Hiking to the Croix de Provence: a step-by-step route guide

Priory entrance

Montagne Sainte-Victoire (week 26)

With the kids in school all day on Monday, including the cantine for lunch, Yolanda and Craig decided to hike up to the Croix de Provence on the western peak of Mt. Ste.-Victoire.  Craig consulted at least a dozen route guides and they were all useless.  So was the guide at one of the information kiosks at the base of the mountain.  So here is a step-by-step route guide for someone wanting to climb to the Croix de Provence and/or the Prieuré.  There are many routes, this is one from the south-west.

1. If you can, find the parking lot for the trail with the blue blazes.  This is the easiest to follow and will take you straight to the top and straight back down.  We have no idea where this starts, except that it is west of where we started.  None of the guides make any mention of blaze colours.  UPDATE: there are blue trail blazes on the east side of the Barrage de Bimont, so that might be the start of that trail.

2. Our route: park at the Roque Hautes parking lot.  This is on the D17 between Aix (Le Tholonet) and Puyloubier.  It is located at the turnoff for Le Bouquet.  There is a little sign in the parking lot that says "Prieuré" and an arrow pointing towards a picnic area.

3. Go over the stream to the picnic area.  Go straight through (don't drift right!) and up to the yellow trail.  You will know you are in the right place if you go up some stairs cut into the rock.  Go up the stairs. The yellow blazes turn to the right - do not follow them!  Instead, make your way left through the bushes, you should very shortly come out on a dirt road.

4.  Go right (up) the road.  This is an access road for the olive grove.  You may see a red bar blaze (sometimes horizontal, sometimes vertical).  Walk up the road, keeping an eye open for the red bar trail that will leave the road on the right.  There are stairs and a single worn blaze.

5.  At this point the trail goes through the woods, and up wooden-log stairs.  You will come to a Y junction that looks like a road.  There are no indications which way to go.  Go left.  A hundred metres on you'll start to pick up the blazes again.  Follow to the Cezanne Refuge.

red circle blaze at lower-right

6. At the Cezanne Refuge (a ruin, a modern building, a well, picnic tables, etc.), you'll see a signpost (on the left when looking at the mountain, on the road, separated from the buildings).  There are 5 signs pointing to two different trails on the post.  Follow the left trail.  You'll pick up the red blazes again.

7.  This is the most challenging part of the trail, more of an easy scramble than a hike.  There are lots of blazes, and at one point you'll see a sign that says "facile" (easy) to the left and "illegible" (difficult) to the right.  Even the "easy" trail is a scramble.  At this point the blazes change to red circles.

8.  At the top of the rocks you'll hit a T-junction with the blue trail.  MAKE NOTE OF WHERE YOU ARE! There is no indication where the red trail turns off the blue on the way down.  There is a stone pyramid here, but there are a few on the blue route so you'll have to look carefully on the descent to pick up the red blazes.

9. From here, turn right (up) to follow the blue to the summit, it's pretty well marked.  If you go off the trail, it's pretty obvious because you'll very shortly be staring down a 100 m drop.

The white-tipped Alps in the distance

Good luck - you'll need it!  We got lost twice - once at the base following the yellow blazes (20 minute detour), and once coming down (we missed where the red path splits off and went 35 minutes out of our way).  We also asked for help at least 4 times.  The views are spectacular, though!  And the Priory and the Cross make the destination interesting.  The day we were there we could see white snowcaps on the Alps (NE), more on the Pyrenees (W), and we could see the Mediterranean (S).  And, of course, the Meyreuil power plant and Aix's reservoir dam.  It took us about 1h40 to the Prieuré, maybe another 10 minutes to the Croix.