The Alpilles ridge

A very pleasant walk, to be done without the wind if possible and without the heat. You'll need good shoes for some very stony sections. No major difficulties, just a little caution.
The 360° view from the ridge is magnificent.

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Lovely walk despite the rain, beautiful scenery on the ridges, a few technical sections but no difficulties, the start of the descent tricky especially in wet weather. The return through the lower Alpilles was a bit tedious and at the end there was a short but testing rollercoaster ride. We set off from the Caume car park to avoid the parking problems in St Rémy.

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Beautiful scenery on the outward journey at the top of the ridges, followed by pleasant little oak and boxwood woods, alternating with sunny heath. The return journey, especially from marker 7 onwards, is made up of ascents and descents and is much less pleasant than the outward journey, even though the route is shaded.

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The route description should be revised, at least for the start: less detail, more clarity.
The map is very good and stands on its own.
The return via the foothills on the lower slopes is a headache of paths, drovers' roads and other trails... just one piece of advice: stay parallel to the ridge.
Apart from that, it's a wonderful, sporty hike!
Thanks for the suggestion
PS: Don't hesitate to make the diversions via the 2-hole rock.

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A very fine route over the crests of the Alpilles with a magnificent panorama, but it's a shame that the sky was too overcast to see far.

This is not the subject of the review, but it should be noted that the path is very well maintained: the signs have been repainted and are clearly visible, and the vegetation has just been pruned so that the path is perfectly passable.

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Nice walk during the week. A few technical sections but no difficulties for those used to it. This is a hike for good walkers. Not recommended for Sunday walkers.

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Lovely walk with some technical sections. Be careful when it's windy, the ridges can blow you off your feet.

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Beautiful scenery. A lot of steep rocky sections, not difficult but which put a lot of strain on the legs and knees, and should be avoided after rain. The return route on the north side is difficult to describe as there are many paths, but the direction is fairly intuitive and you can also use a GPS to help you.
Avoid the Glanum car park, which costs €26 for the duration of the walk! There are several free car parks along the way.

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Beautiful views over the ridge.
From the Pas de l'Aigle to point 5 the terrain becomes more complicated.
From point 6 to point 1 the terrain is a rollercoaster. I recommend extending the circuit with more pleasant terrain by taking the GR 653D at point 6 to return to the starting point.

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A very fine trail with varied terrain: undergrowth, rocky ridges.
The information panels on the vegetation in the Saint Clerg valley are very useful.
Beautiful views of the Ventoux, the Luberon, the Crau plain, the Cévennes and the Pic Saint Loup.
Don't hesitate to make the diversions to the 2-hole rock.

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A rather difficult walk! We're good walkers, ultra-trailers, and we "suffered" on this walk! We did it in the opposite direction, avoiding the tracks between Saint-Rémy and Château Romanin (by going further north), which made the approach more pleasant. The Col de Vallongue requires you to put your hands up for about ten metres at the end of the ascent, and the balcony traverse to the ascent to the Plateau de Caume is a bit "paumatic", with a few "tricky" passages between rocks and thorny bushes (we also "recovered" a young man who was taking great risks descending from the bar overlooking our path, and who had lost his way from the Col!) The end of the route offers superb views from the ridge, the pas de l'aigle requiring a careful descent (but no real danger) and the return from the relay station to Saint-Rémy is pleasant, on good picturesque paths (rocky gorge, tree signs). There was no water (in February, temperatures were very pleasant), and it took us 4 hours 10 minutes for 19 km (start and return from the Vallon de Valrugues hotel), with a difference in altitude of around 550 metres. A magnificent hike, but a bit sporty!

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The route was taken in hot weather, and we had three litres of water per person, which we consumed. This hike is difficult to very difficult, so the term "average" does not apply. The second part, after descending the ridge, is full of surprises with a succession of climbs and descents. Otherwise, it was a fine, physical hike that we'll be doing again in better weather conditions.

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A very nice hike, but one that should be classed as difficult. The difference in altitude is totally crazy, the exact difference in altitude is almost 800 m, which can cause problems for people who think they're doing an average hike of 500 m positive and find themselves halfway there.

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A physical route for good hikers. Climb up to the Caume plateau. Continuing on from the plateau, you arrive at a rocky section with constant changes in level and places that require the use of all 4 limbs. The views are magnificent. After the Col de Vallongue, the descent is on a crushed stone path that requires a great deal of attention. This is an interesting section because it is shaded. On the other hand, the return journey along the lower slopes of the Alpilles is interminable and energy-consuming, with a succession of bumps (fairly steep climbs and descents on fairly unstable ground (stones)). At one point you can branch off and take another route, which is what we did. A 5-hour ride that I would class as difficult.

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Wrong notes for "ease of following the route": the hike is recorded backwards, the track starts at the end. We took the ridges first, but the altimeter profile is upside down in the GPS, as are the GPS indications, and the compass is unusable. Reverse the track before entering it into the GPS.
The ridge section is very beautiful, but there are a few "walls" to cross, so you have to use your hands a little.
On the other hand, the return, from the moment you descend from the ridges (doing the ridges first, in reverse to the track), is extremely long and hard work. The end is a series of bumps with a difference in height of 10 to 15 m, the climbs are very steep, but the difficulty lies in the very steep descent over rolling stones.
I recommend 1) starting from the ridges 2) turning around and not descending, returning via the ridges.
As for the duration, as an experienced and fit hiker, my opinion is that if you take 3:30 (I'd like to see the corresponding track!) there and back, you can run the marathon in 2 hours and 1 minute, so count on 5:00. The climb is 800 (eight hundred) metres, measured with a real hiking GPS.
I strongly recommend a GPS or a smartphone with GPS for orientation, especially in the forest below. Have a good hike

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