Callau refuge from the Col de Jau

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Enjoy the snow on an easy walk in Catalan country.

Details

n°20022
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Snowshoeing
    Activity: Snowshoeing
  • ↔
    Distance: 8.55 km
  • ◔
    Duration according to the author: 3 hrs 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 172 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 171 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 1,642 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 1,504 m
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Photos

Walk to the Col de Jau

Description of the walk

(S/E) When you reach the Col de Jau, the Callau Refuge is clearly signposted. Just follow the track south, but with the thick snow, it is possible to stray from it without realising.

(1) Once you reach the refuge, it is advisable to continue to the other pastoral refuge, located two hundred metres further on, then climb up to the right towards the old talc mine, of which practically nothing remains.

(2) The return journey follows the same route (due to the depth of snow, which makes it impossible to cross the forests). Return to the car park (S/E)

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 1,504 m - Col de Jau
  2. 1 : km 2.24 - alt. 1,537 m - Refuge du Callau (1538m)
  3. 2 : km 4.26 - alt. 1,641 m - Old talc mine
  4. S/E : km 8.55 - alt. 1,504 m - Col de Jau

Notes

This is a family walk that can currently be done on snowshoes or cross-country skis.
No difficulty.
Bring the necessary equipment and a picnic.
You can buy bread in Mosset, the last village before Col de Jau.

Reviews and comments

4.7 / 5
Based on 6 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.7 / 5
Ease of following the route
5 / 5
Route interest
4.3 / 5
toitoine91
toitoine91

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 11, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Short but interesting hike
The Caillau refuge appears to be closed
You can continue on to the Col de Madres, which is marked in yellow and accessible in one day
The hike described is a lovely walk, but the old talc mines are no longer visible as they have been overgrown by vegetation

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Qroqidol
Qroqidol
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 06, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Well-marked and very pleasant route starting from the refuge. Spring conditions with quite a lot of snow, well suited to snowshoeing. Few people encountered (perhaps because it was outside the school holidays?).
The start of the snowshoe hike was not very pleasant because a large forestry machine had torn up the lightly snow-covered trail. As a result, there were quite a few muddy sections over a 1.5 km stretch.
At the end of the route, we couldn't find the old talc mine.
But we enjoyed the beautiful weather.

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denisfcd
denisfcd

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 11, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Unfortunately, we were unable to locate the old talc mine . Thank you for this lead.

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henri57
henri57 ★

Hello,

Why not use X & Y coordinates, given that the IGN has implemented a grid system that is compatible with GPS? It's much simpler than using coordinates in degrees.

You can adjust the settings in your personal account.

My Account ==> Software settings ==> Edit ==> Geographic coordinate format ==> UTM WGS84

See you soon

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SAGAU
SAGAU

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 23, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Why not use X & Y coordinates, given that the IGN has implemented a grid system that is compatible with GPS? It's much simpler than using coordinates in degrees.

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chabrolph
chabrolph

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 15, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Not enough snow to put on snowshoes, very easy hike, well marked.
Wide, very passable path and a little more snow near the Callau refuge.
We continued 300 or 400 metres past the refuge and on our left saw two charming, well-renovated shepherd's huts and an outdoor table where we could stop for a picnic. Very peaceful, only one other hiker encountered and beautiful weather, no animals seen; but on the other hand, a very loud noise at the Col de JAU and then a French military cargo plane flying very low (tactical flight): an Airbus A 400 M known as ATLAS, a very large machine, and this happened three times.
The road on the way there was sometimes quite narrow, with only one car, and we returned via Mosset and Prades and back up to Mont-Louis.

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topo34
topo34

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 29, 2016
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Hike done on foot in the shade

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