A Verdon hike
Install LiveVerdon to find it again in one tap.
To find it again in one tap: Share then Add to Home Screen.
Current conditions (weather, water releases, fire risk, closures) to check before you go — see the state of the Verdon.
Current conditions unavailable offline — checking them is mandatory before you set out. Last synchronised: 13 October 2026.
No source agrees on these figures. Rather than silently picking one, we show the value we kept, where it comes from, and why we chose it — the other published values stay visible. We don’t erase contradictions, we explain them.
Value kept after cross-checking the sources. The other values come from GPS tracks or from route variants.
The Route des Crêtes is the go-to panoramic loop on the right bank of the Grand Canyon of the Verdon: about 23 km along the D23 starting from La Palud-sur-Verdon, lined with 14 viewpoints suspended above the void. It’s driven by car (allow 1 h 30 min to 3 h, stops at the viewpoints included, according to the departmental portal), cycled, or ridden by e-bike — it is not a walking trail, but a particularly panoramic road route, a great classic of the gorges. One detail to remember before setting off: one section is one-way, so the loop must be driven clockwise.
Verified on 5 July 2026 with the commune of La Palud-sur-Verdon (official website) and the Alpes-Haute-Provence Tourism portal; length, opening period, construction and one-way section re-verified at the source on 6 October 2026; opening, winter closure of the central section, viewpoints and duration re-read on the Verdon Tourisme website and the departmental portal on 11 October 2026; winter closure, GPX track and elevation gain re-read on 13 October 2026 in the Department’s table of winter closures and on the Verdon Tourisme route listing.
| Distance | 23 km |
| Duration | 1 h 30 min to 3 h by car, stops at the viewpoints included, according to the departmental portal |
| Type | Road loop (car / bike / e-bike) |
| Direction | Clockwise mandatory (one-way section) |
| Open | From late March to late November (commune of La Palud-sur-Verdon, Verdon Tourisme). Only the one-way central section closes in winter, from the last Friday in November to the last Friday in March according to the Department: closure on Friday 27 November 2026, reopening on Friday 26 March 2027 (dates calculated from this rule); the rest of the road remains accessible all year round (departmental portal) |
| Start / finish | La Palud-sur-Verdon |
| Difficulty | Intermediate by bike |
| Viewpoints | 14 viewpoints over the canyon |
The length of the loop is not consistent from one source to another: two figures coexist, even between official publications. Here’s what we use — and why.
| Data point | Value used | Other value seen | Why we settle it this way |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distance | 23 km | 24 km (Verdon Tourisme · departmental portal · Routard · Découvrir Ensemble) | The commune of La Palud-sur-Verdon, which presents the road on its website, gives 23 km, as does GEO. The Verdon Tourisme tourist office and the departmental portal, on its Route des Crêtes page, give 24 km. The gap is small; we go with the commune’s figure, while flagging the 24 km. |
The classic direction — and the mandatory one on the one-way section — is clockwise starting from La Palud-sur-Verdon. The loop strings together 14 viewpoints overlooking Europe’s Grand Canyon. Among those named by official sources:
From the cliffs and above Rougon, you can spot griffon vultures (departmental 04 portal).
The road was built in stages, from 1949 to 1972, according to the commune of La Palud-sur-Verdon: it reached the Chalet de la Maline in 1953, and the loop was closed in 1972, from the Dent d’Aire to La Maline. Verdon Tourisme writes that it was laid out mainly for tourism — so it was designed from the outset as a scenic sightseeing route.
The D23 also suits cycling, with several levels of commitment:
gorges-du-verdon-par-la-route-des-cretes-velo).We’d rather state this openly than fill the gaps with guesswork:
These fields will be completed as soon as a reliable source documents them.
Data cross-checked and verified on 2026-07-05: Alpes-Haute-Provence Tourism portal, commune of La Palud-sur-Verdon (official website), Routard, GEO, Découvrir Ensemble, Visorando, camptocamp. Discrepancies kept and resolved above. No invented data: a missing field is flagged as such.
