An awe-inspiring road to Col des Basses

Col des Basses is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 1.786m (5,859ft) above the sea level, located in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, near the border with Spain and the Autonomous Community of Catalonia.

Col des Basses

The road to reach the summit is totally paved. It starts at Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste. Starting from this town, the ascent is 17.8 km long. Over this distance, the elevation gain is 1.045 meters. The average percentage is 5.9 %.

This road can be closed anytime when the access is not cleared of snow. It starts quite easily in Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste, with slopes that doesn't go above 7 % in the first quarter of the climb. Then it comes a 4-kilometer section at over 8.5 % average, this bumps up the difficulty quite a bit, requiring more effort. The road then tightens and gets in a less optimal condition up to the Col des Basses, with 6 more kilometers averaging 5.5 %. 

 

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