The Oppidum de Nage and the Moulin de Langlade in Saint-Dionisy

Not far from Nîmes, Roman and Gallo-Roman remains are legion (so to speak). Castellas, oppidums and Roman fountains line the Roque-de-Vif hill, surrounded by four charming villages in the Vaunage region: Saint-Dionisy to the north, Nages and Solorgues to the south, and Langlade to the east, with its pretty windmill.

Details

399477
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 10.01 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 35 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 264 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 259 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 180 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 70 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Start: Park in Saint-Dionisy, in the car park along the D40a (route de Nîmes) at the corner of Rue du Chêne Vert.

(S/E) Head towards the village centre. Take Rue du Vieil Four. Then Rue Bécagrun and continue along Chemin Roque de Viou, which runs behind the cemetery. At the first fork in the road, turn left as the path climbs.

(1) At the top, you'll come to a junction of several paths and tracks. Take the one furthest to the right, which passes at elevation 145m. Further on, at marker 150, follow the hill-top path with a view to the north, then to the west.
At the left-hand bend, visit the remains of the Roque de Viou oppidum. The path now curves south and east.
Avoid all downhill paths.

(2) Pass a beautiful capitelle on your left and continue on to the ruins of the oppidum.

(3) Continue due east along the north wall of the construction. The path now descends steeply to the Ranquet spring. You are now in the village of Nages. Take Rue de la Fontaine Romaine, then turn left into Rue de l'Oppidum. Cross the Agau stream.
Continue along the esplanade to the north and up the Chemin des Aires. At the fork in the road, turn left under the pines and follow the wall of a large property.

(4) At altitude 136, turn right into the pine forest. At the crossroads of 4 paths, go straight ahead. 150m further on, you come to the Chemin des Lauzières, which you turn right onto.

(5)Pass along the sports fields to the south, forking left onto a lane that runs alongside the tennis courts, heading due north. Then turn right away from the sports facilities, staying on the high ground.

(6) At Le Cabanis, turn right, staying on the plateau. Quickly join a path leading to houses and turn left onto Chemin des Lauzières. At the junction with the Route de Nages (D137), turn left onto the Chemin du Coin du Loup, which you leave 150m further on, continuing right along a narrow path that takes you up to the windmill esplanade.

(7) Go back down the Chemin du Moulin à Vent to the chapel.

(8) Turn left onto a path that leads back to Langlade and down to Rue de la Calade. Turn left into Rue Haute, then right a few metres further on. Then turn left into Rue des Lavandières.

(9) After the wash-house, take a path to the left. It becomes a footpath. It climbs up through the vegetation. At the first fork, turn right. Continue up the hillside to the sports fields, marked by pylons.

(10) Go along the north side of the sports field and up onto the path on the right.

(11) Pass the Castellas site (altitude 164), then take the second path on the left which, following the contour lines, brings you back to the crossroads (altitude 145) which completes the circuit.

(1) All that's left is to return down the same path you took on the outward journey to Saint-Dionisy (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 70 m - Car park along the D40a
  2. 1 : km 0.95 - alt. 147 m - Col de Saint-Dionisy
  3. 2 : km 1.87 - alt. 169 m - Drystone shelter
  4. 3 : km 2.27 - alt. 160 m - Oppidum of Nages
  5. 4 : km 3.99 - alt. 136 m - Towards Puech de Marignan
  6. 5 : km 4.82 - alt. 135 m - Tennis
  7. 6 : km 5.41 - alt. 140 m - Le Cabanis
  8. 7 : km 6.22 - alt. 123 m - The mill
  9. 8 : km 6.45 - alt. 109 m - The chapel
  10. 9 : km 6.96 - alt. 83 m - The wash-house
  11. 10 : km 7.78 - alt. 137 m - The stadium
  12. 11 : km 8.4 - alt. 159 m - Le Castellas
  13. S/E : km 10.01 - alt. 70 m - Car park along the D40a

Notes

Start: Park in Saint-Dionisy, in the car park along the D40a (route de Nîmes) at the corner of Rue du Chêne Vert.

Gears: Be sure to wear good shoes, as the paths are stony. Avoid hot weather.

