Hiking in the Pyrenees: the 10 best hikes, with GPX tracks

The list runs from easiest to hardest, using the grade given by each route's official sheet, then, for equal grades, by increasing ascent. The order is there to help you find a walk that suits you. Each track can be downloaded in exchange for an email address and opened in the GPX Path editor to adjust it.

We picked walks known by their own name and described by an official source (tourist office, national park or département) that gives the route, distance and elevation gain. Five criteria did the sorting:

1. A current official route sheet. Each hike follows a route published by a tourist office, the national park or a département, linked from the route page.
2. All five départements. Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées, Haute-Garonne, Ariège and Pyrénées-Orientales are all on the list, with a single border walk, the Brèche de Roland.
3. Every level. From 1 hr 40 of walking to a day of more than 8 hours. By the official sheets: one easy hike, four moderate, one moderate to hard and four hard.
4. Different landscapes. Mountain lakes, a glacial cirque, a waterfall, a border gap, a peak circuit and a summit.
5. A checked track. We drew every GPX ourselves on OpenStreetMap paths, then compared distance and ascent with the official figures. Where the official track was published, we laid it over ours: 97.7% to 100% of our line runs within 50 m of it.

We left out sections of long-distance trails sold as day hikes, climbs that need mountaineering gear all season, and routes entirely in Spain. The GR® 10, which crosses the range from Hendaye to Banyuls, will get its own page.

Most of these walks are done once the snow has gone, in summer and early autumn. Dates vary by route:

• Brèche de Roland: usually early August to mid-September without snow gear; snow often lingers until late July, and the Col des Tentes road is closed in winter.
• Cirque de Gavarnie by the ledge path: June to October; avalanche debris can block the ledge until late in the season.
• Cascade d'Ars: strongest during snowmelt in May and June, but avalanche gullies delay the opening of the path.
• Lac d'Oô: 1 April to 30 November depending on snow; the hut is open from early May to late October.
• Ayous lakes and the Ossau loop: the road to Lac de Bious-Artigues is open from May to October.
• Carlit lakes: in July and August the lake road is restricted, with a shuttle from Pla de Barrès.
• Pic du Canigou: the Llec track is usually closed to vehicles from October to May.

Five of these walks enter the core zone of the Pyrénées National Park (Gaube, Gavarnie, Brèche de Roland, the Ossau loop) or the Néouvielle nature reserve. The rules there are strict:

• No dogs in the national park core zone, even on a lead, and none in the Néouvielle reserve. At Lac de Gaube they are tolerated on a lead for walkers who take the chairlift.
• Bivouac in the core zone only from 7 pm to 9 am, more than an hour's walk from any road. No fires.
• No swimming in Lac de Gaube or Lac d'Oô; avoid it in the Néouvielle.
• Outside the core zone, local rules apply: at Les Bouillouses, a protected site, dogs on a lead and bivouac from 7 pm to 9 am; at Lac d'Oô, dogs on a lead; at Lac Gentau, bivouacking was banned on part of the shore in 2021.

The full rules are on the Pyrénées National Park regulations page (in French).

Several routes lead to a mountain hut: Lac d'Oô (open early May to late October), Ayous (48 places), Pombie, Brèche de Roland, Cortalets. Works are announced at the Cortalets refuge from 2026 to 2028, so check that it is open before relying on it. In summer, book your night with the hut.

Check the Météo-France mountain forecast for the Pyrenees the day before and the morning you set off. Above 2,000 m, the Néouvielle, Carlit, Ossau, Brèche and Canigou routes are out in the open: if thunderstorms are forecast, start early or turn back. The emergency number in France is 112.

• Ayous lakes from Bious-Artigues: Ossau valley via Laruns and Gabas, then the road to Lac de Bious-Artigues. No public transport listed on the official sheet.
• Lac de Gaube from Pont d'Espagne: From Cauterets, D920 to Pont d'Espagne (8 km). Paid parking at Puntas. Lourdes railway station, bus 965 Lourdes to Cauterets, then the Cauterets to Pont d'Espagne shuttle in high season.
• Lac d'Oô from Granges d'Astau: From Bagnères-de-Luchon, D618 then D76 through Oô village to Granges d'Astau. Luchon station, then the Lipy 1 bus in July and August.
• Cirque de Gavarnie via the Espugues ledge path: From Luz-Saint-Sauveur, D921 south for 20 km to Gavarnie. Lourdes railway station, then summer bus 968 Lourdes to Gavarnie (June to September), stop Gavarnie tourist office.
• Cascade d'Ars from Aulus-les-Bains: 33 km south-east of Saint-Girons via the D618, D3 and D32. liO bus 457, stop Aulus-les-Bains centre, 6 minutes' walk from the start.
• Carlit lakes loop (9 lakes): D60 from Mont-Louis to the Pla de Barrès car park. In July and August, shuttle from Pla de Barrès to the dam; the rest of the year, road to the dam. Summer shuttle from Pla de Barrès, or the chairlift from La Calme (Font-Romeu) then about 30 minutes on foot to the dam.
• Néouvielle lakes via the Col d'Estoudou: D929 to the Lac d'Orédon turn-off, then D117 to the car park. No public transport listed on the official sheet.
• Brèche de Roland from the Col des Tentes: From Luz-Saint-Sauveur, D921 to Gavarnie, then D923 towards the Gavarnie-Gèdre ski resort up to the Col des Tentes. No public transport access.
• Pic du Midi d'Ossau loop: Ossau valley via Laruns and Gabas, then the road to Lac de Bious-Artigues. No public transport listed on the official sheet.
• Pic du Canigou via the Cortalets: From Villerach, south-east of Prades: mostly unsurfaced track to the Col del Forn, then the Llec track for about 8 km. The track may not suit low cars and closes after heavy rain. No public transport to the start.