The Bragassargues Caves

Date of your route : Apr 07, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

Most of the route is on a wide, dusty, unremarkable forest firebreak road, apart from a few views of the mountains to the west. Access to the caves had been blocked by brush clearing work. On the way back, the trail was wilder but monotonous. So overall, I was quite disappointed with this route.

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Date of your route : Jan 21, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Route completed in the afternoon of 17/01/2025
We knew this before setting off, having already covered part of this section, after the 'Sentier des Merveilles' and up to the Bragassargues caves. The wide track, climbing up to point 2, offers little of interest apart from the views (don't hesitate to turn around from time to time).
In summer, this part of the route is best done early in the morning.

A wild boar hunt near the caves prevented us from accessing them.
From point 5 onwards, the return trail is more pleasant, although in some sections the vegetation could do with a bit of pruning.

About 100 m before point 8, on the left, a small opening in the vegetation gives access to a pretty, well-maintained olive grove.

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Date of your route : Jul 29, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Route interest : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Very busy route : No

Unworkable from the outset, which is a real shame.

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Date of your route : Jan 08, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Not extravagant. Much of it has to be done with a bent back on a very busy path.

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Date of your route : Oct 25, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

There is little to see apart from the impressive number of arbutus trees. Otherwise, there are wide forest paths, very few views and lots of stones towards the end, as we walk along the bed of a stream (fortunately dry) for at least 2 km. Above all, it is overgrown with vegetation, which means we have to walk bent over! Hello knees and ankles! The first cave is only worth seeing from the outside (you can't go inside), or rather a cavity with an arch. We didn't find the other two. We don't recommend it.

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Date of your route : Oct 29, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

Thank you for this hike. However, it follows many firebreaks or straight paths where boredom sets in... As another hiker said, to find the caves, don't follow the route towards 4, but take the path on the left, which also gives access to a viewpoint.

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Date of your route : Jan 20, 2023
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Easy hike with beautiful views. We had trouble finding the caves because we followed the trail from point 3 to point 4, which is incorrect. There is nothing at point 4. At point 3, there are two trails, one on the left that leads to the main cave, which, in our opinion, is worth the detour.The path on the right leads to the other two caves, which are less interesting and located a hundred metres from point 3. At point 8, which is marked as a tricky passage,
we preferred to take the wide path that branches off to the left and rejoins the main trail a little further up. Regarding the fossil at point 10, you have to look closely at the ground to see it. We saw several around the main one, next to which we built a small cairn.
Overall, we enjoyed this outing, although we were less keen on the path between points 7 and 8, which is very stony and where we had to bend down to pass under the numerous branches lining this passage.

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Date of your route : Jan 13, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hike very poorly signposted.

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Date of your route : Nov 23, 2022
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : Not used / Not applicable
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A short, easy hike. We enjoyed the easy trails, which made a nice change from the rocky hikes. Don't miss the caves and the arch, which is unfortunately a bit overgrown. Thank you for this route.

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Date of your route : Aug 21, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely, easy hike that begins with a pretty little discovery trail (sentier des merveilles) that you follow for just a few hundred metres. It would be interesting to take a good hour of our time to walk the entire trail and then resume the hike. We weren't able to do this because we were expected at noon for a barbecue and chilled rosé wine. The tracks are pleasant and the paths with dense vegetation and stones are interesting.
The caves alone are worth the trip. At point 7, the description specifies to take the path on the left, while the GPS track indicates the one on the right, which we took successfully. At point 8, you can stay on the wide path to reach the power line, but the track takes you along a narrow path on the right, which is not very visible and resembles a dry stream. It leads to an electricity pole via a steep climb and rejoins the path. At point 9, I recommend doing the Serre de Knoll circular, which takes you to a plateau with a 360° panorama (from Pic Saint LOUP and HORTUS to Mont Ventoux and other peaks). At point 10, there are numerous fossil footprints.
A very interesting morning that we recommend, thank you to the author.
PP and MM

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Date of your route : May 29, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Hello,
Between the start and point 1, the hike lives up to its promise in terms of culture and interest. then between points 1 and 2, the path is wide and monotonous, with only the Noémie drystone shelter breaking up the monotony a little. Point 4 is quite interesting with its caves and a beautiful viewpoint (remember to bring a good torch for the caves; walking sticks are also welcome as the access is very steep and slippery with holm oak leaves on the ground).Then between 7 and 8, I think it's very difficult to find your way with only the paper description, as there are many paths in all directions and the actual path is very cluttered with large stones and low branches. You find yourself in a tunnel of vegetation, which isn't the most pleasant, so I was grateful for my GPS, which helped me a lot on this part.For my part, I only saw one fossil, but it was a good size. As for the arch, it is just a dry stone arch that seems to be the old doorway of a barn.
In short, it's worth seeing once, but I don't think I'll do this hike again, as there's nothing wonderful about it, even though the starting trail is called the "trail of wonders".
Happy hiking, everyone!

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Date of your route : Mar 14, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

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Date of your route : Jan 08, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : Not used / Not applicable
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant and easy hike. The views are too few and far between, even though we went as far as Serre de Buc. Lots of firebreaks (80% of the hike). We took torches for the caves, but they were useless as they are just large cavities with nothing of particular interest. Perhaps we didn't look closely enough at the end of the trail, but the fossils along the path are invisible (we thought we saw one?). However, we did see the ruins and were intrigued by the size of the arch. We would have liked to know what kind of ruins they were, perhaps an old chapel?

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Date of your route : Jan 10, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

:jap(great)$$:

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Date of your route : Jan 10, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful hike, but we would have liked to find the Pielles quarries.

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