The profile of the hike
- Distance: 18 km
- Elevation gain: +400 m, reasonable
- Duration: 5 to 6 hours with breaks
- Difficulty: easy to moderate
- Start: Saint-André-de-Vézines car park
- Waymarking: white-red GR trail, then yellow on the inner loop
The route
From the Saint-André-de-Vézines car park, I head south on the GR towards the corniche of the Causse Noir above the Dourbie Gorges. First hour: crossing the dry karst grasslands, passing lavognes (stone-lined ponds for the herds), occasionally meeting Lacaune sheep, the iconic breed of this karst plateau (causse).
Around 10 am, you reach the first viewpoint, a sheer drop to the Dourbie 400 metres below. If you're lucky, a griffon vulture sails past below you (yes, beneath your feet), which is a magical moment.
Midday: picnic at the dolmens of the Causse Noir, Neolithic remains scattered across the plateau. More than a hundred have been recorded on this causse. Sit down, open the sandwich, watch the clouds.
Afternoon: return via an inner variant, through wild lavender fields (June-July), the cazelles (shepherds' lauze-stone huts), and fragrant box trees. Around 3-4 pm you reach the car park via the hamlet of Pierrefiche, typical grey lauze-stone architecture.
The Causse Noir isn't spectacular at first glance. It's the attention you bring that makes the landscape beautiful: a dolmen, a lavogne, a vulture taking flight, a scabious flower.
What you see, what you hear
- Flora: causse lavenders, savory, wild thyme, immortelles, scabious, wild orchids in spring.
- Fauna: griffon vultures, common kestrels, woodlarks, red-legged partridges, and with a bit of luck a golden eagle.
- Geology: Jurassic limestone, lapiaz (water-sculpted rock), dolines (natural depressions).
- Heritage: dolmens, lavognes, cazelles, lauze-stone hamlets.
The best time
April-June for the flowers. September-October for the colours and the cooler air. Avoid July-August in the middle of the day: the causse bakes, there's little shade, you need to be up at 6 am to start at 7.
And after the hike?
If you'd like to round off your day with a guided activity, I can take you on the via ferrata du Boffi (on the same Causse Noir, 3 hours, straight after the hike) or the canyon du Tayrac (at the foot of the plateau, perfect for finishing the summer).
