Introduction

Between Brignoles and Saint-Zacharie lies an east-west valley known only to locals as a fast artery to Aubagne and Marseille. It runs through the hills and mountains of the northern part of the Sainte-Baume Regional Natural Park. Only one regional hiking trail leads through this forest area. Otherwise only paths marked with cairns connect vantage points and places steeped in history. With the Oppidum of Piégu and the Castrum St. Jean we find two ruined villages from very different eras.

The facts

8,3 km total distance

3 h walk time

300 m total elevation

orientation difficult

mark 20% of the total distance

35% forest roads

25% easy trails

25% moderate trails

20% hard-surfaced city alleys

dangers slippery sections

children yes

useful picnic stuff

required hiking boots, hiking equipment and water

GPS coordinates (WGS84) of start and end point 43.394,5.851432

downloads

Public transport

On the axis between Brignoles and Saint-Zacharie, with an extension towards Aubagne and Marseille, line 92 runs from Zou! (only french) about 8 times a day. This is not frequent, but sufficient for this round. The starting point of this hike is Rougiers Les Rousses bus stop.

Access by car

From the east and from Brignoles, take the DN7 towards Tourves and the exit of the dual carriageway towards Rougiers and Aubagne. The D1 we are now on runs north of Rougiers. Do not take the first street in the direction of the center, but turn left 300 meters further at the next crossing (bus stop).

Coming from Marseille, take the motorway to Fréjus and St. Raphaël, but exit at the long motorway slip road towards St. Zacharie and on to Rourgiers and its bus station.

Useful parking spaces

The parking lot along the country road is a short-term parking zone. You can drive up to the Le Clos car park in the south of the village: go straight towards the center and turn right at the fountain. After 200 meters turn left again at the first opportunity. Also left on the square planted with plane trees and immediately right there. The parking lot is then on the left.

Hints

This hike follows old and narrow paths only used by locals. Vegetation can cover them, but these shrubs do not bear thorns. Only cairns mark the forks. So you have to be able to orientate yourself. It makes sense to use the GPX track provided for download on this page.

The whole region is a zone with a high risk of forest fires. In summer, but also in other seasons when it is very dry or by strong winds, access to the forest areas can be regulated. As a result, the roads may be closed to traffic and/or the trails prohibited to hikers. Current information: Map of access to the forests of the Var (also english). The map shows the colours green, yellow, orange and red which correspond to levels of danger.

The sections

1. Rougiers - Piégu summi
2. Fort und Oppidum von Piégu - Castrum St. Jean
3. Direct path to Rougiers zurück

Bistros and restaurants only in the village of Rougiers. A grocery store is in the small square on Grande Rue west of the fountain.

This tour was undertaken by us on January 1st, 2022 in thick fog pushing up from the sea over Toulon and Marseille. This is not common, but very impressive.

Section 1: Rougiers - Piégu

➙ 2,7 km ... 55 min ➚ 275 m ➘ 0 m ↝ difficult

30% hard-surfaced city alleys, cairns

70% moderate trails, cairns

Starting from the main street and the bus stop, you get directly to a small square with an old fountain. Here turn right and the next street left again. We are now on the cours shaded by plane trees. Go to the other side of the square and take the first left onto the uphill Chemin du Clos.

We pass the parking lot where those who come by car start. We continue to the sports fields. Now turn left onto Chemin de l'Argile to go around the football field.

At the next crossroads turn left, go to the last houses and in front of them we take the path on the right that runs between hedges.

This path passes the houses on the right and climbs to the bottom of the slope. Here we follow on an old path between the edge of the forest and a plain that is covered with more or less hardly cultivated fields.

We won't stay long on this section. After a hundred meters or two minutes we see a path on the left.

Opposite we have an unobstructed view of a small meadow.

This new path is very narrow and leads between bushes about two meters high. It runs in a straight line south and deeper into a valley.

