The Cévenol crossing

Not far from the Trappist convent of Notre-Dame des Neiges towards Montselgues and its granite chaos, the Gargantua's balls. From there, you will plunge through woods alternating conifers and chestnut trees to reach Les Vans. Among evergreen oaks, cade junipers, vineyards and almond trees, here it is indeed the schist that sets the tone. Arriving at Malbosc with its stone slab roofs, steep slopes, and terraces carved by the hand of man. You are truly in the heart of the Ardèche Cévennes.

The route connects the train stations of La Bastide-Puylaurent (48) and Génolhac (30) in 3 Ardèche stages passing through Montselgues, Les Vans, Malbosc before reaching Génolhac.

Total route length: 133 km (99 km by bike from La Bastide-Puylaurent to Génolhac + 34 km by train from Génolhac to La Bastide-Puylaurent)
Elevation gain: 3,540 m including 2,170 m by bike
Main entry/exit points: La Bastide-Puylaurent / Montselgues / Les Vans / Malbosc / Génolhac

By bike: 99 km from La Bastide-Puylaurent to Génolhac
By train: 33 km from Génolhac to La Bastide-Puylaurent

Stage 1: La Bastide-Puylaurent – Montselgues
25 km / Ascend 680 m / Descend 680 m / Max altitude 1083 m / Min altitude 567 m / Difficult
Leaving La Bastide, you will pass near Gargantua's Palette, a huge sandstone slab that suggests it was a dolmen. Then you will proceed easily through woods to reach the Beaumes chapel. From there, the road rises over this magnificent valley with a 15% slope to reach the hamlet of Pradons and then Montselgues.

Stage 2: Montselgues – Les Vans
32.6 km / Ascend 300 m / Descend 1140 m / Max altitude 1020 m / Min altitude 140 m / Moderate
Heading to the Col de l’Echelette to reach the cornice of the Vivarais Cévenol with its very contrasting landscapes. The slope breaks are so abrupt that you do not go down the plateau, you fall off it. Leaving the magnificent valley of the Thines and the magic of its perched village to the right, you will plunge through woods alternating conifers and chestnut trees dotted with clearings and sprinkled with small hamlets made of old stone houses with stone slab roofs to reach Les Vans.

Stage 3: Les Vans – Génolhac
41.4 km / Ascend 1,170 m / Descend 700 m / Max altitude 620 m / Min altitude 180 m / Difficult
Leaving Les Vans, evergreen oaks, almond trees, vineyards, cade junipers announce a Mediterranean-type vegetation. The countless "accols," these terraces held by dry stone walls, and the "clapas," these scree fields that testify to the past when peasants, to find a bit of arable land, had to tirelessly clear stones from their plots by hand.