Guidebook with maps/step-by-step
Start - Château de Lordat parking lot (900m). Leaving the parking lot, turn left on a track that leads down through the hedgerows to the ruins of an old mill on the banks of the Gérul stream.
0h45 - Go around the mill and follow the old miller's path gently uphill to the village of Axiat (880m). To visit the Chapelle d'Axiat, follow the road to the right for about 300 m. Otherwise, take the road to the left for about 30 m, then turn left again along an alleyway which, on the outskirts of a sheepfold, becomes a dirt track. After passing a small plateau, the path continues gently downhill, winding through boxwood and limestone boulders on the mountainside. The view is superb.
1h30 - After crossing the Ruisseau de Cassagne on a stone bridge, the path becomes a footpath and rejoins the path from the village of Urs at 610m.
2h00 - Turn left onto a grassy track which becomes a footpath until you reach an old quarry, from where a track gently slopes down to Garanou. After passing the drinking trough, take the street which rises steeply to the level of the last house.
2h30 - Walk along the houses of a housing estate, turn right and, just before a crossroads, take a path on the left which leads to a road 200 m below the Romanesque church of Vernaux (690m). Climb up to the village of Vernaux, following the yellow markings on a route that follows the road and sometimes cuts across the switchbacks. Cross the village through the narrow streets, which are quite steep.
3h00 - A path cuts through the twists and turns of the road to reach the village of Lordat. Cross the village in the direction of the château and return to the château parking lot.
0h45 - Go around the mill and follow the old miller's path gently uphill to the village of Axiat (880m). To visit the Chapelle d'Axiat, follow the road to the right for about 300 m. Otherwise, take the road to the left for about 30 m, then turn left again along an alleyway which, on the outskirts of a sheepfold, becomes a dirt track. After passing a small plateau, the path continues gently downhill, winding through boxwood and limestone boulders on the mountainside. The view is superb.
1h30 - After crossing the Ruisseau de Cassagne on a stone bridge, the path becomes a footpath and rejoins the path from the village of Urs at 610m.
2h00 - Turn left onto a grassy track which becomes a footpath until you reach an old quarry, from where a track gently slopes down to Garanou. After passing the drinking trough, take the street which rises steeply to the level of the last house.
2h30 - Walk along the houses of a housing estate, turn right and, just before a crossroads, take a path on the left which leads to a road 200 m below the Romanesque church of Vernaux (690m). Climb up to the village of Vernaux, following the yellow markings on a route that follows the road and sometimes cuts across the switchbacks. Cross the village through the narrow streets, which are quite steep.
3h00 - A path cuts through the twists and turns of the road to reach the village of Lordat. Cross the village in the direction of the château and return to the château parking lot.
