Les Escorces
Saint-Jean-du-Gard
Yellow waymarksNetwork
Les Escorces
Medium
Difficulty2h30
Duration5,9km
Distance+327m
Positive Elevation-327m
Negative ElevationLoop
Course typeYellow waymarksEmbed this item to access it offline
Conquer the hillside of Les Escorces on drystone staircases built into the abandoned faïsses (crop terraces), which were once planted with olive trees and vines.
3 points of interest
HistoryAlbin Mercoiret
Today, he would be over 100 years old. All the inhabitants of St Jean remember this self-taught man, a fervent Protestant, town counsellor, founder of the tourist office, and a butcher by profession. Always smiling in his blue overalls, as solid as the vine stock that he regularly went up the hill to look after, pushing his wheelbarrow and followed by his few sheep. When he wanted to take the train, he sent his children ahead to let the stationmaster know that he would be arriving. Then he walked through the small town greeting his acquaintances while in the distance the locomotive’s whistle sounded impatiently – but the train never left without him.- History
The neighbourhood of La Grand'Vigne
In the second half of the 20th century, the whole neighbourhood of La Grand'Vigne was transformed. At the time, it ranged up the hill in levels to the edge of the chestnut groves, and was covered in olive trees and vies. Every family owned a few acres of terraced land enabling it to produce oil and wine, including from Clinton grapes imported from the United States in the late 19th century. It was illegal to sell wine made from this variety on the grounds that it was dangerous for the nervous system. 
ArchitectureThe faïsses (crop terraces)
With no other means than their tenacious will, back and legs, local smallholders built and rebuilt the low walls and levelled the soil that torrential rains regularly swept away. They tirelessly used the staircases in the supporting walls as many times as necessary, equipped with a cabusseau (a stuffed pack that protected the back), a terrairau (basket for carrying soil and stones) and of course the indispensable two-tined hoe, the bigot.
Description
Signposts will guide you all along this route. In the description below, the signposted place names and/or directions are given in bold italics between quotation marks:
1- Start from the car park in St-Jean du Gard. Walk in the direction of “Oppidum de Sueille”.
2- At the signpost for Saint-Jean du Gard, head towards “Oppidum de Sueille, 3,1 km”; the first 250m are on the D 907 road.
3- Turn left onto Chemin Albin Mercoiret and stay on it for 600 m (yellow waymarks), then take the cobblestoned path on the right that joins up with the road again. Turn right onto the road, then take the track on the left that turns into a path going uphill through the faïsses to Les Escorces rocks. Be careful: there is no parapet!
4- Turn left towards the pylon; walk around it on the right to reach a road that you leave after 100 m for a path on the left running along a fence. The path joins up with the road: go downhill on it.
5- At the signpost “Oppidum de Sueille”, continue downhill on the road towards “Saint-Jean du Gard 2.9 km” until you reach Saint-Jean du Gard.
This hike is taken from the guidebook Cévennes et Vallées des Gardons, autour d’Anduze et de St-Jean du Gard, published by the Communauté de communes Alès Agglomération as part of the collection Espaces Naturels Gardois and the label Gard Pleine Nature.
1- Start from the car park in St-Jean du Gard. Walk in the direction of “Oppidum de Sueille”.
2- At the signpost for Saint-Jean du Gard, head towards “Oppidum de Sueille, 3,1 km”; the first 250m are on the D 907 road.
3- Turn left onto Chemin Albin Mercoiret and stay on it for 600 m (yellow waymarks), then take the cobblestoned path on the right that joins up with the road again. Turn right onto the road, then take the track on the left that turns into a path going uphill through the faïsses to Les Escorces rocks. Be careful: there is no parapet!
4- Turn left towards the pylon; walk around it on the right to reach a road that you leave after 100 m for a path on the left running along a fence. The path joins up with the road: go downhill on it.
5- At the signpost “Oppidum de Sueille”, continue downhill on the road towards “Saint-Jean du Gard 2.9 km” until you reach Saint-Jean du Gard.
This hike is taken from the guidebook Cévennes et Vallées des Gardons, autour d’Anduze et de St-Jean du Gard, published by the Communauté de communes Alès Agglomération as part of the collection Espaces Naturels Gardois and the label Gard Pleine Nature.
- Departure : Saint-Jean du Gard
- Arrival : Saint-Jean du Gard
- Towns crossed : Saint-Jean-du-Gard
Forecast
Altimetric profile
Recommandations
Make sure your equipment is appropriate for the day’s weather conditions. Remember that the weather changes quickly in the mountains. Take enough water, wear sturdy shoes and put on a hat.
Information desks
Tourism office Cévennes Tourisme, Saint-Jean-du-Gard
Maison rouge, 30270 Saint-Jean-du-Gard
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
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
Access and parking
From Alès, towards Anduze on the D 50, then to St-Jean du Gard on the D 907.
Parking :
Saint-jean du Gard, the post office
Source
Alès agglomérationhttp://www.alescevennes.fr/
Parc national des Cévenneshttp://www.cevennes-parcnational.fr/
Report a problem or an error
If you have found an error on this page or if you have noticed any problems during your hike, please report them to us here: