Nestled in the heart of one of Donezan's most secretive valleys, the Balbonne pond offers you the chance to enjoy a beautiful, relatively uncrowded hike through pine trees and free-roaming horses.
Access: From Ax les Thermes, head towards Ascou on the D613. Continue on the D25. Cross Ascou-Pailhères, pass the Col de Pailhères and the Mijanès station. Continue on the D25, and 500m before Mijanès, turn right onto the forest road towards "La Restanque" for 5 kilometers. Park in the Restanque car park.
- Guidebook with maps/step-by-step(D/A) Continue along this track for a few metres, then turn right and go around a forest fence. Climb gradually up to the beautiful Restanque meadow, where picnic tables await hikers under the spruce trees.
0:05 - Cross the footbridge on the left, following the wooden sign "Balbonne". Ignore a trailhead on the left and continue to the right. The path sometimes comes right up to the torrent, with some extremely muddy passages that can be crossed to the left via escape routes.
0h20 - Carefully cross a small tributary of the torrent on a makeshift footbridge of tree trunks, which are very slippery when wet.
1:00 - Begin the ascent of the day's major difficulty, the Echelle de Balbonne, which consists of a succession of very tight, very steep switchbacks that sometimes even hug the slope.
1h20 - Cross the rocky spur that gives access to the Étang de Balbonne.
Return by the same route.
Services
Services
Car park
Free car park
Pets welcome
Pets allowed on leash only.Accessibility
Accessibility
Not accessible in a wheelchair