Tourves: Saint-Probace - Caramy Gorges

A beautiful hike in the hills of Tourves.
A remarkable view over the Saint-Maximin plains and the mountain La Loube.
Wonderful opportunity to discover and tour the Saint-Probace Chapel

Technical sheet

69896
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 8.33 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 10 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Return to departure point: Yes
  • ↗
    Vertical gain: + 274 m
  • ↘
    Vertical drop: - 265 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 514 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 274 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Parking is available at the entrance of the Caramy Gorges. To get there take Route du Stade de Tourves then head in the direction of La Roquette/Caramy.
The hike begins by taking the road to Tourves for 750 m.
On this paved road to Tourves, take the second path on the left (the first path goes to the chapel but along a steep incline)
(1) At the old fish farm, pass by the small trails to the right and left, continue on this path to the pilgrimage route of Saint-Probace.

(2) This path leads us a steep hill to the chapel with admirable view of Tourves and Saint-Maximin in the north, and the Loube, and the Sainte-Baume in the south.
Continue straight on the path along the ridge with its breathtaking scenery.
Head down this road until you cross the “Bergerie de Sayou” sheepfold with a track. A General Council signpost shows 83 different destinations.

(3) Turn left towards “Tourves par les Gorges du Caramy".
At the next intersection, turn right and after the steep path head left on a small path.
Leave the trail to the left and get on a track at a new signpost.
Turn left and begin the descent into the rocky, steep gorges to reach the Caramy the Crossroads at Three Oaks.

(4) Turn left and go down following the course of the river along the path to reach a the “Les Rimbert” farm house.
Do not hesitate to borrow fishermen’s trails to approach the Caramy.
Take the wide trail to the Roman bridge “Pont de Cassède”.
The car park is 50 m further on.

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 275 m - Car park at the entrance to the Gorges du - Caramy (rivière)
  2. 1 : km 0.74 - alt. 276 m - Leaving the tarmac road
  3. 2 : km 0.91 - alt. 302 m
  4. 3 : km 1.78 - alt. 348 m - Pilgrimage route
  5. 4 : km 2.61 - alt. 504 m - Chapel of St-Probace
  6. 5 : km 4.38 - alt. 403 m - Bergerie de Sayou. Fork to the left. Track
  7. 6 : km 4.65 - alt. 442 m - Left fork
  8. 7 : km 5.16 - alt. 412 m - Left fork. Track
  9. 8 : km 5.79 - alt. 340 m - Carrefour des Trois Chênes
  10. 9 : km 6.93 - alt. 298 m - Farm : Les Rimbert
  11. S/E : km 8.33 - alt. 275 m - Car park at the entrance to the Gorges du - Caramy (rivière)

Practical information

No drinking water refill point.

A hermit (Brother Séraphin) lives in Saint-Probace chapel.
He can open the chapel up for you and may even invite you to picnic with him in his garden. He is very welcoming and will share your meal.

In the nearby area

Chapelle Saint-Probace.
Swimming in Le Caramy.

Reviews and comments

4.5 / 5
Based on 147 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.4 / 5
Clarity of route map
4.4 / 5
Route interest
4.7 / 5
SBNT
SBNT

To put it simply :
follow the yellow PR route and you'll be fine.
You can, of course, do it in any direction you like.
Enjoy the walk!

Automatically translated

dougere
dougere

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Apr 24, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

Very nice walk. Brother Sérafin opened the chapel to us and explained its history. The panorama is superb. We followed the route as described, but if we did it again, we wouldn't go down to point 5, go up to 6 and then back down to 7. We would keep to the yellow-marked ridge path that goes off to the left before 5 and rejoin the route described just before 7. Work is underway to improve the gorges from the car park to the Rimbert farm. I think there will be even more people along the river in summer.

Automatically translated

Roland1fois
Roland1fois

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Nov 10, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

We did some reconnaissance in the direction of the topo and then in the opposite direction with the hiking group to find ourselves at the top, in the sun, for the picnic break. Quite an easy hike, very pleasant.
The gorge car park is closed for repairs until January.
Thanks

Automatically translated

jolo07
jolo07

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Jun 20, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

It was a lovely walk, especially as the Caramy was full of water following the previous week's rain!

