Hiking in the Esterel massif

A stunning view over the Mediterranean sea

After 1h30 climbing from the parking place on a stony path, this fantastic view is meeting you.

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On a sunny but chilly Sunday in February, I went hiking in the Esterel massif with some friends. We met at the Sainte Baume car park. It took us 1h20 from Nice by car. The best itinerary was to take A8 to St. Raphael. Karin from Cannes took the coast way via Theoule-sur-mer, which is a very beautiful itinerary but not recommended on a Sunday while too many cyclists. If the GPS doesn’t find Sainte Baume, try Col Notre-Dame.

Climbing to Pic du Cap Roux

When leaving from the Sainte-Baume car park, we found a map of the different paths. We chose the blue itinerary 7 km and 293 m difference in level. We went up the stairs and took the path on the right and followed the blue lines (a blue cross means that you are not on the right path).
On the way up we admired the volcanic rocks and the abrupt reliefs which are the charm of this landscape.

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Blog_Esterel_stony path

We first arrived at a sign saying Col du Cap Roux, but continued to the top and took the uphill path on the left. You will thus be at a height of 453 meters. It’s time to enjoy a magnificent view of the Mediterranean. There you reach an orientation table telling you what you see.
To the west you see St. Raphael, Frejus, St. Maxime, the bay of St-Tropez and further. To the east you oversee Cannes, Cap d’Antibes, Nice, Cap Ferrat, Monaco all the way to Italy. At this time of the year the mountains in the background to the east are covered with snow.

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Admiring the magnificent view

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Here we stopped for a pic-nic while admiring the view, before continuing to the left and the east side of the hill. There was an icy wind from the east that day so this side of the mountain was much colder than the west side.

At one “round-about” (a pile of stones) it was confusing because the blue path led us back uphill. After asking people we met and consulting the Google map, we realized that we shall take the yellow path to the right to get back to the parking.

It is an easy hike but rather physical. The path is rather stony, especially the east part where you walk on a big avalanche of stones.

 

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