Valats des Oules and Font Bonne valley

In Gabriac, arriving from Sainte-Croix-Vallée-Française, park near a wooden hut and a picnic table. There is space for two or three cars, but no more, so as not to block access to the hut. Otherwise, there are parking spaces further up, near the school. The route is fully signposted and is known locally as the Sentier de Gabriac.

Yellow markings + painted wooden arrows marked Sentier

(S/E) On the other side of the street from the cabin, note the sign for the start of the hiking trail. Leaflets are available. Take the marked trail through the woods. Further on, ignore a trail on the right. Further on, pay attention: do not continue straight ahead, but turn onto a path that descends to the right. It leads to a footbridge over the Valat des Oules.

(1) Take this footbridge and continue with the stream on your right. At the T-junction, facing a dry stone wall, turn left. Follow the yellow markings up the winding path to reach an old road. Follow this road to the right to reach a wider road.

(2) Follow it to the left and arrive at the hamlet of Soulatge. A few metres after the entrance sign, follow the street on the left towards the Atelier la Muse de Jaracasse. At the fork in the road, keep right to arrive within sight of the houses in the hamlet.

(3) A few metres before the original gate of the first house, follow the path to the left. On this section, still in the undergrowth, follow the yellow markings carefully. The path leaves the undergrowth and continues along a balcony, with unobstructed views of the valley. Keep to the right at the two paths marked 'Sentier privé' (private path). You will arrive at the gate of a sheep park.

(4) Enter the field, closing the gate behind you, then descend the winding path (markings are not always present, so stay on the downhill path). Further down, go through another gate (close it behind you) then follow the gravel road to the left, which immediately turns right. Shortly afterwards, ignore the hairpin road that branches off to the left. Cross a bridge over the Valat des Oules and, about 50 metres further on, look out for the path to follow, which climbs to the right into another sheep park. Close the gates behind you. You will come to a road.

(5) Follow it to the right. At the right-hand bend in the road, continue straight ahead on the small road towards La Clède.

(6) At the right-hand bend in the road, turn left onto a path (not very visible when the grass is tall), with a beautiful view. About 80 metres further on, pay attention as the route turns sharply to the right, onto a rock that you have to climb down, without any difficulty, on your bottom. Shortly afterwards, cross a path and continue straight ahead. About 200 m further on, pay attention: just after passing a stream, you will come to an intersection of two paths (IGN map incomplete here).

(7) Both are marked with yellow markings. Go straight ahead and, shortly afterwards, turn left, following the Sentier signs. Cross several tributaries of the Valat de Bonne Fontaine on this section overlooking the valley and arrive at a wide path.

(8) Follow it to the left for a few metres, then take a path on the right, parallel to the track, and arrive at the hamlet of La Toureille. Cross it, going downhill and keeping generally to the left. Arrive at the access road and immediately take the path that branches off to the right. You will come to a path. Follow it straight ahead and, when you reach a ruin and an old chapel, leave the path and take a trail on the right (before the signpost indicating a right turn). You will come back to the path and follow it to the right to reach a road.

(9) Follow it to the left (the IGN map is incorrect here), passing below a large stone building, probably an old silkworm farm. Shortly afterwards, continue along the road when it bends to the left. You will arrive at the first house in Gabriac, where you will see the arrow pointing to the Sentier Retour à la Case Départ (Return to the Starting Point Trail) on its façade. Go down the steps on the right and continue along the path to quickly return to the car park (S/E).

Difficulty: Moderate, quite difficult in hot weather, difficult in rainy weather: be careful, wet shale is very slippery! Some very rocky slopes. Outside of the rainy season, stream crossings are easy, but be careful anyway! Some trails may be overgrown with vegetation.
Standard hiking attire, with long trousers and long sleeves, possibly with one or two walking sticks.

Discover more hikes in this area with a description or the Visorando app here

Photo album here

Alternating between trails in the woods and balcony trails overlooking the valleys.
Traditional houses in the hamlets you pass through.
Attractive directional signs created by schoolchildren from Gabriac under the guidance of local artist Sarah Fistol.
At the start, note the sign on the wooden hut, next to the picnic table.