The Cirque de Troumouse is an imposing curved wall of rock,10 km long and 1.000m high located in in the Hautes-Pyrenees in France, forming the border with Spain, in the municipality of Gèdre.
This is one of the largest circuses in the Pyrenees and Europe. The peaks surrounding Cirque de Troumouse reaches between 2800 meters and 3100 meters, and the highest on is La Munia, at an elevation of 3133 meters above the sea level.
This place is included in the Pyrenees National Park, and it’s accessible by a toll road.
The climb to Cirque du Troumouse, the Pyrenees’ largest natural amphitheater, is spectacular despite having been eclipsed by the fame of neighboring Gavarnie. After leaving Luz-St-Sauveur, the long approach to the village of Gèdre, at less than 4%, is followed by a short steep 9.5% climb. With the exception of a last 10% burst, a long stretch on a milder grade leads you to thepéage (toll gate), which is free to cyclists, and ensures almost no traffic on this outstanding little road. From the péage, the succession of very tight switchbacks makes for a steep climb averaging 9.5% and an excellent descent. On top, you will be rewarded with a breathtaking view over the Cirque du Troumouse. Depending on the season, you may see shepherds and their dogs working right on the road as you pass through their herd. This climb is unforgettable.
A vast, wild place, much bigger than Gavarnie and, in bad weather, rather intimidating, the Cirque de Troumouse lies up a desolate valley, whose only habitations are the handful of farmsteads and pilgrimage chapel that make up the hamlet of Héas – until the construction of the road in, one of the loneliest outposts in France. In Héas, two establishments offer camping space, rooms and simple meals. As you reach the head of the valley there is a tollgate (9am–5pm), after which the road climbs in tight hairpins up treeless slopes 4km to the Auberge du Maillet (closed mid-Oct to May), by the side of a small tarn. After this it climbs again, even more steeply over 3km, beneath bare shining crags, to a car park. Nearby, a prominent statue of the Virgin Mary crowns a grassy knoll, enclosed by the wide sweeping walls of the cirque and enough pasture to feed thousands of cows and sheep. The moorland turf is channelled with streams and cut into dingles and hummocks, where gentians and saxifrage, sedums and houseleeks grow among the rock crevices. Beneath the eastern walls of the cirque are scattered a half-dozen blue glacial lakelets, the Lacs des Aires. A Parc National path does the circuit from Héas (no toll for walkers, 4hr).
This high alpine cirque is situated at the end of the valley of Gave de Gavarnie(Luz-St. Sauveur, Gèdre). A narrow road climbs up to the little village of Héas, the trailhead of this little route, where the public road ends and a toll road offers a possibility to get high up and into the cirque without great effort.
Snows permitting, the road is open between May and October.
