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Enter Sorèze via the D85 and continue to the roundabout located near the Super U supermarket. Then turn right (coming from Revel) or left (coming from Dourgne) to park in the large car park after passing a second small roundabout.
__PR® Yellow signposting
(S/E) Head towards the car park entrance and, at the small roundabout, turn left, following the two hiking signs for Oppidum de Berniquaut and Durfort. Pass a stained glass and mosaic workshop on your right and continue along the small shaded road, ignoring the various turnings on your right.
(1) At the crossroads (signposted dead end straight ahead about 20 metres ahead), turn left onto Chemin de l'Oppidum, a small tarmac road that climbs steeply and loses its surface at the last house.
Follow the wide, partially stony track that winds its way up, ignoring a first wide grassy path on the left and then a second narrower one, also on the left. You will reach the information board about the Oppidum de Berniquaut.
(2) After reading the very informative and well-documented sign, continue along the track that leaves the woods and comes out onto a large grassy area with a beautiful view of the Sor and Durfort valleys. Turn left at a 90° angle onto the path towards another large information panel about the village and the site of Dufort, with the summit of the Berniquaut rock in view.
The path becomes a trail and the slope becomes much steeper. Use your hands to climb over a few smooth slabs, which are not difficult, to reach a second viewpoint overlooking the Sorèze plain and the Saint-Ferréol reservoir. Continue to the paragliding take-off area marked by two windsocks (bench).
(3) Continue along the marked path that follows a ridge, sometimes wooded, sometimes open, offering beautiful views of the Sor valley on the right and a large quarry on the left, where a constant buzzing sound attests to the intense activity.
No markings
(4) At the crossroads marked by several directional signs, turn left and pass two new signs for the Oppidum de Berniquaut and the Montagne Noire. Follow the narrow path leading to the excavations, which highlight a few medieval dwellings.
(5) Turn back.
PR® Yellow markings
(4) Now continue straight ahead on the path which, at a small clearing, gives way to a wide, partially paved slanting street leading to a second, larger clearing where there is a crossroads.
(6) Ignore the path on the right that descends towards Durfort and continue straight ahead for about ten metres, then turn right, leaving the wide path that continues straight ahead (be careful not to miss this turn).
You will soon come to a new sign with information about the ridge path you are following, an old trade route linking the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, and about the large standing stone (Peyra Ficada) on the left, decorated with numerous cup marks. Continue straight ahead through the undergrowth until you come to a wide track.
(7) Continue straight ahead. About 50 metres further on, leave this track and take a narrower path on the right. This path alternates between sections in the undergrowth and more open areas and becomes overgrown in places. Ignore a wide track coming from the left. Shortly afterwards, you will come to the carriage road that leads to the houses of Jacournassy, which you leave on your right and continue straight ahead until you reach a tarmac road (small pond on your left below).
No signposts
(8) Go straight ahead and continue to the junction with the road leading to Montagnet (beautiful, fairly rusty iron cross).
YellowPR® signposts
(9) Turn left off the tarmac road onto a wide track lined with remarkable trees for the first few hundred metres. Continue straight ahead, heading north-east then east, ignoring a track on the right closed by a barrier. At the next crossroads (elevation 687), go straight ahead to join the D45.
(10) Turn left and follow this road with caution, keeping as far as possible to the left-hand side where the road has been mowed. At the start of a very slight left-hand bend, cross the road and take a wide, shaded path on the right (barred by a chain and broken up due to logging - situation in July 2018), following the sign for Saint-Jammes and its centuries-old beech tree. Cross the meadow and head towards the beech tree and the ruins of the chapel.
(11) After enjoying the site (new information board), with your back to the chapel, turn right and enter the pine forest, which quickly leads to a wide, newly resurfaced track.
Yellow markings
Turn right and follow the track, ignoring two turnings on the right. Pass between two ONF signs to reach a 90° right-hand bend (picnic table) at the wooden hut pompously named Relais de Trinquebise on the IGN map, which can be seen on the left under the trees. Continue to the right, ignoring the grassy track that goes straight ahead, and you will reach a large crossroads.
(12) Turn left at a right angle and, in a sharp right-hand bend (elevation 641), leave this track and continue straight ahead on a wide, partially grassy track. At the crossroads about a hundred metres further on, leave the paths and tracks on either side and continue straight ahead downhill to a crossroads opposite an old entrance gate to the quarry.
13:: Ignore the track on the right, continue for a few metres and, at a red "Private Property" sign, turn right onto the small tarmac road that descends slightly, following the sign for "Accès la Grotte de Calel".
Follow this road, which further on gives way to a wide path running alongside the fence of the quarry on your left. Cross a cattle grid and turn left towards an information sign about the Calel Cave, a former iron extraction site in the Middle Ages.
(14) After reading the information, turn right to enter the large sinkhole that marks the location of part of the mine site. Cross it and follow a narrow, winding path that quickly leads to a wide track. Turn left and head west to reach the orientation table and viewpoint.
(15) Head north-west but slightly north of the path you followed to the viewpoint, aiming for a large information panel on the Causse de Sorèze Karst Discovery Trail near a small metal gate.
Turn left to go through the gate and follow the narrower path that leads into the boxwood trees. Go down this rather steep path, remembering to close the metal gates as you go. You will reach Sorèze at the cemetery (with recycling bins on the left).
(16) Turn left onto the road (D45) and follow it, taking the usual precautions as there are no safety barriers. Pass the first road on the right (Rue Felix Borrel) and take the next right, which is blocked by a chain. This road (Chemin du Tour du Parc on the map) will bring you closer to the Ruisseau d'Orival, which it then follows.
After passing a wash house and directly below Rue Saint-Martin, turn left onto the footbridge that crosses the stream to return to the car park where you started (S/E).
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