Batère Tower via the Col de Formentera

From Amélie-les-Bains-Palalda, take the D618 road to the village of Taulis. In Taulis, do not enter the village but continue to the exit, opposite the church, and park on the left in a raised car park with plenty of spaces.

(S/E) Go to the end of the car park and go down a few steps to return to the road. Cross the road and follow it downhill in the opposite direction on a footpath marked with white paint.

Yellow signposting

(1) At the next pedestrian crossing, cross the road and take the concrete lane with red bricks marking the centre (a beautiful feature that you will follow throughout the climb through the village; hats off to the workers who did this work).

(2) Cross the paved road at Col de Formentère and take the path opposite, which is somewhat overgrown. Walk along private property with mobile homes and go through a wooden gate. You will arrive back on the Col de Formentère trail. Turn right, following the signs, and immediately after, leave the trail by turning left into a narrow passage that leads to a pasture. The passage has recently been cleared, making it easy to follow the newly marked path. The trail heads south-west and then turns south. Go through a fence and rejoin the Route du Col de Formentère, now a DFCI track. The trail continues through pastures, passes a watering place and, after going through another fence, rejoins the track called Route du Col de Formentère.

(3) Cross this stony track, take the path opposite which leads under a high-voltage power line, follow it for about 350 m, then leave it and arrive at a new track. Follow it to the right for about 60 metres. Throughout the climb, enjoy beautiful views of the slopes of the Canigou Massif.

(4) Locate the path that climbs to the left (signpost hidden by a tree) and follow it, passing under the high-voltage power line again to rejoin a track. Cross it and continue climbing through woods and then pastures to find the Col de Formentera track (elevation 1133). At the pass, cross the electric fence through a "saloon-style" opening in the track and turn right. Follow the track for a few metres.

Yellow/red signposts

(5) Turn left (sign) to take the path that leads to the Tour de Batère. More magnificent views of the villages of La Bastide and Valmanya to the north. The marked path (GRP® Ronde du Canigou) continues to climb through the undergrowth in a beautiful beech forest to reach the Col de Bufador (elevation 1336).

(6) Climb steadily up a grassy track towards the north-west and then west. From this change of direction, you can see the Tour de Batère, the end point of the hike, and the slopes of the Canigou Massif, which form a very pretty picture. Descend towards the stony track which then climbs back up to the tower. Go around the tower along the track. Take the path (altitude 1424) which climbs to the west of the Tour de Batère or Torre de Batera.

(7) This beautiful structure is a signal tower that was part of a system that functioned as a military communication network throughout the Middle Ages. Take the same route back to Taulis (S/E).

(7) The Batère Tower was built at the end of the period of the Kings of Majorca around 1340. Its purpose was to strengthen the kingdom's defences against the threat posed by the King of Aragon. It then played a pivotal role as a "network hub" with the Tower of Far (Tautavel), where information from the other towers converged and from where everything was sent to the command post in Castelnou and beyond to Perpignan.