Update of 2026-09-27: peak-time and vertigo guidance sourced from Verdon Tourisme (verdontourisme.com/route-des-cretes/). The comparison with the Corniche Sublime synthesizes several independent travel guides; no official arbitration exists between the two banks.
Update of 2026-10-06: length, opening period, construction stages and one-way section re-read on the website of the commune of La Palud-sur-Verdon (lapaludsurverdon.fr/route-des-cretes/) and on that of Verdon Tourisme. The commune gives 23 km, not 24: the value used has been corrected.
Update of 2026-10-11: pages of Verdon Tourisme (verdontourisme.com/route-des-cretes/) and of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Department’s portal (English page on the Route des Crêtes) re-read. The rule of the 4th Friday in November to the 4th Friday in March appears on the departmental portal, not on Verdon Tourisme’s page about the road: the attribution has been corrected. Added: only the one-way central section closes in winter, duration of 1 h 30 min to 3 h. The departmental portal gives 24 km on that page: it has been removed from the sources for 23 km. The drop height attributed to Trescaire and the former duration, with no re-read source, have been removed.
Update of 2026-10-13: the Department’s table of winter closures (inforoute04.fr, order 2023-1754) and the Verdon Tourisme route listing (verdontourisme.com/informations/equipement/la-route-des-cretes-555260id/) re-read. The closure from 22 November 2026, taken on 11 October from the departmental portal, has been removed: 22 November 2026 is a Sunday, and the Department sets the closure on the last Friday in November, the 27th in 2026. The 4th-Friday rule also appears on the Verdon Tourisme route listing, which the departmental portal and the regional portal reproduce under the tourist office’s name (update of 20 August 2026): they are not independent sources. The same listing gives the duration of 1 h 30 min to 3 h, offers a GPX track and shows an elevation gain: these three points, wrongly reported as missing, have been corrected.
Clockwise: one section of the loop is one-way. The commune of La Palud-sur-Verdon places it between the Pas de la Baou and the Chalet de la Maline; Verdon Tourisme describes it as the central part of the road.
14 viewpoints over the canyon, including Trescaire, La Carelle, L'Escalès, la Dent d'Aire, le Pas de la Baou, and Le Tilleul.
From 1 h 30 min to 3 h by car, stops at the viewpoints included, according to the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence departmental portal. The Verdon Tourisme route listing gives the same range.
Yes: it's an intermediate-level loop by bike. An e-bike version exists, and a longer 68 km cycling loop from Aiguines also uses the D23 (Visorando variant).
23 or 24 km depending on the source: 23 km according to the commune of La Palud-sur-Verdon and GEO; 24 km according to the Verdon Tourisme tourist office, the departmental 04 portal (on its Route des Crêtes page), Routard and Découvrir Ensemble. We use 23 km (see the table below).
In peak season (mid-July to late August), it's best to drive it before 10:00 or after 18:00 to avoid crowds on the road and at the viewpoints. Sunrise and sunset from the first viewpoints (Trescaire area) are among the most sought-after moments (source: Verdon Tourisme).
Partly: the road is narrow, steep (up to 15%), and exposed in places, with some sections lacking guardrails (source: Verdon Tourisme). Visitors uncomfortable with heights can limit themselves to the there-and-back drive to the Dent d'Aire viewpoint rather than the full loop.
There's no official verdict between the two sides. Independent travel guides tend to describe them as complementary: the Route des Crêtes (right bank) offers the most vertiginous, direct views into the canyon, while the Corniche Sublime (left bank) allows for smoother driving, fewer crowds, and different viewpoints such as the Col d'Illoire. Both routes are generally seen as complementary rather than an either-or choice.
The 8 sources this page relies on, one click away. We would rather you be able to contradict us than ask you to take our word for it.
6 of these 8 links responded during our last check, on . The others are sites that block automated checks: they open normally in a browser, but we do not claim to have checked them. A broken link is removed, never left in place.
Page updated on