Rocher des Monges from Théoule

Date of your route : Apr 10, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : Not used / Not applicable
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

It is currently impossible to walk through the Vallon de l'Autel (prohibition order and barriers).

The easiest way is to start from the port of Théoule and take the underpass you mentioned.
Quickly take a rather steep section of road on the left (signposted "piste des Mineurs"). This continues along a dirt track on the right, surrounded by eucalyptus trees.

When you reach a fork, the DFCI track on the right leads easily to the foot of the Monges rock, just above the Collet des Monges.

Take the Trayas trail (in the centre), which is quite rocky and seems to be the one you describe in your description.
You will later come to a fork with two options:

- take the yellow-marked path that descends to the left and allows you to go around the Monges rock while enjoying a beautiful view of the sea, the Cap Roux peak, etc. You will then reach the Collet des Monges. All that remains is to reach the foot of the Rocher des Monges, then take the path indicated to reach the summit (route taken on 10 April);

- continue straight ahead on what appears to be the continuation of the Trayas trail. You will come to a small rocky passage that is easy to cross, and you will find yourself at the top of what appears to be described in your description as the "second rock". Continue through the vegetation to reach the summit of the Rocher des Monges. If you stray a little from the path, you can enjoy beautiful views and find nice places to have lunch. At a spot marked with a yellow cross, you can venture towards what must be the real summit (route taken on 4 April).

Looking at the map, I assume that the route indicated in your description for the return is the Trayas trail. However, I don't really understand your description and haven't seen any GR signs...

In order to avoid taking the Trayas trail again, I reached ND d'Afrique from the Collet des Monges (DFCI and GR trail), then took a GR trail passing above the bubble houses and leading to the Pointe de l'Aiguille (beautiful views at the beginning) before reaching the Pointe beach and then the Théoule train station.

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Date of your route : Mar 02, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A delightful walk among mimosa trees and red rocks

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Another option for reaching the Rocher des Monges is to start from the small car park at La Figueirette, elevation gain 280 m/8.5 km. The climb is very steady along the Trois Cols trail, the Col de Théoule, the Col des Monges and the Raccord des Monges trail. The final section of the trail from departmental signpost 499 is steep (20%) and rocky, but not long.

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Date of your route : Aug 09, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hike with beautiful landscapes, varied vegetation and splendid views of the sea, the Esterel mountains and the Bay of Cannes.
However, the description is inaccurate and constantly at odds with reality.
We did the hike using the app's geolocation to follow the route.

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Hello RANDONENFAMILLE
Message sent to the author.
Awaiting reply.

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short hike not completed due to lack of details... a shame... because several months after doing it, the directions still haven't been updated... can we hope that they will be updated correctly to avoid walking kilometres for nothing... THANK YOU

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Date of your route : Mar 05, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

At point 1, I clearly saw the path branching off from the track, but I didn't take it because it wasn't marked as indicated. In fact, the GR 51 continues along the track.
I would have placed point 4 a little higher up at the Col du Trayas where you leave the GR. It would have been good to specify this.
There is a GR signpost when you climb up to the Rocher des Monges and continue to the next rock, contrary to what is stated in the description.
It is only after starting the descent after the second rock that you reach a GR marked in yellow, which you take on the left

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We couldn't find point 1-2 DFCI and turned back due to lack of information
has this been changed? Thank you for your help, as we would like to try again.

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Date of your route : Jan 28, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

It was a beautiful hike with magnificent views, and at the end there were lots of mimosas in bloom!

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Date of your route : Dec 30, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Beautiful view

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Date of your route : Dec 04, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Very nice view. Forest road rather than trail

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Date of your route : May 09, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Early in the morning, there aren't many people around, the climb is mostly shaded and the signposting is very clear. Of course, there are lots of firebreaks, which means that the wild side is quickly overtaken by civilisation.

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Date of your route : Feb 20, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

There are no difficulties, either technical or in terms of the route description, until you reach the summit of the first Rocher des Monges. We then went around it on the left to reach the second rock. You then have to climb around it, scaling a few small rocks: this is a little tricky but only for about ten metres. This short descent leads to a yellow-marked trail which you take to the left until you reach a crossroads. On the left is the Piste des Mineurs, which descends to the road. If you want to avoid the road, continue on the yellow-marked trail indicating the direction of Port de Théoule. Very soon you will come to a small path on the right that descends along the railway line to the entrance of the tunnel under the railway and finally to Port de Théoule. A very pretty walk. It's a shame that the foot of the Rocher des Monges is littered with paper: ladies, please go before or after such a beautiful hiking destination, and if it's urgent, hide your paper under a rock, of which there are plenty!

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Date of your route : Feb 09, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant hike in February. The first part of the trail is lined with flowering mimosas. Along the way, there are beautiful views of the sea and the surrounding area, often with snow-capped peaks in the background.

No major difficulties on the way up, but the descent from the rocks is quite challenging (from point 5). If you don't want to go all the way to the two rocks, you can continue along the path instead of climbing up to point 5, thus avoiding the most difficult part of the descent. Of course, you will then miss the view from the summit.

Note that when you reach the rock (point 5), you have a choice of two paths, as indicated in the description. Both were marked with yellow Xs, which is difficult to understand as the yellow markings continued further on. We ignored these prohibitions and took the left path without any problems. As Yogi Berra said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

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Date of your route : Oct 09, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A bit too much tarmac, but pleasant nonetheless, with quite a few ups and downs... great for keeping your heart rate up!

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