Refuge du Fourcat

Rooms

The Refuge du Fourcat offers 37 beds in small six-bed dormitories, making it a pleasant place to stay for groups and families. In the unattended season, a winter room with 12 dormitories is available; payment is made afterwards via the FFCAM system. During the summer season, the hut is fully staffed and reservations are strongly recommended via the online platform or by calling the hut manager Guillaume Jolibert. There are indoor toilets and two hot showers (for a fee), running water, heating, power sockets and a separate "salle hors-sac" for self-catering. Wi-Fi is available, as well as a cozy guest lounge with games and mountain literature and a small south-facing wooden terrace with a view of the Étang Fourcat. Dogs are allowed in accordance with the hut rules; despite a barrier-free interior, the long mountain path remains challenging for people with reduced mobility.

Food and drink

The cuisine at the Fourcat is deliberately homemade and sumptuous: for breakfast, there is a continental selection with home-made jams, bread, muesli and hot drinks. At lunchtime, the menu includes a dish of the day, omelettes, sandwiches and a platter of regional charcuterie, as well as homemade cakes and tarts such as blueberry or pear tart and the local draught beer specialty Val'Ax from Ax-les-Thermes. In the evening, a set menu is served with homemade soup, a warm main course, regional cheese and dessert; the chalet owner's specialty is a hearty lentil soup with vegetables and spices.

Sleeping beds

Address

Refuge du Fourcat
9220 Auzat
Occitanie

Directions

From the parking lot at the Zentrale de Pradière (approx. 1157 m), follow the GR10 up the valley along the Ruisseau d'Artiès to the d'Izourt reservoir, circle it on the left and ascend in steep hairpin bends to the Orri de la Caudière. Over somewhat bouldery terrain and past a small cascade, you first reach the small Étang Fourcat, then the large lake; the marked trail runs along the shore on the right before a short branch-off to the left leads up to the refuge situated on a rocky outcrop in a few minutes (around 9 km, around 1265 m, around 4½ hours).

Parking

Access by car via Tarascon-sur-Ariège to Auzat and continue along the cul-de-sac into the Vallée d'Artiès as far as the EDF headquarters or the Barrage de Pradière, where a designated hiking parking lot forms the starting point for the ascent. From the Andorran side, access is via the road to the Arcalis ski station to the "La Coma" parking lot, from where the marked trail leads up to the refuge.

Coordinates