Tour of Pech-Céleyran - Moulin du Pech

A stroll starting the Coursan community hall between the Aude River and Pech-Céleyran. Lovely views of the plains, the Montagne Noire and the Pyrenees, from the peak. Passing by the Moulin du Pech mill.

Technical sheet

210608
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 9.35 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 50 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Return to departure point: Yes
  • ↗
    Vertical gain: + 58 m
  • ↘
    Vertical drop: - 58 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 64 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 4 m

Photos

Description of the walk

The start is at the village of Coursan in the car park between the stadium and the community hall.

(S/F) Take the paved road between the stadium and the public gardens. At the ford head along the treatment plant on the right. After the station, turn right and continue until you cross a stone path. Turn left.

(1) At the crossing, take the right path towards the mill, reach a crossroads of paths.

(2) Go straight between Le Pech and the vineyards.

(3) 400 m after the power lines, turn left between the hedge and the vines sand reach the right bank of the Aude (small shed beside the river).

(4) Turn right along the river, passing a small iron bridge and a poplar plantation.

(5) Take the dirt road to the right perpendicular to the Aude facing a grove of trees (the route of the path on the IGN map is incorrect, the path is actually located slightly to the east). At the grove, turn right and then immediately left. Reach a paved road, turn right. Leave the paved road to the right and continue straight to the sewage treatment plant of Salles d'Aude. Continue past the plant for 100 m, then take the paved road that goes left for 50 m.

(6) Turn right, reach a vineyard and head around it to the right. Take a small path to the right through a field leading to the dirt road visible uphill opposite. Take this road to the left to the next crossroads.

(7) Turn 180° to the right, head along the vine and climb up to the corner angle of the latter. Turn left and follow the edge of the vineyard to the next crossroads. At the statue of the Virgin Mary, turn right and continue as far as a T-junction at another vineyard.

(8) Head around it to the right to get past it. A few metres before the start of this vineyard, turn right between the vines and scrubland to reach the dirt road. Turn right and go down straight ahead through the vineyards to reach a perpendicular dirt road. Turn right in the direction of the Moulin de Céleyran. Just before the little iron gate, turn left and head through the bushes for 30 m to get to the mill.

(9) Head down to the vineyard and along it on its right. At the end, take the dirt road on the right to reach the crossroads from the outbound route.

(2) Head left to return to the outbound path (1) and return to the car park (S/F).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 6 m - Multi-purpose hall car park
  2. 1 : km 0.75 - alt. 7 m - Three-way junction, turn right
  3. 2 : km 1.39 - alt. 7 m - Crossroads, go straight on
  4. 3 : km 2.13 - alt. 6 m - Turn 90° to the left
  5. 4 : km 2.65 - alt. 5 m - Cabanon, follow the river to the right - Aude (fleuve)
  6. 5 : km 3.24 - alt. 6 m - Turn right 100m after the poplars
  7. 6 : km 4.11 - alt. 15 m - turn right onto a path leading up to a vineyard
  8. 7 : km 4.45 - alt. 36 m - Crossing, turn right 180
  9. 8 : km 5.14 - alt. 54 m - Turn right and go all the way round the vineyard
  10. 9 : km 7.71 - alt. 19 m - Moulin du Pech
  11. S/E : km 9.35 - alt. 6 m - Multi-purpose hall car park

Practical information

You can enjoy a picnic on arrival. Tables and benches in the playground next to the community hall.

In the nearby area

(8) This is the highest point with a beautiful view.
The river Aude.
The Pech-Céleyran mill.

Reviews and comments

3.7 / 5
Based on 11 reviews

Reliability of the description
3.6 / 5
Clarity of route map
3.8 / 5
Route interest
3.6 / 5
minanos
minanos

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Oct 20, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : Yes

A pleasant walk through vineyards and historic villages. Little shade in summer...

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Christian DUVIC
Christian DUVIC

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Oct 14, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Busy trail : No

Easy, flat route with an easy climb through the vineyards, well signposted, with beautiful views over the Aude valley.

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jivais11
jivais11

it's true that the high-voltage line was laid in 2020. it's been a long time since I've done this tour and "nature" has had to reclaim its right !!!! sorry.

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Alfieredone
Alfieredone

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of walk : Oct 07, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Clarity of route map : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Busy trail : No

An interesting walk on paper. On the ground, it was more chaotic. Right from the start, there was a lot of confusion about the distance between the high-voltage line and the bend towards the Aude... then, on several occasions, we lost the trail (a large ditch between two vineyards, near the oratory; then on the way back from the loop around the vineyard the 180° path is difficult to access, with large stones blocking the way, but fortunately visible). It's a shame, because without these pitfalls the walk would have been very interesting. Thank you for posting it, though, as the mill is magnificent. Sincerely

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claude.duthoo
claude.duthoo

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Jan 19, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Lovely walk, well signposted, beautiful scenery, impressive canyons

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jivais11
jivais11

Hello,
I am quite surprised by the comments on this hike. Certainly, the notifications are not excellent, but all the people around me who have done this circuit have appreciated it. As the author of this hike, I would like to tell you that I am not a specialist and that I try to share the hikes I do in the area. With a simple map, you can't go wrong...
Best regards.

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bibi
bibi ★

Sorry for the bad adventure, I find the notation a bit harsh... I've just corrected the distance between the high-voltage line and the junction. It was indeed just over 300m, but I've indicated 400m.
Sincerely

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lucky34
lucky34

Overall rating : 1 / 5

Date of walk : May 03, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Clarity of route map : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Route interest : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing

the person who traced the route of this hike should not have done it because it was so badly explained the little hut is nowhere to be found the 300 metres in relation to the high voltage line is wrong, then there is no tarmac path finally this so called hike is useless and I don't recommend it.cordially

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lauvergnate
lauvergnate

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of walk : Mar 07, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

At point 3 the vineyard was flooded so we went straight to point 6 and continued on the tricky route between 6 and 7.

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gazok54
gazok54 ★

Thanks Momo34
You have to assume that when you hike with Visorando, you do so without signposting. The latter is not necessarily well maintained in places, so it's the description and the map that should be taken as a reference.
Now, if any information is missing from the description, we can intervene.

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Momo34
Momo34

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of walk : Mar 17, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

obviously there are no signs, the only landmarks are the vines, and there are only vines here.....there was a very muddy section shortly after the start, which almost forced us to turn back.....
to reach the return path, we had to pass between the barbed wire of a fence.....not very conclusive!

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davidjourde
davidjourde

OK, no worries, we had a great walk anyway with beautiful sunshine, it's just that we missed the path at junction three, but we ended up finding everything again. Thank you for your site

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bibi
bibi ★

Thank you for your feedback, but neither the author nor visorando can mark out the routes on the site. Sometimes certain routes are proposed by tourist offices or other organisations that use waymarked paths, but the majority of routes are unmarked, hence the description, which is intended to be as precise as possible so as not to lose the hiker.
Yours sincerely

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davidjourde
davidjourde

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of walk : Jan 06, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

We more or less managed to follow the signs, but even a brief signposting would not be a bad idea! We missed point 3.

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Riquet640
Riquet640

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Mar 30, 2016
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A very nice route. Be careful at junction 3 if you don't have a GPS, the descent through the vineyards is not easy.
Not to be done after a day of rain. Sandy ground in places between Aude and Vignes.
Thank you for this tour.

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