Automatically translated

Fci
Fci
• Last modified:

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : May 26, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : Yes

Difficult starting point to find. The description should be changed. A very fine walk, not very difficult, with magnificent views of the Sainte-Baume, the Sainte Victoire and the Loube on the first part. The second part is a very pleasant walk in the shade along the Caramy.

Automatically translated

squale1953
squale1953

I'm correcting the description to improve the start of this walk.

Automatically translated

lemarcheur65
lemarcheur65 ★
• Last modified:

Hello kitty64

You wrote :
It's not easy to find the starting point. I had indicated Chemin des Grès on my GPS and we finally arrived at the car park at the start of the walk, at the end of a dead-end road.

Why not use the app to get to the start of the walk?
=> Go to the start

Automatically translated

kitty64
kitty64

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Apr 24, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

I found the walk very pleasant, with a wide variety of landscapes along the way.
The starting point is not easy to find. I had indicated Chemin des Grès on my GPS and we finally arrived at the car park at the start of the walk, at the end of a dead-end road. The rest of the route is fairly easy to follow, except for the fork to the left, on a very small path, on a bend, on a climb, where you tend to look at your feet!
And surprise, when we arrived at St Probace, after sweating a bit, we discovered a magnificent viewpoint and the Hermit, who heard us coming, opened the door of the Chapel to show us around! The icing on the cake!
In spring, this walk is superb, because in the Caramy gorges the vegetation is a monochrome of green, there's a lot of water in the river and trees over a hundred years old, particularly plane trees! Very nice walk!

Automatically translated

Régis 83 et 05
Régis 83 et 05

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Apr 28, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : Yes

Very nice walk but a little disappointed by the lack of picturesque chapel

Automatically translated

Lucianoriol
Lucianoriol

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Apr 08, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

Lovely walk with lovely views on the (steep) ascent to the chapel and a beautiful descent into the Caramy gorges (which had a large flow on the day of the walk).
Don't follow Waze or Maps to get to the car park...just follow the directions in the information sheet.

Automatically translated

LNLam
LNLam

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Apr 14, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : Yes

Access to the starting point is complicated by the app. WAZE or Google Map. By clicking on the GPS point, they took us to a very stony dirt track on the other side of the stream. To be on the safe side, it's best to enter chemin des Grès in addition to the information provided by the web user.

Automatically translated

Pierre.C
Pierre.C

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Feb 04, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

Hello,
I'm copying/pasting a comment I wrote on 31 October (see below) because no changes have been made...
- and especially at point three, the path to take on the left after the steep slope is well before the top of the hill. It is marked in blue (but the markings are not very visible).
We've fixed on the indication "at the top of the steep path" and that's what's misleading us.
Please change your information.
Otherwise it's a great route!
Pierre

Automatically translated

symy
symy

Overall rating : 4.5 / 5

Date of walk : Nov 22, 2023
Reliability of the description : N/A
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

A very pretty and easy walk. At the chapel, we weren't lucky enough to come across the hermit, but 2 friendly cats who were only too happy to share our picnic. The walk along the river was very pleasant. We didn't put our feet in the water, which we would have been happy to do in summer.

Automatically translated

Lcha64
Lcha64

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Nov 07, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

You have to follow the tracks carefully to make sure you don't get lost.
It's a very pleasant walk, with alternating sections in the heath amidst thyme and rosemary and in the undergrowth.

Automatically translated

Thierrya83
Thierrya83

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of walk : Oct 30, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

A very pleasant and enjoyable route. A few clarifications:
- at point 1 the route is marked in yellow as far as the chapel (which makes it easier to follow).
- after the chapel, when you descend towards the Sayou sheepfold, leave a track with yellow marks on the left to continue straight on.
- At point three, the path to take on the left after the steep climb is well before the top of the hill. It is marked in blue (but the markings are not very visible).
Everything else is OK.

Automatically translated

Other walks in the area

For more walks, use our search engine .

The GPS track and description are the property of the author. Do not copy them without permission.