The Camparnas Mines

Once past the Pierrefite Gorges, you enter the Pays Toy, and Chèze is one of the first villages you come across. Its mining heritage is still visible, and the proposed route gives you a sense of the harshness of the trade, both in terms of the difficulty of accessing the mines and the extraction work itself. The Camparnas site still bears many traces of this activity. A mid-altitude hike best undertaken when the cloud cover is low.
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Details

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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 3.18 mi
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 45 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 1,480 ft
  • ↘
    Descent: - 1,473 ft

  • ▲
    Highest point: 3,868 ft
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 2,484 ft

Description of the walk

(S/E) With your back to Chèze church, take the small paved path that climbs just to the left of the oratory. It soon passes the village houses, winding its way between the properties, then begins the steep climb towards the barns, between two embankments. You soon reach a first barn converted into a dwelling, then pass a sheepfold still in use.

(1) At the first fork, turn left to continue the climb towards Artigues, passing a few more beautiful barns. The path is grassy and slopes gently, which is very pleasant underfoot and allows you to catch your breath after the first climb. Make the most of it!

(2) Leave the path leading to Plaà on your left and follow the switchback that heads off to the right.
After a good half-hour of steep climbing, punctuated by a few hairpin bends, and after passing several sites where mining waste has been dumped, you reach the level where the path runs on either side of Camparnas. During the climb, take the opportunity to glance across to the other side of the valley, where the villages of the Pays Toy stretch out in the shadow of the Ardiden ridges. When you reach the junction for the Serre de Pans, you are in Camparnas.

(3) Ignore the track that continues the climb to the left, and continue on level ground until you reach the junction for Chèze, a path that descends to the right. Along the way, you’ll come across an old tunnel that hasn’t been blocked up, as well as a few ruins of old barns or buildings linked to mining.
Continue towards Nay along the central track. This becomes less and less distinct as you go on, and virtually disappears when you reach the old summer pastures.

(4) At this point, the route turns towards the descent; keep your eyes on the next ridge (about 100 m away): at the foot of the first proper trees there, you’ll also come across the track that climbs up from the valley and continues to the left, heading up towards Coueylas and Serre. Ignore this option and start the descent. You’ll pass a few more barns in varying states of repair before reaching another one nestled against a grove of box trees.

(5) This barn is unusual in that it is covered not with corrugated iron sheets, but with metal tins from which the metal has been unrolled, giving its roof a dented appearance. At its foot runs the path leading from Chèze to Saligos. To return to the former, turn right. The path initially follows the contour line more or less closely before beginning the descent. After passing several tracks on the right and left, it reaches a short section of particularly steep switchbacks. Shortly afterwards, you reach the first barns overlooking the village of Chèze. Continue along the main path until you reach a stream.

(6) Cross the stream via the stone slab spanning it and climb up the opposite slope. A gate leads into a plot of land where a vegetable garden has been laid out. Although you may feel like an intruder, there is nothing to suggest you cannot pass through, especially as another small gate allows you to exit on the other side of the plot and join a (private?) path that leads back to the path you took when leaving the village.

Once you reach it, turn left and then wind your way through the properties again to return to the starting point (S/E)

Waypoints

  1. S/E : mi 0 - alt. 2,484 ft - Église Saint-Barthélemy (Chèze)
  2. 1 : mi 0.21 - alt. 2,822 ft - Junction above the barns
  3. 2 : mi 0.47 - alt. 3,028 ft - Artigues
  4. 3 : mi 1.45 - alt. 3,852 ft - Camparnas
  5. 4 : mi 1.89 - alt. 3,743 ft - Crossroads on the Serre
  6. 5 : mi 2.18 - alt. 3,255 ft - The boxwood barn
  7. 6 : mi 3.02 - alt. 2,628 ft - Castillon Stream
  8. S/E : mi 3.18 - alt. 2,487 ft - Église Saint-Barthélemy (Chèze)

Notes

A short hike best undertaken independently, as there are no facilities for supplies either in Chèze (except for water) or along the route.

The walk takes place in the rocky cirque overlooking Chèze. The village thus remains constantly in view, which helps you keep your bearings and avoid getting lost in the maze of paths and tracks found there, particularly on the descent.

In July 2022, a hiker reported significant damage to the path over a stretch of about 100 metres past the old mine. Caution is therefore advised in this area.

Worth a visit

The ore—lead sulphide (galena) or zinc sulphide (blende), mixed with iron pyrite—which was extracted from the underground galleries cut into the mountainside, was transported by aerial cable to the ore-processing plant, the ruins of which still stand by the roadside at the exit of the gorges. It was partially processed there before being sent down to the valley by rail.

Note the curious square tower overlooking the village. This former dovecote is said to be the work of a local stonemason who, having been excluded from the construction of the church tower, demonstrated his skill by erecting this proud structure.

Weather permitting, it should be worth continuing from point (3) to reach the Serre de Pans ridge, from where the view opens out over the entire valley.

Reviews and comments

4 / 5
Based on 5 reviews

Reliability of the description
4 / 5
Ease of following the route
4 / 5
Route interest
4 / 5
lesbubusalain
lesbubusalain

Overall rating : 3 / 5

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

Take care with children: the path is in poor condition (there’s a drop-off at the side that’s hard to spot in the tall grass); we didn’t notice it ourselves. The climb is very steep and long, and the grass is very tall (we had to remove several ticks in the evening).

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MarieBi
MarieBi

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 31, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk with some beautiful views. And the mine is well worth a visit. However, the initial climb is steep! After that, the ascent is steady and sustained. Make sure you follow the GPS carefully, as we did take a wrong turn a few times.

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Ricoup64
Ricoup64
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 26, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A very useful route guide, as the path was obscured by tall grass and some poorly signposted junctions, especially after the mine. Thanks to the guide, we avoided going the wrong way three times. The guide is “slightly” inaccurate near the boxwood barn, which comes into view earlier than indicated, but this didn’t affect the walk. Thank you!
A pleasant walk, which climbs steeply up to the mine, with some very pretty views of the valley at times.
Watch out for ticks in the tall grass after the mine; we stopped for a break because the view was lovely, but at what cost: 72 ticks on two people to remove after crossing the field of tall grass...!

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joubert.jeanclaude
joubert.jeanclaude

Hello.
Thank you for your reply.
We have reported the issues in those areas so that others do not encounter difficulties.
Thank you for your advice. A very good website.

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philrandovilaine
philrandovilaine

Please note that the routes suggested on Visorando are not always signposted, even though they may follow paths that are. So please do not look for signposting where there may not be any. As for myself, and the routes I suggest, I only take signposting into account in exceptional cases where it exists, and particularly when there is no other way to indicate the path to follow.
As for the condition of the path, the route was suggested after we had walked it ourselves. It is possible that its condition has changed since then.
Kind regards
Phil RV

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joubert.jeanclaude
joubert.jeanclaude

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 02, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hello.
We went on this walk this afternoon, and the weather was pleasant throughout. To our surprise, there were very few signposts, the path was in a very poor state (100 metres after the entrance to the open-cast mine), and then again further on. Fortunately, we are experienced walkers, which meant we were able to get through.
Overall, the path is visible and well-maintained in the lower section. Have a good day.

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ludiluck
ludiluck

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 13, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

This hike is best done when the cloud cover is low, as this allows you to see the sea of clouds between the villages, the road and the peaks (Luz resort). Magnificent views during the ascent. Be warned: it’s a steep climb (you cover 400m in the first hour). At the highest point, you do lose the path, but just follow the GPX track and you’ll be fine. We did it with an 11-year-old and it took us 2 hours 30 minutes, including several photo breaks.

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