Camprieu trail
Vallée du Trévezel
Vallée du Trévezel - Michel Monnot
Saint-Sauveur-Camprieu

Camprieu trail

Agriculture and livestock farming
Forest
History and culture
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A hike through a very varied landscape but focused on the forest that was created by the large reforestation programme begun in the late 19th century.
Today, the big trees that cover the slopes seem to always have been there. And yet in 1864, when the French state forestry service began reforesting the mountain, which looked like a giant landslide, the inhabitants of Camprieu disagreed. Slowly, they were persuaded that the work was urgent.

6 points of interest

  • Le chemin des morts
    Le chemin des morts - nathalie.thomas
    History

    The Path of the Dead

    In the Middle Ages and until 1870, the Catholic village of Camprieu had neither church nor cemetery. “Its inhabitants therefore went to the hamlet of Saint-Sauveur de Pourcils. To transport their dead to the remote cemetery, they had to take the ‘Path of the Dead’. They carried the coffins on their backs and, at every rest stop, recited the prayer De Profundis. Funeral processions stopped using the path in summer 1872. That year, the village of Camprieu finally obtained its own cemetery. But the name has stuck: “the Path of the Dead”.
  • Le lavoir des Monts
    Le lavoir des Monts - Béatrice Galzin
    Agriculture

    Les Monts wash house

    The wash house in Les Monts still has running water but the washerwomen have disappeared for good. The site is magical. The water is clear enough for dragonflies to lay their eggs in and for birds to drink
  • Montée au col du Suquet
    Montée au col du Suquet - nathalie.thomas
    Landscape

    Col du Suquet pass

    You are at the highest point of the hike. On the right bank of the Dourbie, the path crosses a sheer slope that is alternatively made up of zones of solid granite and other zones where it has decomposed due to weathering into coarse granitic sand. To the south, the views encompass the entire Lingas massif, a high wooded plateau overlooking, further south, the region around Le Vigan and the Languedocian plain.
  • abris au col des Ubertes
    abris au col des Ubertes - Nathalie Thomas
    History

    The forestry labourers’ shelter

    Deep inside the forest, you will soon see a little house. From the 19th to the early 20th century, it gave shelter to the forestry labourers in charge of reforesting the mountain. The work site was too far from a proper foresters’ house to get back there every evening, especially since the working day was long. There was no question then of working only 35 or even 40 hours a week! The trees were planted one by one using a pickaxe; the daily minimum agreed on was 100 trees per man per day. A total of 68 million were planted…
  • La fougère aigle
    La fougère aigle - Béatrice Galzin
    Natural environment

    The hidden life of the forest

    Trees grow upwards towards the light while mosses benefit from their shade on the ground and spread out. Like soft cushions or carpets, they hug everything that sticks out of the ground, such as old tree stumps. This soft felted surface is pleasing to see, and an undergrowth without mosses would not be worthy of the name. Legend has it that mosses show which way is north. Wrong!
    Mosses indicate a degree of moisture; they protect the soil from drying out by retaining every last drop of dew. They prepare pockets of humus for the future occupants: grasses and herbaceous plants. They also love the damp of tree trunks and can grow there, on the side that is most exposed to the prevailing rains.
  • Sous bois du Trévezel
    Sous bois du Trévezel - Béatrice Galzin
    Natural environment

    The Mont Aigoual forest

    “Aigoual, Forêt d’Exception”
    The French Forestry Office, which manages state forests, launched a programme in 2013 called “Aigoual, Forêt d’Exception” (Aigoual: An Exceptional Forest) with the aim of highlighting the massif’s natural and cultural heritage. The Forestry Office thus tries to foreground the different aspects of its multi-facetted management: production, protection and receiving visitors. One key aspect of this approach, which complements other initiatives by local actors, is to improve visitors’ experience in the forest.

Description

Signposts will guide you all along this route, as well as yellow painted waymarks. In the description below, the signposted place names and/or directions are given in bold italics between quotation marks:

Start in Camprieu, from the car park at the gymnasium. Walk to “Camprieu – La croix Basse”, then  “La Croix Haute”, “La Clédette”, “La passerelle de Bramabiau”.
  1. At “La passerelle de Bramabiau”, take the track on the left to “Conduite Forcées”.
  2. At “Conduite Forcées”, head for “Les Monts” via “La Matte” and “La Combelle”.
  3. Walk through the village of “Les Monts” and, as you leave, take the path opposite that goes uphill towards “Col du Suquet”, via “Valat de Malbosc“ and then the road to “La Roque”.
  4. At “La Roque”, take the path on the left that joins a track, to “Col du Suquet” via “Le Vieux Hêtre”.
  5. At “Col du Suquet”, take the track on the left towards “Camprieu via “Col des Ubertes”, “Tédounès”, “Terondel”.
  6. At the signpost for “Terondel”, continue on the road to “Camprieu” via “Tailladette”, “Maison du Bois”, “Tabarde”, “Le Cros”.
  • Departure : Gymnasium in Camprieu
  • Arrival : Gymnasium in Camprieu
  • Towns crossed : Saint-Sauveur-Camprieu and Dourbies

Forecast


Altimetric profile


Recommandations

Before committing yourself to a circuit, ensure that it is suitable for your activity level and ability. Remember that the weather changes quickly in the mountains. Take enough water.

Information desks

Tourism & national parc'house

Col de la Serreyrède, 30570 Val d'Aigoual

https://www.sudcevennes.commaisondelaigoual@sudcevennes.com04 67 82 64 67

The Maison de l'Aigoual houses the tourism office Mont Aigoual Causses Cévennes and the Maison du Parc national. This visitor centre provides information on and raises awareness of the Cévennes National Park, its sites and events as well as the rules that must be observed in the National Park's central zone.

On site: changing exhibitions, video projections, Festival Nature events and shop Open year-round

Find out more

Tourism office Mont Aigoual Causses Cévennes, Valleraugue

7 quartier des Horts, 30570 Valleraugue

https://www.sudcevennes.comvalleraugue@sudcevennes.com04 67 64 82 15

This office is part of the National Park's associated tourist-information network, whose mission is to provide information on, and raise awareness of, the sites and events as well as the rules that must be observed in the National Park's central zone. : Open year-round

Find out more

Transport

liO is the regional public transport service of the Occitanie/ Pyrénées – Méditerranée region. It facilitates everyone’s movements by prioritising public transport. For more information, call 08 10 33 42 73 or go to www.laregion.fr
(in term time).

Access and parking

From Meyrueis or Valleraugue, take the D 986 towards St-Sauveur-Camprieu.

Parking :

At the gymnasium in Camprieu

Calculateur d'itinéraire Lio

Utilisez le calculateur liO pour organiser votre trajet en région Occitanie.

Autres régions

Calculez votre itinéraire en Auvergne Rhône Alpes sur Oùra


Source

CC Causses Aigoual Cévennes Terres Solidaireshttp://www.caussesaigoualcevennes.fr/
Parc national des Cévenneshttp://www.cevennes-parcnational.fr/
Pôle Nature Aigoual

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