Tour of Serre des Champs

An easy hike in the hills above Vesseaux, where you will discover a few hamlets. Beautiful views of the mountains and surrounding villages. The route passes through beautiful chestnut groves and cherry orchards. Best seen in autumn when the chestnut trees change colour or in spring when the cherry trees are in bloom.

Details

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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 7.19 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 40 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 205 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 208 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 448 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 261 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Park in the car park on the edge of Liopoux.

(S/E) Leave the car park towards the village centre without crossing the bridge on the left. Continue following the white-yellow markings.

Take the first street on the left, which leads to a small square. Leave this square via the covered passageway, go around the church and take the Paved Slanting Street du Portail, taking a look at the Romanesque porch of the church as you pass. After a covered passageway, turn left to descend towards the Liopoux, which you will follow upstream via a path on the left bank.

(1) At the Fontaine des Chaberts, leave the signs that go up to the right and continue along the Liopoux. After about 100 m, cross it at the easiest point (lots of flat rocks and very little water).
Continue along the right bank until you reach a small, recently restored barn. Then take a paved slanting street (signposted La Charrière) which climbs up to the left next to a small stream.

After passing a barely visible path on the right, you will reach the end of the tarmac road. Take a path on the right to cross over to another road (Chemin des Souliers). Here you will find white and yellow markings, which you should follow. Take the road on the right and, 50 metres further on, turn left onto Chemin des Mazades. Continue straight ahead along a path until you reach a road, which you should take on the right.

(2) At the junction with a larger road, turn left and then, before a hairpin bend, take a path on the right that crosses it. Take the road on the right, pass a house on the left and then turn left onto a path. At the top of the path, follow the road on the left and you will arrive at a small pass.

(3) At the junction, turn left towards "Saint-Julien-du-Serre". Still following the markings, turn right at the next junction. Ignore the other paths on the right marked on the map but not passable. After a right-hand bend, the path passes between two large meadows and leads to a junction.

(4) Leave the signposts and take the leftmost path, which continues along the meadow. Continue along this path, which goes around the hill and offers beautiful views of the Luol valley. Pass a path on your right that leads to the rear. After passing under some rocks, you will reach a road.

(5) Turn right, then immediately right again onto a path. After a double bend, the path becomes a tarmac road. Follow this road to the hamlet of Le Chomeil and pass under the arches. You will find white and yellow markings again.

(6) After leaving the hamlet, at the hiking sign, turn left towards Vesseaux, then immediately left onto a path that descends straight down to the road. Follow the road to the left.

(7) Just after the bridge over the stream, turn left onto a path that leads to the hamlet of Les Barras.
Take the road on the left that crosses the hamlet. After 250 m, turn right onto a path that is difficult to see due to roadworks on the access road to new houses. Follow the markings carefully. Cross a road and then take the next road on the left.

(8) At the first crossroads, take the road on the left and then, 50 metres further on, a path on the right. At the fork, turn right towards "Vesseaux", go down to the bridge and turn right to reach the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 264 m - Car park on the edge of Liopoux
  2. 1 : km 0.57 - alt. 269 m - Fontaine des Chaberts
  3. 2 : km 1.71 - alt. 381 m - Turn left onto the road
  4. 3 : km 2.36 - alt. 441 m - On the left
  5. 4 : km 3.42 - alt. 426 m - Turn left along the meadow
  6. 5 : km 4.33 - alt. 415 m - Path on the left, near the - Luol (cours d'eau) - Affluent de l'Ardèche
  7. 6 : km 5.07 - alt. 361 m - On the left, towards Vesseaux
  8. 7 : km 5.65 - alt. 322 m - Path on the left after the stream
  9. 8 : km 6.77 - alt. 294 m - Road on the left then path on the right
  10. S/E : km 7.19 - alt. 264 m - Car park on the edge of Liopoux

Notes

To get to the starting point from Aubenas, take the first road on the left, "Vesseaux Centre". There is a car park immediately on the left, along the Liopoux.
- 10/10/2019. The path along the edge of the Liopoux is no longer closed.
- 05/06/2022. Following a comment from a visitor, the route and description after the point (7) have been modified to avoid passing through a small cul-de-sac clearly marked "Private road".

