Molitg-les-Bains - Campôme - Mosset

(en français:
http://www.walks-vernetlesbains-canigou.eu/wikiloc/molitg-campome-mosset.pdf)

Note: the bridge over the Castellane river at point 3 was washed away during a storm in January 2020. It is difficult to cross the river near here. An alternative route is to descend from Molitg village (point 1) to Campôme via the D144 minor road, then climb to Paracolls castle (point 6 to point 4), return to Campôme by the same route, then continue the circuit (to point 7, 8, etc) from there.

1 - START. The entrance to the village of Molitg-les-Bains (see www.molitg.com), near a former school, now a restaurant. We go down the road which comes from les Thermes. After a short distance, we leave the road and we go down a lane on the right. After another short distance, we go down the "Cami Vell", on the right. We go past the entrance to the Château Riell (on the right). We continue to descend.

2 - Junction of roads (with a chapel on the left). We go to the left, along the road for a short distance. With a small tourist information office opposite, we cross the road and we go through a gate on the right, into the grounds of les Thermes. (This gate is closed when les Thermes is closed from December to March. See www.chainethermale.fr/molitg-les-bains.) We go down walkways and steps through this beautiful spa, towards a lake and some gardens at the bottom of the valley.

3 - Bridge over the Castellane river. We cross the bridge. Opposite, there is a path with a signpost to "Paracolls". We go up that path. The path winds uphill. There are several bifurcations - we always follow the steeper path. We pass an excellent viewpoint.

4 - Paracolls castle. See www.les-pyrenees-orientales.com/Patrimoine/ChateauDeParacolls.php. We go through the remains of this medieval castle. We follow a path which takes us away from the castle. At a path junction, we ignore the path on the left, which goes back to les Thermes. Our path climbs. We meet a track. We go to the right and we descend.

5 - Bifurcation of tracks. We go down, to the right. We reach the village of Campôme. We go to the left and we go through the village.

6 - Road junction. We go to the left, along a road which takes us out of Campôme. We pass through the hamlet of Breses.

7 - Junction between the road, a jeep track on the left and a grass track on the right. We go to the right, down the grass track. The track descends towards the river. The path can be wet in places. We cross the Castellane river on a bridge, and we follow the footpath to the left. This path runs parallel with the river (on the left) for some distance. Eventually the path bends to the right, away from the river. The path climbs a little and becomes a track. We see the village of Mosset straight ahead.

8 - Junction between the track and the D14 road, at the entrance to Mosset. We go to the right, along the road. After a few metres, we go to the left, along a track. After another few metres, at a track junction, we go straight ahead. We follow this track (the "Cami de la Crueta") for some distance. Eventually, the track descends.

9 - Track-canal crossing. We go to left and we follow the path alongside canal. We follow this canal for some considerable distance. We go through one or two small gates, which we must also close. There are good views down to the Corbiac abbey, on the right.

10 - "El Menat". We leave the canal here. We go to the right, along a track, with the buildings of El Menat on the left. We go to the left and we follow a lane. This lane goes to the village of Molitg-les-Bains. We go through the streets of the village, and we return to the start of this walk.

See:
http://www.walks-vernetlesbains-canigou.eu/wikiloc/molitg-campome-mosset.pdf