After seven minutes we pass the first rocks uphill and shortly afterwards we see an old dike. It's a dry stone structure sealing off a valley, holding back water and what little soil the limestone soil produces. Today this area is again covered by the forest, nothing is cultivated here anymore.

We stay more or less on the valley floor, the path turns a little to the right and follows the topography. The rise is now more pronounced.

Arriving at a slightly more open spot, we reach a fork with a small cairn marking our path. So we turn right, leaving the valley to go up the eastern slope of the Piégu peak. The trail here is flatter but still uphill.

After crossing a pine forest with slightly taller trees, we reach the north slope of the Piégu hill. We hear the traffic noise again on the road between Brignoles and St. Zacharie.

The north slope is drier and less covered with tall pines. At times we see the summit to the left and the plain to the right. The trail climbs more steadily, but the hike is still easy.

Ten minutes after the dense pine forest, we must pay attention to a small cairn on the left. This is where the more direct ascent to the summit begins.

It starts with a fairly steep path and you pass over some rocks with a detour to the right.

The path then continues up a fairly steep slope between some rocks. The path is strenuous, but you get to the summit quickly. This is reached as soon as the terrain flattens out. We are then on an irregular limestone plateau covered with various bushes.

After the climb, keep left to be able to climb rocks sticking out of the vegetation. From here we look back towards Rougiers and towards the next stage, the Castrum de St. Jean.

There is no trace of the oppidum at this summit, which is further south and covered in the next section.

Section 2: Piégu - Castrum de St. Jean

➙ 3,7 km ... 1 h 30 min ➚ 85 m ➘ 120 m ↝ average

5% easy trails, without marks

10% forest roads, without marks

10% easy trails, cairns

40% forest roads, faulty marks

20% forest roads, without marks

10% easy trails, without marks

We descend from our vantage point into bushes, a little thornier here than on the climb, and meander south. This path leads slightly downhill and also has no markings.

After 140 meters we come to the ruins of Fort Piègu. It is not the oppidum, but about a reoccupation of the area in the 5th century. It consisted of two rooms arranged in a T. Traces of a smithy were found.

Another 100 meters further on we pass a large heap of stones that forms a 75 m long transverse barrier. It was the dry stone wall that protected the south side of the settlement in the 2nd century, while the other sides of the rock formed a natural barrier.

An oppidum is a type of urban center found in Western Europe and dating back to pre-Roman times. With the Roman occupation of the territory and the peace, the populations moved to the valleys. With the fall of the Roman Empire and the return of insecurity, some of these oppida began to be used again from the 4th century.

Nowadays these ramparts look like long piles of stones. In the beginning there were long, well-ordered embankments that were kept in shape with wooden beams. This wood has since decomposed and the embankments today form the same long cairns in most similar places.

So we cross this pile of stones and a few meters further on we come to the beginning of a forest road. This is the type of path we will be walking for the majority of the next hour.

Ten minutes after the oppidum, the path turns right. Before this bend we must find our path marked with a cairn on the left at point 564.

This trail is initially flat but then drops off quite steeply to a bordered spring with green cover. We are now in the same valley that we turned into after leaving the village.

We turn right and south in the valley.

We are back on a slightly uphill forest road.

The height now rotates long by 555 meters.

Less than ten minutes later we turn left at the crossroads at point 545.

50 meters after a right turn there is a ruin in the bushes to the right of the forest road. It is a dry stone building that appears to have had a terracotta roof.

However, we continue along the path, passing point 559, where we and keep left.

We reach another crossing. Here again on the left. Now it goes uphill on a path covered with large gravel and stones. It's a lot more awkward than the previous sections.

This ascent takes less than ten minutes. We turn right and see cedars on the horizon in front of us. They mark the end of this section and as we advance we see the ruins of the towers of a medieval fortress.

