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Ayet - Bethmale Lake
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Description
Hike from the last hamlet of Bethmale to Lake Bethmale.
You'll follow ancient paths with low stone walls.
Technical Information
Altimetric profile
Starting point
Points of interest
Additional information
Guidebook with maps/step-by-step
1/ Start 0h - 726m
From the car park, head back towards the village and take the road down to the left, then turn right 50 m further on after the drinking trough. You will cross the Artigenu footbridge over the Balamet. Immediately to the left, cross a small stream and take the path up through meadows and hazel and beech woods. The climb is fairly tough (steep and sustained), with most of the difference in altitude occurring in this section.
2/ GR10 recovery 40 min - 830 m
Join the GR10 bis from Arrien and follow it to the lake. The path, which is almost horizontal, takes you past barns (the old village of Salabert), between low drystone walls, then under rocky bars before reaching the lake.
3/ Lac de Bethmale 1h 15 - 1 020 m
We suggest you walk around the lake
For the return journey, take the tarmac path to the Col de la Core road (D17), which you will descend for just over a kilometre.
Towards the right and left banks of the Balamet 1 h 25 - 1013 m
Before the bridge, leave the road and turn left at a birch tree. The path runs through woods and meadows, down the valley on the left bank of the Balamet, then the right bank, then the left bank again at the Aiguillou footbridge.
A little further on, you come to the meadow of the ‘Peyro Quillado’ (a megalith over two metres high). Legend has it that the former owner, who had sold his soul to the devil, had it erected so that he could reach the cherries...! )
The path crosses the right bank at the water reserve (EDF catchment to supply the Bordes-sur-Lez factory) and takes you back to the
village of Ayet. 3 hrs 15 mins - 726 m
Environments
Lakeside or by stretch of water
Riverside
Lake view
Mountain view
Close to GR footpath
Waterside
Updated by
Office de Tourisme Couserans Pyrénées - 24/06/2024
www.tourisme-couserans-pyrenees.com/
Report a problem
Open period
All year round.
Subject to favorable snow and weather conditions.
Type of land
Ground
Hard coating (tar, cement, flooring)
Contact
Phone : 05 61 96 26 60
Email : contact@tourisme-couserans-pyrenees.com
Facebook : www.facebook.com/tourismecouseranspyrenees/
Location complements
Access by road:
From the Castillon en Couserans Tourist Office, take the D4 towards SENTEIN, then after 2 km turn left onto the D17 towards the Col de la Core. After 5 km, take the AYET junction, then park in the car park at the end of the village (be careful, the village is very narrow!).
Data author
