Les Cascades de L'Artigue - Circuit
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 5.37 mi
- Elevation gain
- 1,106 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 1,106 ft
- Max elevation
- 4,657 ft
- TrailRank
- 54
- Min elevation
- 3,610 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Time
- 4 hours 29 minutes
- Coordinates
- 1823
- Uploaded
- August 16, 2017
- Recorded
- August 2017
near Marc, Occitanie (France)
Viewed 5496 times, downloaded 188 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
From Auzat, next to Vicdessos, we took the D8 to Marc (well signposted) and from Marc the D66 to L'Artigue.
There is a big parking place after the electricity station just before the beginning of the walk to the waterfalls but as this was full we used the parking spaces one kilometre before.
From the big parking place you follow the GR60 which is a beautiful track and ignoring the Gr 60 junctions to the right and later to the left we followed the track to the waterfalls.
These waterfalls are an impressive sight, especially if you go on following the track as we did, because there are several of them.
When you get past the first one you can cross the stream and follow a track to the other side of the first one (we did not do this).
We decided to get higher up following the same track that becomes a little trickier as there is a lot of debris blocking the path.
The track veers away from the stream d'Estats and when it gets into the woods it becomes steeper.
At almost 1400 metres you join another track , coming from behind you and from now on you will remain more or less at the same height. The track is a little slippery sometines when you get closer to the stream again which you can cross using stones, rocks and debris without getting your feet wet.
Once on the other side of the stream we had a little difficulty finding the track that would lead us to the bridge crossing of the river L'Artigue on the other side of the valley but if you remain at 1400 metres you should be able to find it, although it is not a well visible track. Sometimes there are little rockpiles.
This part of the walk is beautiful as you will have a competely different view of the valley and the mountains but it is not a frequently used path so it is overgrown and sometimes badly visible but it helps knowing that you will stay at 1400 metres all the time.
Once you see the bridge across the stream L'Artigue you can leave the track and find your own way to the bridge.
Here you will join the Gr 60 again which will take you back to the big parking place.
This last part of the walk is a really beautiful track and you will have a good view at all the streams that are coming down the mountains alongside the stream d'estats.
All in all we found this a fantastic walk, although the going sometimes was a bit slow. The scenery makes up for this though.
There is a big parking place after the electricity station just before the beginning of the walk to the waterfalls but as this was full we used the parking spaces one kilometre before.
From the big parking place you follow the GR60 which is a beautiful track and ignoring the Gr 60 junctions to the right and later to the left we followed the track to the waterfalls.
These waterfalls are an impressive sight, especially if you go on following the track as we did, because there are several of them.
When you get past the first one you can cross the stream and follow a track to the other side of the first one (we did not do this).
We decided to get higher up following the same track that becomes a little trickier as there is a lot of debris blocking the path.
The track veers away from the stream d'Estats and when it gets into the woods it becomes steeper.
At almost 1400 metres you join another track , coming from behind you and from now on you will remain more or less at the same height. The track is a little slippery sometines when you get closer to the stream again which you can cross using stones, rocks and debris without getting your feet wet.
Once on the other side of the stream we had a little difficulty finding the track that would lead us to the bridge crossing of the river L'Artigue on the other side of the valley but if you remain at 1400 metres you should be able to find it, although it is not a well visible track. Sometimes there are little rockpiles.
This part of the walk is beautiful as you will have a competely different view of the valley and the mountains but it is not a frequently used path so it is overgrown and sometimes badly visible but it helps knowing that you will stay at 1400 metres all the time.
Once you see the bridge across the stream L'Artigue you can leave the track and find your own way to the bridge.
Here you will join the Gr 60 again which will take you back to the big parking place.
This last part of the walk is a really beautiful track and you will have a good view at all the streams that are coming down the mountains alongside the stream d'estats.
All in all we found this a fantastic walk, although the going sometimes was a bit slow. The scenery makes up for this though.
Waypoints
Car park
3,672 ft
Parking places
Picknick tables
Car park
3,810 ft
Big parking place
Waypoint
3,814 ft
Info panels
Photo
Waypoint
4,584 ft
Junction
Joins a good track
Comments (2)
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The last part of the path before crossing the river is quite dangerous (aerial steps and slippery rocks). Not recomended for unexperienced people, elderly or kids. Once you cross the river it's almost impossible to find the path (we didn't, and had to go back).
Thanks for your reaction. As I wrote in my description of the route, the track is not very visible once you cross the stream because of rocks and plants and debris. But there is a track and if you follow the downloaded track you will get to a well trodden path. From there on it is a piece of cake. There is a bit of adventure in this route....