Hike through the Chaos de la Balme

Duration: 2 hours 15 minutes – Distance: 6.9 km
The Durencuse Valley, with its unusual rock formations and the characteristic granite architecture of the Sidobre region, awaits you.

Car park GPS coordinates: 43.6111, 2.3991

This walk will take you through the sculpted and mysterious landscape typical of the Sidobre, amidst beautiful beech, chestnut and other coniferous forests.
You’ll start by discovering traditional granite dwellings right at the start of the route, as well as whilst passing through the hamlet of Taillades with its standing stones and granite architecture, before heading down and following the course of the little river Durencuse. Finally, you’ll head back up towards the village of St Salvy, passing by famous Sidobre rock formations such as the Grotte du Loup and the Chaos de la Balme.

A ‘chaos’ in the Sidobre is a stream of granite boulders formed by erosion, which have tumbled down the slope and become wedged in the hollow formed by a stream.
You can add a detour of around 30 minutes by heading left up the path alongside the Chaos de la Balme, then turning left at the junction and heading back down towards the Rocher du Hamburger and the Chapeau de Napoléon, before turning left at the bottom to return to the starting point (around 600 m).

You can find full details of the route by downloading the attached PDF file.