Everything nature has to offer

What other French county brings together snowy peaks, highlands, forests of chestnut trees, rolling green hills, tumbling rivers, other-worldly caves, Mediterranean scrubland, olive groves, lagoons and miles of beaches … criss-crossed by hiking paths and studded with thousands of years of history and architecture? Nowhere else but the Gard. Find nature, and your own true nature.

From mountains to seaside, from the highland Causses to the Mediterranean scrubland and Camargue, Gard county has everything nature lovers could wish for. With more than 9000 kilometres of marked hiking paths, including GR, 6, 7, 70 and 700, your hiking shoes will beg for respite! There are 6 official topo-guides to give you ideas and map your hike, covering highly popular trails such as Santiago de Compostela, the Robert Louis Stevenson trail, the Régordane trail, Saint Guilhem trail, and there is a collection of 20 map-guides covering the entire county.

Local guides also propose outings to discover the beautiful natural spaces in the Gard. So much to learn and see! Look at the Escapades nature brochure, which describes over 170 group outings from April to November. The inhabitants in Gard county know and cherish their natural environment. And the label Gard pleine nature, launched in 2008, identifies environmentally-friendly sites, itineraries, events and activities where development has been kept to a minimum.

Hiking is one of the best ways to discover the beautiful natural heritage that thrives in the Gard, as is mountain-biking, horseback riding, canoeing, boating, skiing, snowshoeing and walking with a pack donkey. Change perspective and try hang-gliding, or rock climbing with a local guide along the via ferrata in Collias. Go beneath the earth’s surface and explore the underground in the amazing caves in the Gard, where you can discover the fabulous ranges of colour and crystal in the developed limestone caves. Try aquatic adventures on the torrents in the Gard, and enjoy ziplining along challenging, fun itineraries in the trees.

Hikers are happy

There are internationally-famous hiking paths in the Gard, such as the Santiago de Compostela trails and the Régordane trails which celebrate both faith and tolerance. The Robert Louis Stevenson trails pay tribute to the British writer who invented, in his own way, the concept of eco-tourism in 1878 during his famous Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (also the name of the book he wrote). Lots of hiking-related events celebrate hiking, the most famous of which is the FIRA Hiking in the Cévennes Festival created in Saint-Jean-du-Gard over 40 years ago. There is also “Avril en balade”, Octobre nature en Uzège, the Brevet des randonneurs cévenols and the County Hiking Day (Journée départementale de la randonnée)

Totally off the beaten track !