"Costebelle Circuit" hiking route

D/ Leaving the Town Hall car park, turn left towards Trécol. At the crossroads marked by a calvary, take the left-hand ramp (Chemin de Tubette) passing upstream of an olive grove and the Villeneuve cemetery. Further on, you will come to a double crossroads. Ignore Chemin des Seignes on the right.
1/ Take the road on the left (the return will be via the Trécol path, on the right). This will take you to a pass. Continue straight on. The road is no longer surfaced. About 300 meters after the pass, you will come to a crossroads.

Access diversion to Notre Dame de la Roche (viewpoint): 30 minutes round trip. Leave the track in favor of the path descending to the left.

Go behind a house, ignoring the path on the right. 200 meters further on, the path forks. Take the left-hand ramp, which is blocked at the beginning by a cable. Go uphill, staying on the main path on the left, ignoring all the access points to the old quarry, located on the right.
50 meters after the third bend, leave the track to turn left onto the hairpin path. This path makes a bend, then leads to the Notre Dame de la Roche chapel.
Return to the starting point of the diverticulum by reusing the outward path.

2/ The circuit continues on the main track. About fifty meters further on, leave a path on the left. Cross a ravine then pass under the property called "Font Rouvier".
200 meters further on, the track splits. Go down the left-hand ramp. Pass by a building, then between two fields. At their end, the track is blocked by a cable. Just beyond, there is a crossroads characterized by an underground cistern.
Access diversion to La Bruyère (viewpoint): 30 minutes round trip following the track on the left.

3/ The circuit continues down the forest track. 500 meters further on, a path starts on the left. Take it. It crosses the hillside, slightly upstream from the track and splits into the third small valley.
Go down to the right and join the track. Follow it on the left as you descend. As you leave the Villeneuve municipal forest, cross the cable blocking the track and emerge near the D13 road.

4/ Turn right. Cross the Achanal ravine. Just after the bridge, turn right. The path, quickly reduced to a trail, climbs along the stream, sometimes on the left bank, sometimes on the right bank, crossing it by fording. About 500 meters after the road, the path splits.
Cross the ford again and continue along the right bank (i.e., to the left as you go uphill) of the stream. Further on, the path crosses a tributary of the Achanal, then climbs until it reaches the grassy Costebelle path. Take it on the right, crossing upwards.
After a bend, you'll come out onto a logging road. Follow it to the right. Climb up, staying on the main road, and come out onto a track at the edge of the woods. La Bastide du Bois is then in sight.
Continue right along the field. Pass under a power line before exiting the D216 road.

5/ Take the road on the right, up to Jas des Cannebières. At the tennis court, go up to the right. The path makes an S, passing above the court, in front of a garage, then under a high-voltage power line (fire hydrant).
The path forks twice just after. Take a left both times. The path narrows and, as a trail, crosses the hillside. You emerge onto a winding track at a pass.

Access diversion to the Cade (panorama): 15 min round trip. Go up to the left by the track. Pass under two power lines. Ignore the two paths on the left giving access to the pylon. Emerging at the top of the cade, characterized by a reservoir.
Return to the starting point of the diverticulum by reusing the outward path.

6/ To return to Villeneuve, go down to the right. Pass under the two power lines indicated above, then next to a vineyard. Continue through the undergrowth, passing under a reservoir.
The path descends into a residential area and via the Trécol path, allows you to find the intersection indicated at marker 1.
The return to the starting point is made by the route taken on the outward journey.

Type : Loop

Distance : 9.6km

Elevation : 369m

Duration 3h19

Average altitude : 475m

Max altitude : 534m

Average slope : 8m