The Black Earth of Draix

At the entrance to the village, there is a small car park with around eight to ten spaces. Park there. On site, there is a small hut with toilets. Next to the town hall and opposite the church, a wash house offers drinking water.

(S/E) Head towards the cemetery and continue to a crossroads.

(1) Take the small road on the right (Route de la Rouine), which descends into a valley. At the bottom of the valley, cross the stream and start climbing. Enjoy the view to the north with the summit of Dormillouse in the background. You will come to a path on the right.

(2) Take it and stay on this path until you rejoin the road you left earlier at a wayside shrine.

(3) Take a hairpin turn to the north-west onto the Route forestière du Col de la Cèpe. From here, you can see La Rouine farm with its Sarteau pear orchards, famous in the region. After about 600 m on the left, there are the remains of an old lime kiln.

(4) Cross the bridge over the Bouinenc River, where you can see the facilities of an erosion study site on the right. Continue along the path to pass near the Sévigné farm, which is a bat shelter.

(5) Then cross the Ravin du Peyrouret without entering it and turn off at the fork in the paths.

(6) Turn right. Here, you can make a round trip to the Belon farm, which is 600 m away. "If you choose this option, the round trip will take 45 minutes." The Belon farm is an art refuge and a placesteeped in history.

(7) Go back down to the fork in the path.

(6) Take the path on the right towards Draix through the black earth. The path winds through the "Robines", offering a rather lunar landscape and a view of the surrounding peaks of Cluchement, Cucuyon and Pic de Couard. Continue to the junction with a road at a place called Le Défends.

(8) At the end of the path, a bridge crosses the Bouinenc, and a climb up a small road takes you back to the fork in the path you took on the way there.

(1) Follow the same route back to the car park at the entrance to Draix (S/E).

Water point in the village at the wash house. Toilets in the car park. Shelter available in the basement of the Sévigné farm and the Belon farm shed.

The black earth is slippery in wet weather.

The recorded route includes a slight deviation from the trail because the hike was a disabled outing with Joëlette wheelchairs (which explains the length of the hike) and the trail was closed by a herd barrier.

See the points of interest mentioned in the hike description. A Sarteau blanche de Draix pear fair is usually held in October. The red variety of this Sarteau pear is celebrated in La Javie, a few kilometres away.