HIKE 1

St Guilhem-Le-Désert (Hérault)

An exceptional hike that will makes you discover a ruined castle liying on giddy heights, a strange forest growing amidst ruine-shaped rocks, an hermitage hidden near a spring and the impressive cliff of the natural amphitheater Le Bout-du-Monde (World's End).

In short...

Length : 12 Km (7.5 mi)

Difference in height : 437 m (1434 ft)

Time : 4 h 30

Maps : IGN 2642 ET (1/25 000) and Monts de St-Guilhem (1/20 000) sold on the spot.

Difficulty : no

Season : Autumn, Winter, Spring

Equipment : light hike

Water : St-Guilhem, Hermitage

Signs : red and white (GR - Grande Randonnée), yellow, blue and green milestone

Profile

Access

Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert is a mediaeval village situated in the Hérault department, west from Montpellier (45 Km), north-east from Béziers (66 Km), and east of Clermont-l'Hérault (23 Km).

From Montpellier, take the N109 road to Gignac, then the D32 to Aniane, then the D27 until Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert. From Béziers take the N9 to Pézenas and Clermont-l'Hérault (the motorway A75 is under construction on this way). Continue until you reach the N109 and then follow the direction of Montpellier. Go through Gignac, take the D32 to Aniane, then the D27 until Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert.

Itinerary

(numbers refers to the map)

(1) Park in Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert (paying car parks) then walk to the place beyond the abbey-church. Take the street that start at the nort-west angle of the place, toward the natural amphitheater Cirque de l'Infernet also called Bout-du-Monde (World's End).

(2) When you arrive about the last houses, you'll see right hand a path lined with stone, going upward. There are red and white signs (GR74). Go on this path. A notice indicates it leads to the hermitage Notre-Dame de Lieu Plaisant.

(3) The path twists quickly upwards, cross the walls through the former north gate of the village. Right hand are standing up the cliff of the Château du Géant (Giant's Castle), left hand, the view on the natural amphitheater Cirque de l'Infernet is impressive.

(4) After this short but hard ascent, we arrive at the Cap de Crux (Cross Pass).

For the brave, it's time to go there and back to the ruined Château du Géant (Giant's Castle). When you are at the pass, a track on the right carry on there. This path runs first through ferns and yews, then it becomes stony, and steep, and reaches straight away the ruins of the castle. In places the track follows the crest which is breathtakingly high. It can be dangerous in case of strong winds : be careful. From the castle, the view is merely marvellous, specialy on the abbey 's church and cloister.

When you're back at the pass, follow the main path. It goes north-west. You first pass close the cross, then you go upwards in the coomb of the Tras de Castel stream (usually dry). Vegetation is small and gives few help against sun or wind. Fortunately, it runs along a small cliff on the left that gives little refreshing shadow for a while. The coomb ends higher and suddenly at the foot of a mini chalky amphitheater that can be seen from the path. Higher, we arrive in the forest, Forêt Domaniale de St-Guilhem-le-Désert, and we go through a first (little) pine grove. These pine trees are peculiar: they are called Pines of Salzmann,or Black Pines. That is a variety of pine which is usually rare but frequent around St-Guilhem.

(5) Later, we arrive at a fork. Left hand, a path marked out whith yellow signs (PR) go up to the Col de la Pousterle, (Pousterle pass), and allows to shorten the hike but miss the hermitage. We go right hand, always following the GR 74 (red and white signs). Few time after the fork an old rusty signpost indicates the hermitage. The path go through the coomb Fourmen, skirts round an escarpment, arrives at the Calvaire des Trois Croix (three cross calvary) and then arrives in the Combe des Frêres (friars coomb). Salzman pines and strawberry trees get more numerous now and makes up a scattered forest.

(6) We arrive at the hermitage, named Lieu-Plaisant (pleasant place) or Notre-Dame de Belle-Grâce (approx. Our Gracious Lady). The old pines'shadows make this place very pleasant for a picnic. Don't forget to go behind the hermitage to see the little spring which rise out off the cliff.

(7) The path continues on after the hermitage, becoming steep. It leads to the Cap du Ginestet (Ginestet pass), going up through Salzmann Pines, whose the crooked shapes accords well with the ruine-shaped rocks (dolomitic) which are scattered all around. At the pass, we get a very nice view north-west to the Séranne mountain, the southest edge of the Larzac plateau.

(8) Beyond the pass, we go down in a true forest. The path meet a forest lane. The GR 74 continues rightwards, but we go left along the forest lane to the south-west (signs : green milestones - department hike path).

(9) 3 Km (1.9 mi) later, there is a path departure on the left, going through a breach to the other side of the mountain, the Col de la Pousterle (Pousterle pass). Even if it's not our direction, it's a good idea to go there and back, because it's very close and the view from the other side of the pass is very wide. You'll find there a nice picnic area with a table. Back on the forest line, we meet very soon a fork. Go left, on a lane with no signs.

(10) She finishes at the "Roc de la Candelle" (candle stone), which overhang the valley. The forest lane ends here, but a track at left goes west. Follow it. It transforms itself to an easy path and goes down in the coomb of the stream Le Verdus.

(11) We pass by the bottom of the coomb, and meet a path going from east to west. We go left, eastward. No lon way further, me are met by another path, arriving from our right. We continue on the same direction, eastward. This path guide us back to St-Guilhem, passing by Le Cirque du Bout-du-Monde.

(12) We go through some groves and suddenly arrive on the top of the cliff. The view on the whole amphitheater is magnificent. Below our feet, we see the Bout-du-Monde deep valley, the path twists climbing the cliff, many terraces formerly cultivated, where still olive trees hang on to life. In front of us, right hand, the big cliff of Bissonne rock, kindergarten of climbers.

(13) Then we go down to the foot of the cliff, not yet the bottom of the valley: we're at the top of enormous screes made of the stones of the cliff. The path is more and more busy now. It is met further by the GR path, coming from the right, and finally reaches to the bottom of the valley, to St-Guilhem.