steps lead to the esplanade of the former Raillère thermal baths (closed).
(9) Cross a bend in the road at the 1042m mark and a descending track, then take the pedestrian crossing (footbridge) opposite to reach the shops and cafés of La Raillère.
(10) Cross the Pont de Benqués over the Gave du Marcadau (Thermes des Griffons on the right) and, at the first hairpin bend (L'Abri du Benqués restaurant), leave the tarmac to climb left along theGR®10, through the forest, to the Cascade du Lutour. After the footbridge, continue up the path; after four hairpin bends, it leads you higher up to a new cross-country path (1,190 m).
(11) Follow theGR®10(Chemin des Pères) to the left to descend towards Cauterets. Expertly laid out, it winds along the mountainside through the forest, offering some fine views along the way. At the end of the traverse, a few hairpin bends lead down to a secondary tarmac road.
(12) At the Thermes de Pauze-Vieux, take the tarmac road to the right. After the ONF hut at Le Bousquet (1035 m), keep the wide, carriageable track straight ahead.
(13) After the Ravin de la Gorce bridge, a stony track takes over from the tarmac. Continue along this good path, ignoring the accesses to the restored barns on either side (short descent). The climb through the forest and clearings becomes steady, punctuated by four hairpin bends (barns). After a final stretch through woodland, at the top of a panoramic meadow, you reach the barn known as the Hostellerie de la Reine Hortense (1,200 m).
After a drink or a snack, climb another 200 m.
(14) Take the signposted path on the left: Cancéru, which descends through the forest to this neighbourhood downstream of Cauterets.
(15) Then turn left, then take the first street on the left to join the greenway.
(16) Head left to return to the village via the greenway, which runs parallel to the D920.
(17) Turn right, then immediately left to reach the Office de la Montagne (S/E).
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