Hike around the Cirque de Labeil

Lauroux, France

Details

Elevation Gain

984.3 ft

Route Type

Loop

Description

Added by Thib Muller

A nice hike combining 3 different types of landscape : wild forest, open and dry area, mystical and peaceful forest. Plus nice views of the Cirque de Labeil. All in less than 3 hours!

The last 7 kilometers of the road going to the hamlet of Labeil are quite narrow, with not so much space to cross with cars coming from the opposite direction. You'll find also crazy bikers climbing to the hamlet. Be respectful and drive carefully :)

You can park your car at the entrance of the hamlet for free. There is a stunning view of the valley just 1 minute away from the carpark, South Direction. Enjoy the view before or after the hike.

From the carpark, take the road going North, to the center of the hamlet. Pass the entrance of the cave and the restaurant on your left, and take the first path going right, with the yellow marks.

You enter quickly in a forest, deep and wild. Keep following the yellow marks. After some times, you leave the forest and walk on the side of the cliff. The path is obvious and well marked, follow the yellow marks.

15 minutes later (more or less), you see a yellow mark on an young oak tree indicating turning right (going south) but you'll see also a path going straight (actually, East) and more wild. Take the path going East, don't turn right. Keep going on this path but pay attention. It's less obvious than before, and not well maintained. You can spot sometimes some old yellow and blue marks on the way.

After 10 minutes, you arrive at a crossroad with a cairn and some tiles on the ground. If you reach old walls of an old farm, you went too far. Go 30 meters back and look for the crossroad. It's not really obvious, but there is a path going North. It becomes more obvious after a couple of minutes. It's a rocky path going up, North direction. So after 2 minutes the path becomes larger and reach quickly a flat and opened area. When the path join a forest road, take left and keep North, ignore the small paths going left or right.

After some times, you reach a crossroad. You can't go North anymore, only left or right. Take left (West). Keep going until you end up on a road, then take left and walk on the road (going South). Don't worry, it's almost an empty road and only for 1km.

The road goes up and on the way down, you'll see a road sign indicating it's getting narrow. Take the path on the right (West) just before the sign (if you see a big carpark on the right, it's too far. Go back a little bit). Keep going on the path until you enter in the forest (big fence). Then you'll see again the yellow marks. Keep following the marks until you're back to the hamlet.

If you can, take some times to explore the caves. Entrance and infos in the Hamlet.

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Features

Hiking
Dog Friendly
Family Friendly
Forest
Scenic
Wildlife

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