Hiking Loop of Mount Carpano and Pplan du Lion

Beautiful hike with panoramic views. In spring you will enjoy the scents of Mediterranean vegetation. Medium difficulty. Ideal for families, if you stop at Plan du Lion, a huge flat herbaceous area that dominates the coastline.

As it is a loop, it can be walked in the direction of Castellar, chapelle Saint-Sébastien, piste de l'Orméa, or in the direction of Castellar, route des Granges St. Paul, plan du Lion.

From the cemetery car park (place de l'Armée des Alpes), go up the small road of the Col St-Bernard which rises steeply above the village; leave it shortly afterwards to take the Orméa track on the right, which serves several residences. Once you have reached the last of the well-tended countryside, the track becomes a paved path with many twists and turns leading to the GR 51 - GR 52 crossroads, at the foot of the Berceau pass. Then cross to the right (south) the vast panoramic plateau that stretches from Plan du Lion to Plan de Leuze until you find on the left the path that culminates at Mount Carpano (773 m) on the border ridge. After this short round trip, start the descent towards the St-Paul barns (caution, steep path) and follow on the right the wide DFCI (forest fire protection) track which climbs slightly to the water basins before descending gently towards Castellar. At the level of the stadium, a small asphalt road leads quickly back to the entrance of the village where you are greeted by the chapel of St-Roch (restored in 2000), then a little further upstream by the chapel of St-Sébastien (14th century) which watches over the cemetery.