Route: La traversée du Parc National des Calanques (France)

Submitted by ahebert on Fri, 01/21/2022 - 11:24am
Location
France
Distance
25.04 mi
Vertical Gain
6,574 ft
Description

The National Park of the Calanques is located in the South of France near Marseille, Cassis and La Ciotat.
A calanque is a narrow, steep-walled inlet that is developed in limestone, dolomite, or other carbonate strata and found along the Mediterranean coast. A calanque is a steep-sided valley formed within karstic regions either by fluvial erosion or the collapse of the roof of a cave that has been subsequently partially submerged by a rise in sea level.

This unique route traverses the entire Park from one end to the other. It starts at the first calanque in Marseille called the Madrague and ends at the last calanque in La Ciotat called the Grand Mugel. This route which follows the Grande Randonnée GR98 until Cassis and then turns towards La Ciotat on La Route des Crêtes, is well marked but a GPS navigation system is recommended. This route includes a few miles of road running, but most of the route is on technical gravel/rocks trails or dirt trails. A few sections require some basic scrambling.

The route was inspired from 3 hikes, you can find more details here:

http://www.calanques-parcnational.fr/fr/la-traversee-des-calanques-en-3-randonnees-marseille-cassis-la-ciotat-balade-visiter-a-pied

Segment: https://www.strava.com/segments/30846380
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/2917524312853269954