The Croupatier caves at Château Vallon

de fr

Circular hike starting from the Château Vallon car park, passing through the Chelo, Croupatier and Patrimoine caves, as well as the Oppidum de la Courtine. Interest varies depending on the season: entirely on the sunny side.

Details

n°19146531
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 7.38 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 25 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 456 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 453 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 483 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 115 m
  • ⚐ Country: France
  • ⚐ City: Ollioules (83190)
  • ⚑
    Start/End: N 43.147155° / E 5.87351°
  • ❏
    IGN map(s): Ref. 3346OT
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Photos

Entrance to the first cave.
View of the panorama from the first cave.
Inside the cave.
Start of the hike, next to the car park.

Description of the walk

Park in the car park on Chemin des Ligures below Château Vallon.

(S/E) Head towards the crossroads and go straight on along the DFCI track. After about 200 m, leave the track and follow the path on the right towards the caves, following the four pink markers. After several hairpin bends, you will reach a forest track.

(1) Turn right and follow the track north. After a hairpin bend to the right, you will come to a bend to the left with a beautiful view of Toulon harbour.

(2) Leave the track and climb up to the left: the entrance to the Chélo cave is visible. Inside this cave are some prehistoric drawings, but they are quite difficult to find as there is a lot of graffiti. The more adventurous can crawl through the cave on their stomachs to reach the other entrance. Otherwise, exit via the main entrance and climb up along the rocky ridge.

After passing the upper entrance to the Chélo cave, continue climbing to reach the Croupatier cave, which is ideal for a picnic with its breathtaking view of Toulon.

(3) Continue climbing along the ridge for a few dozen metres until you find a passage on the left that leads to the crest, then join theGR®51. Follow it to the left for about 1 km towards the west. When the descent becomes steeper, you will come to a crossroads.

(4) Leave theGR® and turn left onto another path marked by a sign indicating the Chappe telegraph. Follow the old cadastral markers that marked the boundaries between Évenos and Ollioules. A fairly steep descent leads to the telegraph.

(5) Continue downhill to a crossroads with a picnic table and take a small path behind the table to reach the Patrimoine cave. Then rejoin the GR®.

(6) Turn left and, after crossing a small valley, climb up opposite and leave theGR® for a small path that branches off to the left (yellow markings). It leads to the remains of an ancient Celto-Ligurian village.

(7) Cross the Oppidum de la Courtine site. At the exit of the site, join a track, turn left, pass in front of a building used by hunters and follow the track on the right which leads to a reservoir. From there, follow the road down to the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 115 m - Château Vallon car park
  2. 1 : km 1.54 - alt. 260 m - Forest track
  3. 2 : km 2.16 - alt. 307 m - Path on the left towards the Chélo cave.
  4. 3 : km 2.86 - alt. 483 m - Access to the ridge - Grotte du Croupatier
  5. 4 : km 3.64 - alt. 422 m - Leave the GR°°®°° trail and take the path on the left.
  6. 5 : km 4.56 - alt. 319 m - Telegraph - Télégraphe de Chappe
  7. 6 : km 4.96 - alt. 235 m - GR51
  8. 7 : km 5.96 - alt. 249 m - Oppidum de la Courtine
  9. S/E : km 7.38 - alt. 115 m - Château Vallon car park

Notes

No water, and the entire hike is in the sun: great for winter!
Beautiful view of Toulon from the Croupatier ridge.

Worth a visit

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.

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Reviews and comments

4.2 / 5
Based on 10 reviews
Reliability of the description
3.8 / 5
Ease of following the route
3.9 / 5
Route interest
4.8 / 5
User 24011981

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 23, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

The trail can be a bit difficult to find at times, but once you reach the GR, it becomes easier.

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NJ83430
NJ83430

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 08, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Interesting flora and fauna, plus a few interesting buildings along the way, such as an old lime kiln, the Chappe telegraph, and the Oppidum de la Courtine.

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sylv.masse
sylv.masse

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 05, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike with views of Toulon harbour. The viewpoints are magnificent. No particular difficulty.

