Mont Chauve: this road is not for timid drivers

Mont Chauve d'Aspremont is a mountain peak at an elevation of 835m (2,739ft) above the sea level, located in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France.

Mont Chauve

Set high on the south-eastern part of the country, the road to the summit, known as Nice’s ‘bald mountain’, is totally paved, but pretty narrow, steep and degraded. It’s called M214.

The road is 7.0 km (4.3 miles) long with 16 hairpin turns. Closed by a barrier after km 5.0, the final set of switchbacks to the fort at the top are narrow, rougher and completely empty. The road to the summit is very steep, hitting a 13% of maximum gradient through some of the ramps. Starting at Saint-Sébastien, on the paved M114 north of Nice, the ascent is 7.0 km (4.3 miles) long. Over this distance the elevation gain is 539 meters. The average gradient is 7.7%.

Perched high between the Var and the Paillon rivers, the summit hosts communication antennas and the ruins of a military fortress (Fort du Mont-Chauve), built between 1885 and 1888 to protect Nice and all the coast. The views at the summit are unbelievable, as far as Italy to the east and Cannes to the west. Not to be done in the summer, as temperatures can be very high.

 

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