The lower Verdon Gorges in Artignosc
A pretty walk off the beaten path. The views are breathtaking in diverse landscapes, all from the beautiful little hilltop village of Artignosc-sur-Verdon.
Technical sheet No. 4098435
Calculated time: 1h10[?] 
Distance : 3.20 km
Vertical gain : 79 m
Vertical drop : 87 m
Highest point : 505 m
Lowest point : 426 m 
Difficulty : Easy
Back to starting point : Yes
Walking
Area :
Alps
Location : Artignosc-sur-Verdon
(83630) 
Starting point : N 43.703479° / E 6.089996° 
Today's forecast :
Description
The signposted car park is located in the village centre near the town fountain.
(D) Once you have parked in the town car park, take the steps leading down. It is located past the small lawn and you will be able to see three spruces next to the cliffs of Bas-Verdon.
At the bottom of the stairs, turn right, and continue past a superb, semi-circular wash house. At the end of the T-shaped path, turn left (on the right we can see a pretty sixteenth-century dovecote).
After a few metres you will reach a road which you should take to the left, then turn right towards the small Saint-Christophe Chapel. Go around it and turn left onto the path called Les Fourches. During this section between the scattered houses you can admire the peaks of the Alps and the cliffs of the Verdon Gorge fault.
At the end of the paved road, pass the hundred-year-old oak tree on the left and go down the rocky road towards Verdon along a gently sloping field for 250m.
(1) At the T-junction at the end of the path, turn left heading around the field. Turn left at the fork 200m after: the trail crosses a landscape of pleasant smelling scrubland.
After rounding a viewpoint you will reach a larger rocky road. Then make a detour to the right after a few metres and reach a very nice picnic area. In view of the picnic area there is a sign indicating a viewpoint 10 metres away (2).
Warning, this will be the most difficult 10 metres of this route but reward of the view that awaits you is well worth the effort. In front of you are the low gorges of the Verdon in all their splendour. You will have views of the villages of Saint Laurent and, further on, Montpezat. The 4 Radio Monte Carlo antennas are visible in the distance, each taller than the Eiffel Tower!
Return to the trail. Come back to the picnic area and follow the path between fields of truffle oaks, rocks and scrubland. The path turns left and soon finds the village of Artignosc perched up high. On your right a branch of the Verdon can be glimpsed between groves and up above, an old watchtower seems particularly inaccessible.
At the first crossroads (3), a sign points towards the old mill, which is in ruins. Continue on the left to reach, after a few metres, another crossroads where this time you turn right. The trail passes through the short grass fields, skirting a grove of quince trees and a water tank. It then goes straight to Artignosc not without passing along a field with a few grazing donkeys.
(4) At the cross, turn left to reach the village and car park (A).
Waypoints :
D/A : km 0 - alt. 501 m - Municipal car park
1 : km 0.97 - alt. 489 m - T-junction, turn left
2 : km 1.74 - alt. 446 m - viewpoint over the Verdon - Gorges du Verdon
3 : km 2.29 - alt. 432 m - Crossroads, sign, keep left
4 : km 3 - alt. 483 m - Cross, turn left
D/A : km 3.2 - alt. 501 m - Municipal car park
Useful Information
This is a fairly straightforward hike, good shoes are useful and depending on the season and given the heat, a water bottle will come in handy.
In Artignosc, during the right season, there is a hostel near the fountain and a nice little grocery store open all year. We leave it to you to find them.
(3) The old mill is the starting point of a tiny trail that provides access to the lake (’route does not appear on the map).
Visorando and this author cannot be held responsible in the case of accidents or problems occuring on this walk.
During the walk or to do/see around
Picnic area halfway along the route.
Two picnic tables with two benches apiece are available here to enjoy what food and drink you brought with you. Remember to take all your rubbish away with you as there are no bins in this still untouched natural environment.
Feel free to wander through the medieval streets of Artignosc. There is not much risk of getting lost in the few tens of minutes you'll take on this route.
Artignosc-sur-Verdon
Opinions and comments
Average
Global average : 3.67/5
Number of opinions : 1
Clarity of route description : 3/5
Clarity of route map : 4/5
Walk interest : 4/5
Walker
Thank you for your feedback on this walk. We've updated the description a little to make those points clearer. Feel free to let us know if you have any suggestions of improvements to be made the description and if you would like to post any photos of the walk they would be most welcome!
Sarita
Hikideas Moderator
Walker
Global average : 3.67 / 5
Date of walk
: 28/12/17
Clarity of route description
: Average
Clarity of route map
: Good
Walk interest
: Good
Hi everybody,
This is a lovely walk but we lost our way. Don’t be put off by our story though. You will never get lost completely in an area like this. Our group of 5 (ages between 11 and 79) attempted this walk on 28 December 2017. We could leave the car at the side of the church as there was hardly a soul to be seen in the village. No clouds, but with 5 *C and the Mistral blowing it was chilly. We decided to take the description literally and were looking for stairs and a lawn. We found neither. Eventually we did find the start of the walk by looking at the map. My hands were freezing from holding the i-pad showing the map. From there on the description is accurate until one has to be heading around a field. We did exactly that and thought we were fine. Doubts crept in when we passed a grove with young olive trees and a house. When we ended up on a tarmac road we knew we had taken a bad turn. After the old oak tree we only took lefts, which conforms to the description, so we still don’t know what went wrong. Maybe the path along the olive grove is new? With help of the i-phone we took the tarmac road leading away from the village and reached the Belvedere viewpoint with the picnic area some 15 minutes later. The “warning” in the description is a bit overdone, even for the two 79 year olds in our group. We than tracked back our way and reached the village in another 20 minutes to find shelter from the Mistral in the car.
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