Les Cabrettes des Roux

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This hike is first and foremost an opportunity to discover a little-known heritage and practice of forestry, namely cable transport. This ancient practice dates back to the 1930s and has been partially restored by Mr Pierre Para. The "cabrette" is the common name given to the pylon that supports the cable. Of course, throughout the hike, the view of the south face of the Pic de Bure and its east pillar (opened by René Desmaison in three days in September 1961) will be remarkable.

Details

n°21621348
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 11.39 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 5h 25 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 752 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 746 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 1,886 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 1,313 m
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Photos

Crossroads in the woods
Avalanches trail junction
View of Cabrette No. 9
Inside the Cabane des bucherons-cablistes Col des Roux

Description of the walk

Park in the car park located at the crossroads of the Matachare road and the Col de Conode road

(S/E). From the car park, follow the track on the right towards Col de Connode, then after 2 km pass an ONF barrier (parking available if arriving by car).

(1) Continue until you reach a clearing and a crossroads. This is Clot de Piarrou.

(2) Leave the Col de Conode track and take the track on the right that leads to Col de Garcinel. Follow this track to the pass.

(3) Look for a cairn and a path leading uphill on the left. Leave the track and take this path up to the Crête de la Clape. Stay on the ridge and look for a large, clearly visible cairn.

(4) At the large cairn, leave the ridge and take the path that branches off to the right and cross the mountain pasture to Col des Roux.

(5) At the pass, take the time to see the Cabrette and the small restored hut, then continue along the path that descends northwards, following other old cabrettes. The path can be steep in places. Be careful to stay on the route as you are in the forest. The path then arrives at a crossroads with the Sentier des Avalanches.

(6) Take the path on the left that leads towards the Col de Conode and crosses the forest.

(7) At the next crossroads, ignore the path that descends to the right and take the one that climbs to the left. Continue along the hillside until you reach the hairpin bends.

(8) Be careful not to continue straight ahead into the small valley, but take the hairpin bends on the left. Climb the path to reach a junction with a forest track.

(9) Turn left and follow the track that climbs to the Col de Conode.

(10) Continue to follow the track towards Lodge de Matacharre/Clot de Piarou.

(2) Retrace your steps back to the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 1,316 m - Parking at the Matacharre/Col de Conode crossroads.
  2. 1 : km 2.03 - alt. 1,577 m - ONF barrier and car park
  3. 2 : km 2.35 - alt. 1,626 m - Clot de Piarrou
  4. 3 : km 3.04 - alt. 1,681 m - Col de Garcinel
  5. 4 : km 3.83 - alt. 1,852 m - Grand Cairn Crête de la Clape
  6. 5 : km 4.98 - alt. 1,857 m - Col des Roux Cabrettes des Roux
  7. 6 : km 5.69 - alt. 1,616 m - Carefour Sentier des Avalanches
  8. 7 : km 5.94 - alt. 1,609 m - Crossroads in the forest
  9. 8 : km 7.09 - alt. 1,691 m - The hairpin bends
  10. 9 : km 7.39 - alt. 1,737 m - Col de Conode trail junction
  11. 10 : km 7.8 - alt. 1,788 m - Col de Conode (1789m)
  12. S/E : km 11.39 - alt. 1,313 m - Parking at the Matacharre/Col de Conode crossroads.

Notes

  • There are no water sources along the route.
  • The Col des Roux hut is always open and provides good shelter.
  • To reach the car park from La Roche des Arnauds, you must leave the tarmac road and take a forest track that is passable by vehicle for 3.3 km: be careful with low vehicles.
  • The Cabrettes trail is marked in blue.
  • If you want to save yourself a 2 km walk, you can continue by car along the forest track towards Col de Conode and park at the ONF barrier (large car park) (1) and continue on foot to Clot de Piarrou (2).
  • At Grand Cairn (4), you can reach Col des Roux by following the Crête de Clape to the summit of Clape, marked by three large cairns. The trail follows the ridge to the summit. Use your hands on some rocky sections. To return from the summit, first continue along the ridge towards Col des Roux, staying as close to the ridge as possible. Then, when the ridge descends, do not try to continue but descend southwards and join the comfortable Cabrettes trail to Col des Roux. This variant is rated as difficult.

Worth a visit

  • Visit the Matacharre forest lodge.
  • At La Roche des Arnauds, see the blue stone fountain in the village square.

Reviews and comments

4.9 / 5
Based on 7 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.9 / 5
Ease of following the route
5 / 5
Route interest
4.9 / 5
User 1679955

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 18, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

R AS to be added

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bmeleia
bmeleia

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 04, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Varied landscapes and informative theme.

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PEYROL
PEYROL

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 27, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

The stretches on the track are long, especially on the way back, but the cabrettes, the landscape and the Pic de Bure are well worth
the detour.

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cellierduventoux
cellierduventoux

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 19, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

There are many tracks at the beginning and end of the hike, but the section on the trail is magnificent. Discovering the Cabrettes is very interesting, even if there is a lack of technical explanations. Magnificent views of the Pic de Bure.

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mazolino26
mazolino26
• Edited:

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 23, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very interesting route, especially for discovering the "famous" cabrettes. Thank you to Mr PARA who did a superb job of rebuilding them; of course, we would have liked to have had more details about how this cable car works, so if anyone has any information, we'd love to hear it... thank you... the views are superb, and it must be magnificent in spring.
The only downside was that we found the return trip from CLOT PIARROU a bit long, but there's no solution... Be careful, the descent under the cabrettes is very steep... The forest is magnificent.

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bonnemarche
bonnemarche

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 13, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

lovely walk, didn't meet anyone

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patembrun
patembrun

Thank you for your warm feedback. And now that you've seen half of the hike, come back and visit Cabrettes in another season . Enjoy your summer hikes.

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NaruKei
NaruKei

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 12, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Thank you for this very enjoyable hike.

We climbed to the top of La Clape, where the view of all the surrounding peaks is simply magical. For us, it's an unmissable stop.

The forest path at the start is quite long and less interesting, but it is shaded, which is nice.

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