Cirque de Troumouse: a road with 31 hairpin turns in the Pyrenees
Cirque de Troumouse is a high alpine cirque located in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in France.
Is the road to Cirque de Troumouse paved?
The road to the Pyrenees’ largest natural amphitheater is fully paved. It’s called D922. The road ends at 2.093m (6,866ft) above sea level, on a parking lot. It’s usually crowded in summers.
How long is the road to Cirque de Troumouse?
It’s a very scenic road, with uncountable turns and twists. The road is narrow, the surface is rough and there are hairpins everywhere. There’s a little toll booth for motor vehicles for the last 8 km to the summit. From the péage (toll), the succession of very tight switchbacks makes for a steep climb averaging 9.5%. Starting from Gèdre, a small town, the ascent is 15.2 km (9.44 miles) long. Over this distance, the elevation gain is 1.008 meters. The average percentage is 6.63%, with a 13.0% maximum gradient.
Is the road to Cirque de Troumouse open in winter?
Set high in the Pyrenees, a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain, the road is usually impassable from November to June. There is very little traffic.
Is the road to Cirque de Troumouse worth the drive?
Set high in the Upper Pyrenees, the cirque is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The views as you ascend are spectacular, particularly on the numerous hairpin bends towards the top. A huge theatre of cliffs and peaks surrounding rough, lake-studded ground with a raised rocky hill at its heart commands tremendous views around the cirque.