The hillsides of Pamiers via the Abbaye de Cailloup

A short hike that starts on the banks of the Ariège before climbing the hills. There are breathtaking views of Pamiers, the Pyrenees and the Plantaurel hills.

Details

2767501
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 9.53 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 20 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 200 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 198 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 459 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 287 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Start from the Barès car park at Cailloup Abbey.

(S/E) Follow the path along the Ariège past the ruins of the Abbey.

(1) Continue along the Ariège. The climb begins as you leave the banks of the river. Before entering the woods, enjoy the view over the town of Pamiers. Then follow the GR®® markings, but be careful as the whole section in the wood climbs steeply.

(2) At the end of the wood, take the path opposite, leaving the access to the relay station. Leave Peyreblanque on the right and further on, leave a track and a path on the left and come to the road (D71).

(3) Turn right for 2 km. At the three-way junction, leave Bigorre on your left and continue north.

(4) Before Les Veyriès, there is a promontory on the left with a magnificent viewpoint indicator.

(5) Return to the road.

(4) Turn left for a hundred metres or so and follow the path to the right.

(6) Follow the path to the right, skirting a field on your left and continuing for a hundred metres after turning left at its corner.

(7) Go right into the woods and continue as far as the crossroads on the Vicaria road.

(8) Turn right onto the road that leads back down towards Pamiers and via Impasse des Saules back to the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 299 m - Abbaye de Cailloup car park
  2. 1 : km 1.16 - alt. 290 m - Cailloup Abbey - Ariège (rivière)
  3. 2 : km 2.94 - alt. 454 m - Exit the wood, end of the climb.
  4. 3 : km 4.13 - alt. 454 m - Right-hand road
  5. 4 : km 6.28 - alt. 427 m - Junction. Return journey to the promontory
  6. 5 : km 6.4 - alt. 431 m - Orientation table
  7. 6 : km 7.04 - alt. 430 m - Bifurcation
  8. 7 : km 7.43 - alt. 429 m - Entering the wood
  9. 8 : km 8.45 - alt. 336 m - Calvary
  10. S/E : km 9.53 - alt. 299 m - Abbaye de Cailloup car park

Always be cautious and plan ahead when you're outdoors. Visorando and the author of this route cannot be held responsible for any accidents occurring on this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

Reviews and comments

4 / 5
Based on 20 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.1 / 5
Ease of following the route
4 / 5
Route interest
4.1 / 5
Anne-Valerie
Anne-Valerie

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 15, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful walk through countryside and forest!
Magnificent in autumn.

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caoussis
caoussis

Overall rating : 4 / 5

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

A pleasant walk, but we fell on a mowing day around the abbey and the round of tractors greatly disturbed the peace and quiet of the place. The description is satisfactory. However, we can specify that the abbey car park is called the Barès car park and arrange it as follows (2): At the end of the wood, turn left, leaving the relay station behind you, along the tarmac road for 500m. Opposite you is a track that crosses the road and joins it at a crossroads. At (4), it would be preferable simply to say: Return to the road and follow it for a hundred metres or so until you reach a start on the right. These are just details, but they can help avoid any hesitation.

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chlon
chlon

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : May 11, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Nice little hike (3 hrs), first along the banks of the Ariege, then up the hills into the woods (GR route at the start, then yellow markings), then along little-used roads and back down a wild path towards Pamiers, a sometimes steep and slippery descent that leads to a road 500 m before the Pamiers sign. Then a short visit to the historic centre of Pamiers

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Oreste
Oreste
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 26, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

We followed the route after recording it and had no trouble following it. After the abbey, there's a steep gradient, not very long, but it climbs for a quarter of an hour. Then we arrive on the hillsides with the pleasure of seeing Mont Valier, emblematic of the Couserans, located in our Pyrenees 😁 which rises to 2838m. A must-do. Then the hike follows a road between points 3 and 4, the least good of the hike. To finish the hike is very wooded, the area is quiet and very pleasant. The route has no difficulties.

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Tcha
Tcha

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 10, 2025
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : Not used / Not applicable
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : Yes

The route is very good as far as Cailloup Abbey, but it was impossible to follow the course on the hillsides because it was so muddy.
Do it again in dry weather!

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Cebene
Cebene

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 30, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Done at the end of December, the route was pleasant but very muddy. Don't forget your sticks 😉

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Daniel31
Daniel31

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 19, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

easy-to-follow route
slight gradient
pleasant
pretty views

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manou3109
manou3109
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 04, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

A short hike for children.

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Zagazou
Zagazou

Thank you for future hikers. If you wish, I can send you the track I recorded to confirm your corrections. Best regards.

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Denis26
Denis26 ★

Thank you for your comments. I've just reworked the route and the description after the (4) based on the route on the IGN map, magnified as much as possible, which shows a dotted line.

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Zagazou
Zagazou

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 06, 2024
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We did this loop on 6 April on a bright spring day. Everything would have been perfect if we hadn't tried to follow the downloaded itinerary. Like many before us, we had to turn back after finding ourselves on some unlikely paths. It's true that the comments pointed out an error in the route indicated by the GPS. But you still have to read them: to prepare the hike, the IGN map and the elevation profile are more useful to me than comments that are inevitably subjective.
Given the number of hikers reporting the route error, wouldn't it be possible to correct the GPX file that is made available on the site?

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Endron09
Endron09

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 01, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Same remark as previous hikers: follow the yellow signs for Pamiers between points 4 and 5.
Otherwise a pleasant circuit, although too much road

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FCant
FCant

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 25, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

A pleasant route with beautiful views.

Some steep climbs, but within easy reach.

In the last few kilometres, there was a gap of around 30 metres between the track and the reference point, which raised a few red flags.
But the actual track is generally parallel.

Apparently, the trail has been modified.

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emico63
emico63

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 22, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Fortunately, a local put us back on the right path, but we weren't the first... We should have read the previous reviews more carefully, as they clearly mentioned this error (thank you to them).
This is a pleasant walk on a fine summer's day, especially for the wooded part and the beautiful view over Pamiers.
Thanks to the author

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georgevelyne@gmail ;com
georgevelyne@gmail ;com

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 10, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful hike, with an orientation table at the halfway point offering a great view of the Pyrenees. A small clarification that other hikers have already mentioned. Between points 4 and 5, the GPS track proposed by Visorando is incorrect. Instead of turning right as indicated, you should always follow the yellow signposting towards Pamiers. This route passes above and to the left of the route indicated and ends up joining it just before point 5. Otherwise, a big well done to the author who has shown us a beautiful region.
Evelyne and George

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