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JoG
JoG

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 19, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Everything was easy to find, lovely walk!

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caroline.mayaudon@gmail.com
caroline.mayaudon@gmail.com

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 23, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We really enjoyed this hike. The caves are accessible and the views are magnificent. On 23 November, we were completely alone.
The first part of the hike to the Chélo cave is easy to follow. After that, we had a little trouble following the trail, but we walked along the cliff and easily found the Croupatier cave, which was surprisingly well equipped.
Many thanks to hibiscus_26 for their review posted on 7 April 2024, which explains how to find the heritage cave.
Thank you to the author for initiating it.

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rumax
rumax

The location of the photos of the first cave on the map is completely off track. Why is that?
Thank you for your feedback.

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Hibiscus_26
Hibiscus_26

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 07, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We really enjoyed this hike, but if we hadn't followed the route on our phone, we would surely have got lost several times.

Chélo Cave
It was fun to go through Chélo Cave (very low and dusty) – you really have to crawl to get through, but it's doable; both openings are on the same side of the cliff. My son, who is very comfortable with this kind of thing, went first.
Also, to the left of the entrance (before entering the cave), there is an opening in the cliff about 2 metres high. For young people who know a little about climbing (or with a little help) and who are not too heavy, this entrance leads to a narrow passage that then opens onto the left-hand entrance where there is a small crack. My 16-year-old did it, it was a bit tight for him, but my other son, who is 12, got through without any difficulty and did it again.

To find the heritage cave: take the path that starts just behind the picnic table (south-west on the compass), where there is a large stone with a yellow mark and a white and red cross. After about twenty steps, take the small path that branches off to the right into the bushes (marked by a small cairn on the ground). Take another 20 steps and you will arrive at the cave.

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Lili 83
Lili 83

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 15, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

The description for the first part, climbing up to the first cave, should be detailed at each fork in the path because without GPS, given the number of trails, there is a risk of taking a wrong turn. However, the route is very nice. The arrival at the caves is challenging. In total, for hikers over 70 years old, it took us 4 hours and 15 minutes to complete the route. Whether at the Chéo cave or the Croupatier cave, you are well sheltered from the mistral wind to have lunch and enjoy the sun, in short sleeves on 15 January!

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Pierre rando
Pierre rando

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 27, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Insufficient description up to the first cave. I didn't see any markings with four pink dots (path to climb up to the cave?). Significant tree felling at the start of the route was disruptive, and there were few landmarks after leaving the main path, so I had to go off-trail to find the DFCI higher up. Several small, sporadic paths disrupt this climb. Allow 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes for the climb.
Do not look for prehistoric traces, as the smoke from fires in the caves has completely blackened them.
At the picnic table, there is no point in going back and forth on the path indicated behind the table to see a cave, as we do not know where it is, at least not nearby, and the path descends very steeply. Avoid this detour.
The rest is straightforward (oppidum and descent).

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PhK
PhK
• Edited:

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 16, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hello,
We did this hike a few days ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, having lots of fun crawling through the cave (no difficulty, very entertaining and very messy).
But there wasone huge problem: the description says, "...take a path behind the picnic table..." This is completely wrong; there is indeed a path that starts right behind the table, but unfortunately it leads via a very difficult slope to the Evenos road after a very steep descent down the cliff! So it's a very bad route (I should have realised this because it went west, whereas our route should have taken us south-east...).
Please note that the real path leads to the left (east/southeast) of the picnic table. (Left when looking at the map coming from the Telegraph Path) Then follow the directions.
This error in the description, compounded by my own mistake in checking the direction of the path, led us to walk an extra 2 km along the road (which was dangerous as there was no pavement and cars were driving fast) and to climb back up as steeply as the descent to the oratory.
Sobe careful, it's a very nice hike (with some significant climbs up to the Chelo cave) but don't make a mistake at the picnic table.
Nevertheless, thank you to Visorando, which allows us to enjoy beautiful walks all winter long.

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culigan
culigan

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 08, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Enjoy your hike.

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