The Col de la Cayolle: The Var to the Ubaye Through the Mercantour
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
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Cayolle Road
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300
XP
+100 France
= 400 total
1 day
The Col de la Cayolle: The Var to the Ubaye Through the Mercantour
300 + 100 XP
The Col de la Cayolle stands at 2,324m east of the Mont Pelat, open six or seven months of the year and carrying the road between the Ubaye, by way of the Bachelard valley, and the upper Var. At the start of the 20th century only a mule track joined Entraunes to Barcelonnette; the decision to link Nice to the Ubaye this way rather than by Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée was taken in 1894 for military reasons, and the fifteen kilometres from Entraunes to the col were built between 1907 and 1914. Poincaré was to have opened the road on 10 August 1914 and never came — France had gone to war. From the top the view runs north to the Mercantour park refuge and the high Bachelard, and south over Entraunes, the intermittent Cayolle lake and the val d'Entraunes to the Aiguilles de Pelens.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Drive the fifteen kilometres of road from Entraunes up to the col, cut between 1907 and 1914 under a mayor who walked the line of it himself, and look for the places where it is still only a ledge blasted out of the valley side
2
of 4
From the summit, look down the val d'Entraunes to the Aiguilles de Pelens and the Mont Saint-Honorat, then name the four peaks standing over the col itself — the Trou-de-l'Aigle to the north-west, the Garrets to the south-west, the perched syncline of Roche Grande to the south-east and the Tête de la Gypière to the east
3
of 4
At the top, find the boundary stone that marks the line between the Alpes-Maritimes and the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, then look 300 m along the ridge to where the pass used to be before the road builders shifted it — and if the water is up, pick out the intermittent Cayolle lake below on the Entraunes side
4
of 4
Walk north from the col into the Mercantour as far as the park's auberge-refuge — the old hôtel de la Bretonne — and look back up the high Bachelard from it
Drive the fifteen kilometres of road from Entraunes up to the col, cut between 1907 and 1914 under a mayor who walked the line of it himself, and look for the places where it is still only a ledge blasted out of the valley side
From the summit, look down the val d'Entraunes to the Aiguilles de Pelens and the Mont Saint-Honorat, then name the four peaks standing over the col itself — the Trou-de-l'Aigle to the north-west, the Garrets to the south-west, the perched syncline of Roche Grande to the south-east and the Tête de la Gypière to the east
At the top, find the boundary stone that marks the line between the Alpes-Maritimes and the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, then look 300 m along the ridge to where the pass used to be before the road builders shifted it — and if the water is up, pick out the intermittent Cayolle lake below on the Entraunes side
Walk north from the col into the Mercantour as far as the park's auberge-refuge — the old hôtel de la Bretonne — and look back up the high Bachelard from it
Before you go
The Cayolle is not cleared of snow from December to May and is closed to all traffic over that stretch, so this is a June-to-November challenge and the dates shift year to year — check inforoutes06.fr or the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence road service before you commit. The Bachelard gorge road on the north side and the fifteen kilometres up from Entraunes on the south are both narrow with unguarded drops and tight bends; a long motorhome will meet oncoming traffic on blind corners, so go early and slowly. There is no fuel on either side of the pass for a long way.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
300 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
400 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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