Worth a visit

The village of Vesseaux was once fortified, hence the name: Le Fort (The Fort) for the neighbourhood around the church.
The Romanesque porch of the church dates from the 12th century. It was moved to an unusual position on the north wall following an extension to the church. The bell tower with its coloured tiles dates from the 19th century.

All around Le Serre des Champs, you can see well-maintained chestnut groves, some of which contain very old trees. Chestnuts are the livelihood of those who work them, so please do not pick them, as it is forbidden.

Reviews and comments

4.3 / 5
Based on 24 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.3 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.4 / 5
Route interest
4.2 / 5
Quounot
Quounot

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 04, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A rather pleasant hike, which we did with two dogs, kept on a leash in the "urbanised" areas. After point 1, follow the stream and cross it a little further than the indicated route

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07Chris
07Chris

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 15, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant, easy walk. Varied terrain with some views of the Aubenas hills. Very little tarmac.
We did not follow the signs, but only the GPS route.

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dandomi07
dandomi07

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 05, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk with beautiful views, a few tarmac paths but not too many. The route takes you along the many paved slanting streets that linked the village of Vesseaux to the hamlets.

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pb07
pb07

Thank you, VERSEUX, for your comment. After checking on site, I saw that there was clearly a "Private Road" sign that wasn't there before... So, to avoid any issues, I changed the route and description to follow the marked route. The downside is that, for the moment, the path has been somewhat "eaten away" by the construction of new houses.

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VERSEUX
VERSEUX

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 18, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

After point 7, in the village, the path takes a private road. We went through anyway, despite comments from a resident.

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levycyril
levycyril

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 03, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk, no particular difficulties. The markings on the ground sometimes differ from the map, but it's easy to find your way.
The views from Serre des Champs are very beautiful.

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dougere
dougere

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 05, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

A pleasant, unpretentious stroll

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DENVERS
DENVERS

Overall rating : 2 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 26, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

As with the two previous routes, there is a lack of signage, especially at road and path junctions – a lack of clarity and precision, and a lack of landmarks to explain the route. This is stressful, given the curfew (6 p.m.) and the fear of wasting time.

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titimoa
titimoa

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 14, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

a lovely, easy walk with views throughout
gPX track useful in some places

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jcmp3
jcmp3

Sorry, but the downloaded hikes could not be completed due to bad weather.
Kind regards.
Jc Corbalan

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The user account associated with this content has been deleted.

Manel07
Manel07

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 15, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A very pleasant, easy walk around Vesseaux, completed in 2 hours and 15 minutes on this beautiful Sunday in September. The figs we found along the way were delicious, and the first colours of autumn brightened up the landscape. Thank you.
Please note: the path is closed just outside Vesseaux along the Lipoux. The lack of water allowed us to follow the stream bed.

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dromois57
dromois57

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 08, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A beautiful walk among cherry orchards (full of cherries) and chestnut trees.
It's a shame that the path often disappears into the tall grass.
Apart from that, there's a bit too much road.

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JUDDITH
JUDDITH

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : May 14, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : Not used / Not applicable
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

Good accuracy in the description of the route, which makes it easy to find your way around; first part uphill, flat section at the pass, then second part downhill, a bit monotonous; lots of new houses built in the trees, which makes them discreet, but the walk is almost entirely in an urban environment!

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baboutravel
baboutravel

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 12, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Very well-described walk; follow the directions and map carefully as there are several places where you can go wrong.
It is longer than indicated, I would say at least 1-1.5 km longer. But pedometers...
varied landscapes, beautiful paved slanting streets, lovely views of the valley; a perfect walk, thank you!

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