Tour of Mont Serein via La Nauque from La Rouvière

A magnificent hike that takes you through history and mineral landscapes on the Vaucluse Plateau, with the special feature of climbing the Ribastié Watchtower with its 360° panorama of the southern Ventoux plain. Beautiful views of Ventoux and the villages of Venasque, then the ascent of Mont Serein.

Details

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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 14.36 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 5h 45 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 581 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 574 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 577 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 252 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Park near the hamlet of La Rouvière, at the intersection of the D4 and D177 roads, respectively the Route de Murs and the Route de Gordes.

(S/E) Take the yellowPR® marked trail in the field on the right before the Route de Gordes towards L'Agas - Camp Long. Pass in front of a cave, which serves as a sheepfold, a climbing site and a ruin, and reach the crossroads at the L'Agas sign.

(1) Continue to the right and you will soon reach theGR®91crossroads at the entrance to the hamlet of Camp Long.

(2) Turn left and descend the GR® 91, following the red and white markings. At the bottom of the descent, you will reach the Rieu crossroads.

(3) Turn almost 180° to the left to begin the climb. You will reach the Nauque farms.

(4) Take the paved slanting street on the left, which climbs quite steeply; this is theGR®. Leave it at the next marker. Take a few steps to the left to find a crossroads.

(5) Take the path on the right and continue to the hamlet of La Vachère. At the end of the hamlet, you will reach a Y-shaped crossroads.

(6) Take the paved slanting street on the left and continue up a steep climb to reach the Carroufra track junction.

(7) Take the path on the left and descend, following the yellow markings. You will reach the crossroads below the watchtower.

(8) Turn right to reach the top of the tower.

(9) Descend via the same path to the crossroads.

(8) Turn right onto the track and continue to the crossroads at La Lauze.

(10) Follow the balcony path that branches off to the right. Overlook the Fontaine du Rupt Gorges. Reach the Y-junction at La Genestière.

(11) Take thePR® trail on the left and arrive at the Mont Serein Sud signpost junction.

(12) Continue left and you will immediately come to the Mont Serein crossroads.

(13) Climb left to reach the summit of Mont Serein.

(14) Turn back and return to the previous crossroads.

(13) Now descend, turning left. Continue into the Combe de Capellan. At the bottom of the descent, you will reach the initial Agas crossroads that you passed on the way up.

(1) Turn right and complete the short climb to return to the car park in the hamlet of La Rouvière (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 358 m - Car park near the hamlet of La Rouvière.
  2. 1 : km 0.63 - alt. 320 m - L'Agas. Crossroads of the circular loop
  3. 2 : km 0.93 - alt. 327 m - Camp Long
  4. 3 : km 3.25 - alt. 252 m - Rieu
  5. 4 : km 3.97 - alt. 372 m - La Nauque
  6. 5 : km 4.32 - alt. 430 m - PR
  7. 6 : km 4.96 - alt. 424 m - La Vachère
  8. 7 : km 5.96 - alt. 577 m - Carroufra
  9. 8 : km 7.01 - alt. 530 m - Under the Watchtower
  10. 9 : km 7.16 - alt. 541 m - Tour de Guet
  11. 10 : km 7.81 - alt. 481 m - La Lauze
  12. 11 : km 9.59 - alt. 540 m - La Genestrière
  13. 12 : km 9.99 - alt. 536 m - Mont Serein Sud
  14. 13 : km 10.18 - alt. 541 m - Carrefour Mont Serein - Mont Serein 601m
  15. 14 : km 10.89 - alt. 577 m - Mont Serein 601m
  16. S/E : km 14.36 - alt. 360 m - Car park near the hamlet of La Rouvière.

Notes

Route proposed by Daniel Villanova de Sault on France-Bleue and completed by Daniel Ruf for Cimes et Sentiers on Thursday 14 December 2023 with 14 participants.

Worth a visit

A hike surrounded by cliffs, but also many signs of human presence.
(5) Visit to the remains of dwellings, including a rock wine vat, drystone shelters and a fountain.
(9) Watchtower: beautiful views of Ventoux and the villages of Venasque, Malemort du Contat, Blauvac, Carpentras, Mormoiron, Caromb, Bédoin, etc.
Highlights of this hike:
- terraced vineyards, drystone shelters, ruined farms, drovers' roads,
- superb landscapes in mineral terrain, no sea views,
- beautiful, jagged cliffs and superb valleys.

Always be cautious and plan ahead when you're outdoors. Visorando and the author of this route cannot be held responsible for any accidents occurring on this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

Reviews and comments

4.7 / 5
Based on 6 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.7 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.5 / 5
Route interest
4.8 / 5
Rainaud jm
Rainaud jm

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 28, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike with some slightly difficult sections in places. Best undertaken in dry weather.
Magnificent views.

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Marie Meulle
Marie Meulle

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 30, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A beautiful, easy circular route in good weather. We completed the entire circular route from point 11 in 4 hours and 15 minutes. The view of the valley, Mont Ventoux and the Monts du Vaucluse is stunning.

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Odette84240
Odette84240

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 24, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

The trip to Mount Serein and back is uninteresting because there are no views to compare with those from the watchtower.

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jeani84
jeani84

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 10, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Beautiful hike, the descent after Mont Serein seemed very difficult to me, I'm afraid of heights!!! But I did it.

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jeani84
jeani84

Beautiful hike, very pleasant; the descent at the end of the hike is very tricky and slippery. I'm going to try it in reverse. No problem following the route.

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lolopat84
lolopat84

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 06, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Very pleasant hike, easy route to follow, beautiful scenery, fairly tricky descent down the Combe des Capellans, stony and slippery path.

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Jacky Anx
Jacky Anx

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 26, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very beautiful rock-cut wine vat and magnificent watchtower

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AUDO13
AUDO13

Hello, is the hike fully signposted or not? Thank you.

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