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Access to Prugnanes (accommodation in season) is possible by public transport at 1€, but transport plus the day hiking seems impossible. Prugnanes is a gateway to the famous Sentier Cathare GR®367A, GR®36, GRP® Tour des Fenouillèdes. Park in the hiker's car park on the left, after passing the Gîte d'étape Benjamin on your right.
White and Red markings of the GR® - GRP®.
(S/E) From the car park, return to the access road and turn left at the Gîte d'étape. Multiple signposts. Follow this wide, uphill track for about 1 km. Look for a signpost on the left.
(1) Leave the track and go left, north-east, steeply uphill through low vegetation. Much higher up, in a clearing, join a path (PR®) coming from the right.
(2) Continue straight ahead, for precisely 1 km, still following the white and red markings, until you reach a fork in the road. Small directional sign planted on a tree on the left.
(3) From this junction, the gpx trace can be useful as far as the Bergerie dal Fangot. On the left, ignore a path leading uphill (PR®). Continue straight ahead. 300 m further on, pass a cross (tomb) on your right. Follow the signs to a large clearing (ruin of the Bergerie du Plat de Lagal). Pay attention: many paths more or less marked with plastic signs.
Unmarked. Various signs.
(4) Leave the white and red markings. Head due north on a track. Pass the ruin and turn due west to reach a good, narrow but passable track. Follow it to the left for less than a hundred metres. Pay attention: You'll have to leave the blocked and forbidden track a few metres further on.
(5) Take the path to the left, which climbs, into Passage Michel, a cleared path (observed October 2024) to avoid the Mathibets.
(6) Rejoin the track abandoned earlier and continue left uphill, due west. Arrive in a grazing area below the Roc de Chalabre on your right, at the end of the very passable track.
(7) Turn left, flat, then veer due west again, uphill on a forest track. Continue in this direction for approximately 1.2 km.
(8) At around 850 m altitude, turn sharp left, south-east, up a track, still in the forest. Continue in this direction uphill, ignoring the first track to the right at about 885 m altitude. Cross the 864 mark at an intersection, and continue straight ahead for 150 m, flat, until you reach another track intersection at around 865 m altitude.
(9) Turn right up this track, due south through the forest. Arrive in a vast, open area and, via an east-facing curve, join a track leading to Roc Paradet, clearly visible by its cross. Vast 360° panorama. View as far as Ariège.
White and Red markings GR®36 -GR®367A - GRP®° Tour des Fenouillèdes
(10) Go back down the same track for a few hundred metres and head left south-west, first flat, then quickly uphill and downhill. Enter the forest, then come to a fork in the road. Old wooden signposts.
Unmarked
(11) Turn left southeast on a narrow path. Very quickly, turn right downhill towards Caudiès. Continue on this small, almost flat path. Signpost. It's possible to visit the first cave on the left. Reach another fork in the road. Signpost.
(12) Turn left, through the forest, to a large, superb cave. After exploring it, turn back. Return to the small path and continue left, then turn due east to reach a fork in the forest. Pay attention: You'll have to turn 90° into the woods.
No signage or markings.
(13) Go down this narrow path, well marked on the ground and running alongside a stream. The GPS trace is correct. (The IGN map is not correct).
Tip: the path is not easy, especially at the end of the forest. Take the time to stop and enjoy the beautiful scenery.
After a steep descent, you reach a road in a vast area that used to be a quarry. Follow this road to the left for around 100 m. Water tank on the right.
(14) Turn sharp left on the track which climbs a little before descending towards the village (S/E).
