Great landscapes

The Pech de Bugarach

Magnificent 360° panorama

The must-haves

It is the peak to climb for all nature lovers. Majestic in the middle of the valley, it dominates the Corbières with its 1231m of altitude. Its ascent, interspersed with magnificent viewpoints on both sides of the valley, ends with a magnificent 360° panorama over the Pic du Canigou, the Roussillon plain and the Mediterranean Sea, the Ariège Pyrenees chain and the Haute Vallée de l’Aude up to the Montagne Noire above Carcassonne.

Getting there

Yet how beautiful the mountain is

Calm, serenity and preserved nature are the key words that designate this moment when one finds oneself alone, with friends or family in the forest that precedes the small “climb”. Agriculture still very present in the landscape, allows the maintenance of an open environment conducive to well-being.

Beware, the minimum equipment is indispensable for the hike: good shoes, backpack, water bottle, sugar insert, k-way, hat. Remember to ask about the weather!

Be one of those privileged people who can stay for hours on the summit contemplating this wonderful immensity that its panorama offers.

"An upside down mountain? A little geology

The Pech de Bugarach, the only peak in the middle of the valley, is a true and rare geological curiosity. It is the testimony of the thrust of the Pyrenees due to the collapse of the Iberian and European plates. The rocks were folded forming the anticline and then broken to eventually overlap. The mountain, resulting from a folding lying, sees the older upper layers, resting on the lower layers, hence its nickname of “Inverted Mountain ” because it should be the opposite. The base of the mountain is made up of -70 million year old sediments while the top is -135 million years old. What we see at the top should be at the bottom. Bugarach has the particularity of being formed by an anticlinal fold, but totally inverted.

Who has not heard of the Pech de Bugarach?

The highest point of the Corbières and emblematic by its geological configuration yes, but not only… Since the dawn of time, this magisterial mount of the Corbières has known how to arouse myths and legends.

For the little story, the Pech owes its name to “Bug” and “Arach”, 2 elves gone to implore the great God Jupiter to protect the lands from the thunderbolts of Cers, son of Aeolus, father of the winds and storms. Rejected by all, he ravaged the crops, ransacked the houses and destroyed the trees and flowers. Bug climbed on Arach’s shoulders to make himself better heard by the Master of the skies. Jupiter allowed himself to be bent over and erected a protective promontory, made of the very mount on which the two goblins had placed themselves to implore him. In the shelter of this new rampart, which will henceforth bear the name of Bugarach, the whole plain of Roussillon and the plateau of Corbières will no longer fear the disastrous wrath of Cers. Mount Bugarach was created. It is said that afterwards, Cers did not stand up to defeat, feeling blocked, he changed into tramontana and continues to blow and worry trees and peasants.

Beyond this legend, it turns out that the Pech de Bugarach has a strong vibratory influence, it is said to emanate a singular, powerful and unifying energy that would disrupt certain electronic devices.

The Pech de Bugarach was much talked about in 2012. According to the end of the Mayan calendar, the end of the world was to take place in December 2012. Only the Bugarach Peak and the inhabitants within a 10km radius would be spared. Numerous French and foreign televisions took hold of the site for several days, with the village of Bugarach making national and international news.

Legends, end of the world, special atmosphere, UFO garage… for decades, myths and legends have marked the territories and fueled the conversations.

What to do

The Pech de Bugarach

on site?

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