The Grand Marges is a demanding climb starting from Aiguines, on the left bank of the Verdon, up to one of the highest summits overlooking the gorges. You climb along the GR99 to a viewpoint that takes in both the Verdon gorges and the Lac de Sainte-Croix. Expect a sporty outing: more than 800 m of ascent for a summit topping out at around 1,577 m. Here’s what the sources say — and where they still disagree.
Verified on 5 July 2026 using Plaisir des Cimes, AllTrails (point of interest), Visorando, and hiking fact-sheets from the region; summit confirmed at around 1,577 m, start from Aiguines along the GR99.
The essentials
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|---|
| Distance | 11.72 km (long variant) |
| Elevation gain | 827 m |
| Duration | 4h30 to 6 h depending on the variant |
| Difficulty | Difficult (the short out-and-back drops to “medium”) |
| Type | Out-and-back or loop depending on the variant |
| Start | Aiguines, along the GR99 (opposite the Camping de l’Aigle, D71) |
| Finish | Summit of the Grand Marges (~1,577 m) |
| Waymarking | Section of the GR99 |
The truth about the numbers
Two points are not settled to date, and we’d rather show that than invent a single value.
1. The summit’s altitude — unsettled. Sources range from 1,570 m (moustiers.fr) to 1,577 m (voyageavecnous.fr), with 1,571 m recorded by toporandos. The 1,500 m value (decouvrirensemble.com) is discarded as wrong. So we keep an order of magnitude — “around 1,577 m” — without certifying any official figure.
2. The distance depends on the variant. There isn’t a single “Grand Marges” but several routes (short out-and-back, long out-and-back, loop), each with its own distance. Letting them coexist honestly is better than imposing just one.
| Variant | Distance | Elevation gain | Duration | Difficulty | Source |
|---|
| The climb to the Grand Marges | 11.72 km | 827 m | 5h45 | Difficult | visorando.com |
| The Grand Marges out-and-back | 8.30 km | 746 m | 4h30 | Medium | visorando.com |
| Verdon le Grand Marges | 8.82 km | 739 m | 4h40 | Difficult | visorando.com |
| The ascent of the Grand Marges | 10 km | 795 m | 4h06 | Medium | outdooractive.com |
| Out-and-back (blog) | 9 km | — | 5h30 | Moderate to difficult | voyageavecnous.fr |
What you see and what you cross
- The summit panorama: a plunging view over the Verdon gorges and the Lac de Sainte-Croix — the reward for the climb.
- One of the highest summits overlooking the gorges: Outdooractive presents it as the highest, but since that claim isn’t officially sourced, we stay cautious.
- The village of Aiguines at the start: perched at around 800 m of altitude (according to decouvrirensemble.com), on the left bank of the gorges.
- A route rated “difficult” by the Parc naturel régional du Verdon, whose fact-sheet appears on cheminsdesparcs.fr.
What’s still missing
We’d rather state it clearly:
- The summit’s official altitude is still to be settled (1,570 m vs 1,577 m) — no source is clearly authoritative to date.
- The number of reviews isn’t documented: the rating found (5/5 on Outdooractive) isn’t backed by a published volume of reviews, so we don’t display it as a reliable score.
- The exact route of the full loop compared with the out-and-back is still to be pinned down.
These fields will be completed as soon as a reliable source documents them.
Sources
Data cross-checked and verified on 2026-07-05: moustiers.fr, Visorando, Outdooractive, voyageavecnous.fr, decouvrirensemble.com, Plaisir des Cimes, AllTrails (POI), toporandos, cheminsdesparcs.fr (Verdon PNR fact-sheet). Discrepancies kept and flagged above. No invented data: a missing field is flagged as such.