Note: Be careful! These hills are criss-crossed by numerous paths and tracks. Follow the circuit on the map.
Water points near the tennis courts, at the Ranquet spring (except in summer) and at the wash-house.
Shelters at the capitelle and sports facilities.

Worth a visit

Reviews and comments

4.2 / 5
Based on 24 reviews

Reliability of the description
4 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.2 / 5
Route interest
4.3 / 5
User 12150396

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : May 26, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very nice walk

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Yas34
Yas34

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 13, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Nice walk, no particular difficulty
However, there were quite a few out-of-the-way sections.

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Yvarls
Yvarls

Overall rating : 1.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 01, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Very busy route : No

A digestive stroll for a Sunday stroller, not a hike.
Three-quarters of the route is on tarmac or carriageways, leaving behind the tempting footpaths that are everywhere. Apart from the oppidum, the panorama is nothing more than a bleak plain dotted with dormitory villages and housing estates. The route is unnecessarily lengthened by inane loops that take us through housing estates, building sites and ugly villages. The unnecessary complication of the route, which disregards the existing boundary markers, means that you have to look at the application every step of the way.
My advice: visit the oppidum and go home, it's over in 3/4 of an hour.

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mag34
mag34

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

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

Very nice walk, beautiful views, superb oppidum.
The only downside was that the route was badly signposted towards the halfway point.

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Gabriac i
Gabriac i

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 25, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A parish specific to Brittany with no major difficulties other than the drop-off at the start and at two other points along the way.
Some parish-specific to Brittany views.
Allows you to pass through a number of beautiful villages, even though tarmac is not the most popular surface for Nordic walking...
I would recommend

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daniel dit stephane
daniel dit stephane

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 08, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

I really enjoyed this walk, which I did on 7/02/2023.
The aspect of dry stone techniques in construction is well highlighted.
Correction: at point 8 you have to turn left into the lower street and not the upper as indicated in the description.

Trace and map make progress easier.

DANIEL dit STEPHANE.

VISORANDONNEUR

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Bevelacqua
Bevelacqua

Overall rating : 4.5 / 5

Date of your route : May 16, 2022
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

With the route, there's no reason to get lost. Lovely views along the way. The oppidum at Nages is well worth a visit.
Allows you to get back into shape after a period without hiking.
No difficulty, easy hike or very long walk for those with a name.

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celinemma
celinemma

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 15, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful walk with superb views and interesting remains.

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taxi29
taxi29

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 01, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Very nice walk with beautiful views and remains

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1968wxrt
1968wxrt

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 15, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Thank you for this beautiful walk.
Interesting walk, beautiful viewpoints, pleasant vegetation and very, very well maintained tunnels site with olive tree plantations, picnic area...

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Alain5130
Alain5130

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 10, 2021
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 beautiful views and historical interest.
Easy, no difficulties.

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laflo30
laflo30
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 28, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Great route! It seems to be less steep in this direction (I knew it from Nages and with other paths) but this one is really nice!
Beautiful viewpoints and a lot of historical interest!
You have to be careful with the multitude of single-track paths that you come across, but you soon find yourself even if you stray a little!

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Steffy30
Steffy30

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 07, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

A lovely walk, mainly on ridges with beautiful views over the plain and the Pic Saint Loup.
However, it was very busy at the Oppidum, but the rest of the route was fine!
If you don't have a lot of time, this is a hike I'd recommend, as it's very pleasant and very accessible for all levels! We did it in 2 hours 10 minutes.

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lavetavitiava29
lavetavitiava29

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 07, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We did it with our children and they were exhausted. Especially as in places it wasn't easy to know where to go and so there were a few detours. So it's a tour I'd recommend, without children and with time and peace and quiet.

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kris.teyran
kris.teyran

Hello HL055648
As you say, it's difficult to follow a route without an IGN map. We recommend that you take one. Or at the very least, print out the map of the route from the Visorando website.
This route has many paths that cross and intersect, so a detailed description would be tedious and pointless.
I hope you were able to appreciate the richness of the sites covered: the beautiful drystone shelter, the Gallo-Roman oppidum, the Ranquet spring, the majestic Moulin des Chevaliers, not to mention the superb viewpoints.
So next time, don't forget your map, so as not to spoil your hike.

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