PAÏOLIVE WOOD

The Païolive wood is a unique place, a source of discovery and inexhaustible imagination, a visit that you must make in order to better lose yourself in the middle of a nature of strange beauty. We say get lost, because those who stray from the marked trails - hundreds of kilometers - will have a hard time finding their way through this maze of improbably shaped rocks and dense vegetation that seems to extend the limits of the forest to infinity. Moreover, some biologists believe that some corners of the Païolive forest still contain the primitive forest, the one that has never been reached by man! The area covered by the Païolive wood still has a beautiful geological unit which makes its specificity: karstic area - dissolution of limestone by rainwater - whose ruiniform rocks offer spectacular visions - bear, lion, monkey, judges, ghosts... -, area which covers the whole of the upper Jurassic terrain in the south of the Ardèche, Païolive is the equivalent of a causse in the east of the Cévennes. Three major trails allow an approach to this unique environment. The path of the Virgin is the easiest and offers a vision of the most beautiful curiosities of the wood. The Corniche trail deserves its name and presents some dangers - impressive cliffs - and the Hermitage trail is the longest. To reach the heart of the Païolive wood, take the D252. There are numerous parking lots from which the countless hiking trails start.