Hiking at "Les Monges"
Do you want to experience a beautiful and adventurous hike that isn't too far away from Manosque? Look no further than Les Monges!
Les Monges is a mountain range part of the Pre-Alps chain. It is located between Dignes, Sisteron and Serre-Ponçon lake. You can access the place from different routes.
It seems that the massif is called “Les Monges” (les moines = the monks) because a long time ago, there were some monks from Marseille that possessed some lands all around the area.
We went hiking there twice this summer, once from Sisteron side and the other time passing by Dignes. We are pretty sure that we are coming back in autumn because there are still plenty circuits to take.
The nice part is that you have hiking circuits for all levels. You can go with small kids just to walk around the pasture land (above all from the “lac des Monges”).
The “Lac des Monges” is a small mountain lake (1544 meters above the sea level) where you can get by car (you must not be afraid of small dirt roads) and from there you have some options to walk around.
There are also some high points for more experienced hikers: les Monges 2115 m, la Laupie 2025 m, les Cloches de Barles around 1900 m.
The first time we went to the lake walking from "Esparron la Batie," we realized that we could go by car till that point and save 2 hours walk! Then we went to the “Col de Clapouse” (1692 m) trying to get to the Monges summit but it started raining. And even though it was already June,the rain was so cold that we decided to go back to our car (3 more hours walking!!).
Despite the weather, we really loved the place, mostly because all the wild flowers in bloom. Some locals told us that “spring is in June” at the massif.
We went back in July to get to the “col de la croix Veyre” (1886 m), but starting from the other side. We passed by Dignes and drove until Barles. From there, it was about a 3 hour walk to go up. We had wonderful weather but (there is always a but!) this time it was too hot, especially during the first part of the hike.
Once you are around 1500 meters however, it gets better!
You can get more information at the Sisteron tourism office:
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