Section 3: St. Jean - Rougiers

➙ 1,9 km ... 30 min ➚ 0 m ➘ 125 m ↝ average

60% easy trails, cairns

40% hard-surfaced city alleys, without marks

We are right in front of the remains of the castle after having advanced under the Lebanon cedars. These trees aren't medieval like the ruins, they're a fairly recent introduction but seem to like soft-topped limestone ridges. They are mainly found in the Luberon.

The village of Castrum de St. Jean was built in the 12th century. The enclosure was initially continuous, the semi-circular turrets are part of it. These had a clear defensive function, but also made the complex visible from afar.

The square building that we see upon arrival is the keep of the old castle. All around was the manorial residence and to the north houses were arranged according to a certain hierarchy. Artisans and farmers occupied the center but there were no livestock sheds as the herds were kept on the plateau and outside the defences.

The location is a bit odd, as residences and important defensive lines also jut over the edge of the cliff.

The village was abandoned in the 15th century. The population first moved to the foot of the hill in a place called Pays Haut (High Country). It is on the right when we reach the first houses on the way down. Later, the center shifts even further down to the current location.

Exploration takes place via several entrances, all located on the right-hand side to the east. So we also go around the defensive wall to the right and advance along the edge of the plateau.

We arrive in front of the Saint-Jean de Solférino chapel and a statue of the Madonna mounted on a stone column. Here you have the ideal view of Rougiers.

The chapel was rebuilt in 1860 to celebrate the victorious return of Emperor Napoleon III from Solferino after defeating the Austrian army. Although it is the only building that has not yet collapsed, the chapel is also falling into disrepair.

We go back, turning our backs on Rougiers and staying to the left of the chapel. In a breach, an old path leads down to the left.

After the descent we always keep to the left.

This is how we get to a panoramic table that we could already see from the chapel. Here we can see better into the ruins that are left of the houses.

It doesn't make much sense to climb past this vantage point.

We go back again and at the fork we turn left and downhill.

After a few steps we see a path on the left that leads back to the foot of the ruined village. You can explore this part here and then come back to the main trail afterwards.

The wide downhill path continues along the foot of the cliff. A few minutes later there is a tight bend to the left.

The path continues with the same width, you can see that carts were pulled here.

In this long straight line downhill between rocks we come to a second wayside shrine. The slope is now less pronounced. Two minutes later we come to a not very obvious crossroads where we take the smaller path to the left.

We pass under pine trees that grow taller than on the plateau. This trail, like all others, is unmarked. He makes a big curve to the right and at the end we descend faster to the right of a fence.

We reach a moated castle that is half buried. If we turn right, we come to rue Sainte-Anne, which takes us in a straight line towards the center. Continue straight to return to the bus stop.

To return to the Le Clos car park: go up to the first houses that form a continuous facade and turn left here onto the Cours. Turn left again at the first intersection to get to the car park.

We started at the top in the sun, on the way down we were quickly swallowed up by the fog. The Cours de Rougiers is grey-white due to this fog that rises from a sea that is much too warm in January. Another consequence of global warming!

Sources and additional information

It is better to use a good topographical hiking map: this tour is on the IGN map "Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, Barjols, Trets, Mont-Aurélien", scale 1:25000, 3344OT.

If you don't want to bother with a paper map, you can also use mapping apps on your cell phone. On the one hand, it is the Géoportail app from the official map service IGN. However, it requires access to the data network and this is sometimes difficult in canyons or remote locations.

Alternatively, you can use apps that store data directly on the device. They're generally not free, but they don't cost much. We mainly use OSMAnd, here it is possible to add contour lines, relief shading, markings and others. To store this data on your phone you need a lot of space.

Of course, one needs access to satellites for the GPS signal with any app. In some canyons this is not the case. Therefore, do not rely on the position shown, but read the map on your phone as you would read it on paper. Most apps are available for Android and iPhone. The applications usually allow us to record the route travelled and also view the GPS files offered for each of our hikes.

This page has been seen 578 times since 20 March 2024.