One foot in the Dourbie valley, the other in the Trévezel

2 steps

1. 

   Hiking on foot

   Trèves

   One foot in the Dourbie valley, the other in the Trévezel (day 1)

   Architecture and village

   Fauna and flora

   History and culture

   • Medium
   • 4h30
   • 8,8km
   • +613m

2. 

   Hiking on foot

   Dourbies

   One foot in the Dourbies valley, the other in the Trévezel (day 2)

   Architecture and village

   Water and geology

   Fauna and flora

   Forest

   History and culture

   • Medium
   • 8h
   • 14,7km
   • +687m

6 points of interest

• 

  

  Know-how

  Box (Buxus)

  Boxwood and humans: a long relationship! When livestock farming increased, the primeval oak forest opened up and box – which is too hard for sheep's teeth – took hold everywhere. Humans discovered one of its major qualities: broken up and scattered over the ground as a litter, it protects vegetable seedlings from drought and frost. Its leaves can make up for a lack of straw for fertilising arable land. In 1818, a decree issued by the prefect of the Gard department worried about the excessive clearing of box groves and the messy manner in which they were being uprooted, without adequate tools. Until about 1910, you might see mules laden with enormous bundles of box; then chemistry took over. (B. Mathieu)

• 

  

  Landscape

  The Dourbies gorge

  The path comes out on the Dourbie gorge. Opposite you, the western part of the high granite plateau of the Lingas joins up on its right with the limestone plateau called Causse de Larzac. On your right, you can see the granite dome of Saint-Guiral. Closer to you, in the vales that converge on the Dourbie, are the former crop terraces, pastureland, the village built on the riverbank at the valley’s widest point and finally the chestnut orchard. You are seeing the upper limit of its range, which corresponds to it maximum altitude in this zone (800 m).

• 

  

  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.

• 

  

  History

  Canayère

  A former farm turned forester's house in 1880. In the early days of the Mont Aiguoal reforestation, forestry officers lived here year-round during their missions. Forestry workers working on the replanting were allowed to use the outbuildings. Later, only one official resided here. Since 1967, no official has permanently lived here. (B. Mathieu)

• 

  

  History

  A recent forest

  The stands that were planted during the large reforestation programmes of the late 19th century onwards consist of black pines, a rustic species that is well-adapted to dry limestone soils. Underground, the Causses plateaux are characterised by networks of tunnels and cavities that have been created by water movement over millions of years. Subterranean rivers are blocked by the impermeable layers of the valley floor and flow into the Trévezel instead.

• 

  

  Archaeology

  Joulie Cave

  In March 1952, Jolly, a forestry official, showed his friend Frayssignes this cave. Deposited in it they discovered the remains of 300 humans from the Neolithic, who had been carefully laid out side by side. The cave was rapidly declared a historical monument. In the depths of the cave, a great number of bear bones was also found. This cave bear, the ancestor of our brown bear (Ursus spelaeus), had a skull 50 cm long! In the winter, groups of these bears would have huddled together in clay wallows at the rear of the caves. Ursus artos succeeded the cave bear and was succeeded in turn by the brown bear, which was hunted to extinction in the 15th century. (B. Mathieu)