The forgotten paths of Meygal

Park at the top of the hamlet of Villaret (on the left as you go up), in a small lay-by between the bins and postboxes.

(S/E) From the small square, head straight up to the right before the cross and pass between two houses to take a lovely, almost flat path overlooking the hamlet.
Enter the forest, staying on this path lined with walls, which begins to climb. Reach a forest track and take it to the left, climbing quite steeply. Ignore the path on the right, which you will take for the return journey. You’ll come to a flat area in a clearing, then to the edge of a beautiful mixed beech and fir forest.

(1) Do not enter the forest; instead, turn left onto a faint path (not shown on the map). After about twenty metres, the path becomes clearer and flatter, surrounded by walls. It leads to a ‘No Entry’ sign – which is rather odd on a path that’s not suitable for vehicles!
Continue straight on as you leave the forest and cross a stream (overgrown in summer). Follow this path uphill, then reach a junction.

(2) The path continues straight ahead, but do not take it; instead, take a well-marked, flat track on the left that runs alongside a wood. The track turns into a path and then a forest track as it begins a fairly steep and often damp descent (you can follow the path on the left through the wood if it is too damp). The gradient eases as you emerge from the forest. You’ll reach a wide track at a bend which, if you turn left and head downhill, leads to the hamlet of Monedeyres.

(3) Follow this track to the right, which soon makes a second bend to the right. Follow it through meadows and woods. It gradually becomes a grassy track, a path lined with walls, then a path. Ignore the entrances to the meadows and continue until you reach a clearing where no path is obvious.

(4) Shortly before this, you may have seen traces of blue paint on the stones. This paint – and a faint path – indicates that you should turn right. Continue following the blue markings, along the contour line, parallel to an old wall situated about 10 m to the left. The ground is damp. You’ll soon reach a clearer path before coming out onto a forest track. Here you’ll find one last blue mark – the clearest one – on a stone.

Head up to the left along this track, which leads to a clearing right next to the Meygal forest road. A meadow and the Copains hut provide a comfortable spot for a break... but the area is accessible by car.

Do not join the road; instead, turn right before reaching it (from the road, this forms a three-way junction) and take the fairly flat forest track on the right.
Follow this track, which descends before climbing again, keeping to the left throughout. You’ll reach a junction with a sign indicating “Baraque des Copains 0.8 km”.

(5) Take the lovely, straight grassy track on the right which descends and eventually joins a wide, stony forest track. Follow this track up to the left until you see the forest road you encountered near the Baraque des Copains and reach a sign indicating “Les Ardennes”.

(6) Leave the track by taking a wide grassy path on the right that leads into the woods. This path climbs gradually and then, once it reaches the top, descends quite steeply to the left. After about 400 m, you will see a well-marked path on the right near a beech tree.

(7) Take this path. After 10 m, you will see a fine silver fir marked ‘52’, a mark also visible at the foot of the tree on a stone marker. Follow this path, which climbs slightly through the woods and then descends to reach a fork marked by a large stone.

Ignore the path leading down to the left towards Boussoulet and continue straight on, passing this rock. The path runs along the edge of the woods and overlooks the meadows of Boussoulet. It eventually turns right as it enters the woods.

(8) Leave this path and take another one on the left, which is barely visible at first but clearly marked. If you miss this fork, you will soon see that the path ends and you will therefore have to turn back. The path crosses a hazel grove before running alongside old beech trees. It then joins a plantation of conifers, which you cross diagonally before descending fairly steeply to reach a ruin and, immediately afterwards, a path marked in yellow.

(9) Follow this path to the right, which crosses a stony forest track before descending quite steeply into a wood. The slope levels out and you’ll see a meadow on the left. At the end of this meadow, you’ll reach a junction where the path meets a track.

(10) Leave the marked path and take this well-marked track on the right. You will soon come to a wet area before heading back up into the woods. Turn right to follow a scree slope, which you will eventually cross. Shortly after leaving the scree slope, the path descends to the left and joins the route you took on the way out. Follow this route, making sure not to miss the path on the right that leads back to the starting point (S/E).

Good footwear is essential (muddy or even thoroughly wet sections).

Duration: 3 hours without stopping or lingering.
Make the most of your start from Le Villaret to take a tour of the hamlet (bakery, wash houses, herb garden), preserved thanks to the efforts of the Friends of Le Villaret association.

Incidentally, at the end of the route, if you miss the path on the right leading back to the starting point, you will walk past the medicinal herb garden – currently under construction – as you leave the woods. From there, it will be easy to return to the starting point by crossing the hamlet via the road.

The junction between the outward and return routes is marked by a perfectly straight wall running through the forest (and the scree slope as well). It marks the boundary of the state-owned forest established by Napoleon III to combat deforestation and erosion in the massif.

The Baraque des Copains, situated in the clearing of the same name shown on the IGN map, refers to Jules Romains’ novel, *Les Copains*, which ends with a banquet of the seven friends in what appears to be this hut.