Monts de Lacaune, Picotalen and Roc des Écus

Thanks to the diversity of its landscapes, the Monts de Lacaune offer a remarkable palette of colours and a delight for hikers.

Details

377279
Creation:
Last update:
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 13.20 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 4h 55 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 391 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 382 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 1,097 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 758 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Start: Park in the Parking de la Balme, below the church.

(S/E) From the car park, turn right onto Rue de la Balme and continue to the crossroads, then turn left onto Rue René Cassin as far as Ouradou.

(1) At the Ouradou crossroads, take the road on your left, then the path on your right. Follow the path to Farayruc.

(2) Go around the houses, cross the road and follow the path on the right to the next road you cross.

(3) Continue along this shady path, ignoring the three paths on the right, until you reach the junction with another road.

(4) At the road, turn right for a few metres, then take the path on the right which skirts the sewage treatment plant on the left, then veers left to reach a crossroads.

(5) Take the left-hand path in a hairpin bend, and follow it south to the Rec de Nore.

(6) When you reach the road, fork left at a crossroads, passing a farm, and continue to the road. Cross the D622 and follow the path up into the Forêt Domaniale de Lacaune.

(7) Turn left into the forest, turn right and continue to the Col de Piquotalen.

(8) Cross the road and go straight ahead on the forest track (cross-country ski and snowshoe track).

(9) At this junction, ignore the right-hand path and continue straight ahead.

(10) At the Y-shaped trail junction, go left and continue on the trail.

(11) Climb left into the forest and continue to Roc des Écus.

(12) After the viewpoint over Lacaune, continue right downhill through the woods and turn left at the first intersection.

(13) At the road, near a motocross course on the left, turn right as far as Plo de Pinel, and in front of an abandoned farmhouse, fork left and descend into the woods.

(14) At this point, you have two options:
- either continue downhill opposite (marked route),
- or turn right and join the path below.
Continue on to the village, where you can visit the "Vieux Lacaune" museum and see the "Fontaine des Pisseurs" in the square (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 785 m - Parking de la Balme
  2. 1 : km 0.54 - alt. 807 m - Ouradou crossroads. Towards the - Gijou (rivière)
  3. 2 : km 2.01 - alt. 775 m - Farayruc
  4. 3 : km 2.67 - alt. 825 m - Crossing the road to Colombière
  5. 4 : km 3.8 - alt. 824 m - Right-hand road
  6. 5 : km 4.85 - alt. 868 m - Left-hand hairpin bend
  7. 6 : km 5.62 - alt. 881 m - Rec de Nore
  8. 7 : km 7.02 - alt. 1,006 m - Lacaune National Forest
  9. 8 : km 7.9 - alt. 1,003 m - Departure point for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.
  10. 9 : km 8.12 - alt. 1,013 m - All rights
  11. 10 : km 8.39 - alt. 1,015 m - Y-shaped path crossing
  12. 11 : km 9.31 - alt. 1,066 m - Left climb
  13. 12 : km 10.06 - alt. 1,072 m - Viewpoint over Lacaune
  14. 13 : km 10.96 - alt. 926 m - Right at the road
  15. 14 : km 11.87 - alt. 866 m - Passing Fontfranque
  16. S/E : km 13.2 - alt. 785 m - Parking de la Balme

Notes

Start & Parking: Park in the Parking de la Balme, below the church.

Gears: Hiking equipment according to season.
Good shoes

Worth a visit

Reviews and comments

4.3 / 5
Based on 13 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.2 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.3 / 5
Route interest
4.3 / 5
Eric62
Eric62

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 16, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Longer and steeper in places, plan a lunch break to recharge your batteries. Some sections are difficult and may be slippery, especially at the end of the trail in the undergrowth. For navigation, follow your GPS rather than the signposts. I recommend wearing good footwear to avoid accidents

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SOULIE Marc
SOULIE Marc

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : May 17, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant route, with little difficulty ...
Very shady with different landscapes

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fredcom
fredcom

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 19, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Beautiful scenery and flowers in spring, with some nice short climbs.
No signposting, but who cares, we've got the GPS.

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faroldi
faroldi

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 27, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

It was a very pleasant walk, with plenty of shade, which was much appreciated during the intense heat of July. However, the lack of signposting was cruelly felt, and it was essential to use GPS. It would be advisable to consider redesigning the route.

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pierrelabonde
pierrelabonde

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 11, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Very nice trails (cross-country skiing) Beautiful forest

very good

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Stef de Bar
Stef de Bar

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 26, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing

On a fine autumn day, we had a hard time getting out of Lacaune! The town centre car park must have been rearranged, or the signs were unclear...
Many times we asked questions about the route; the description was not precise enough. For example, at point 6 we ended up taking the main road because we hadn't found the path below.

The walk was disappointing, as the first part was very agricultural, which had its charm. But then we were overtaken by 'civilisation': walking on the main road, the road to the Piquotalen area with lots of 4X4s driving very fast on the tracks (we narrowly missed being run over on a 20 m wide track!), the proximity of the noisy motocross track... And then the whole part in town...
The Roc des écus is very nice (between the 11th and 13th).

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MLCABANDE
MLCABANDE

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 28, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

We did this walk in the autumn sunshine and had a great time.

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ktiedales
ktiedales

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 24, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Lovely walk with lots of shade, which was very appreciable in this very hot period, and very nice viewpoints. However, the description lacked detail... for example, it said "go around the houses". By the right or the left? Both were possible and we chose the wrong direction... and thanks to the map we changed our route after many detours.
Thanks all the same for this parish specific to Brittany.

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Klodeko
Klodeko

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : May 30, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A very pretty route from the entrance to the forest. I took advantage of the Nordic ski area to add some twists and turns between points 10 and 11, which brought the route to over 21 km.
Thank you for this route.

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grobodovisorando
grobodovisorando

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 22, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

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georges boyer
georges boyer

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 08, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

magnificent views over LACAUNE
very pleasant with few tarmac roads

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gerardhenr
gerardhenr

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : May 25, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

GPS recommended, especially at point 1 to find the right track.
Be careful at point 7 to avoid the road (new track created).
Magnificent views, particularly at point 12.
Gérard HENRION

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J C
J C

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 09, 2016
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Lovely walk, beautiful scenery and great views.

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