The best walks and hikes around Vic-La-Gardiole

From Frontignan to Palavas-les-Flots, the route follows the Canal du Rhône à Sète through one of the major lagoon areas of the Languedoc coast. After the Étang d'Ingril and the Aresquiers, the canal successively crosses or runs alongside the Étangs de Vic and de Pierre-Blanche, then passes between those of Arnel and Prévost before reaching Palavas. The canal itself is a major historical element of this landscape. Its construction began in 1701 under the name Canal des Étangs, to ensure continuity between the Royal Canal of Languedoc — today the Canal du Midi — and the Rhône. The route, completed in 1829, passes through Frontignan, Maguelone, and Palavas before reaching Aigues-Mortes and then Beaucaire. In Frontignan, its opening in the 18th century profoundly modified the landscape: the canal notably separated the former Étang de Frontignan into two parts, giving rise to the Étang d'Ingril and that of La Peyrade.

This wooden footbridge or "Passerelle d'Ingril" allows you to cross part of the wetlands bordering the étang d'Ingril. The trail rises slightly above the marshy ground, offering direct contact with the different coastal environments of Aresquiers: lagoon, marsh, sansouïre, and pine forest. This landscape is closely linked to the history of the former salt pans of Frontignan, exploited for three centuries until 1968.

Here, there is no "Canal du Rhône à Sète". You are in the heart of the ancient Salins de Frontignan! Salt production, officially attested in Frontignan from 1334, continued until 1968. Salt was then a precious and highly regulated resource: an old customs post controlled its circulation here, and the collection of the gabelle, the salt tax, established in the 14th century, was abolished in 1946.

This wooden footbridge or "Passerelle d'Ingril" allows you to cross part of the wetlands bordering the Étang d’Ingril. The trail rises slightly above the marshy ground, offering direct contact with the different coastal environments of Les Aresquiers: lagoon, marsh, sansouïre, and pine forest. This landscape is closely linked to the history of the old salt pans of Frontignan, exploited for three centuries until 1968.

This wooden footbridge or "Passerelle d'Ingril" allows you to cross a part of the wetlands bordering the Étang d'Ingril. The path rises slightly above the marshy ground, offering direct contact with the different coastal environments of Aresquiers: lagoon, marsh, sansouïre, and pine forest. This landscape is closely linked to the history of the old salt pans of Frontignan, exploited for three centuries until 1968.

The Étang d'Ingril belongs to the vast complex of coastal lagoons of Frontignan. Between the Bois des Aresquiers, the old salt pans and the lido that separates it from the Mediterranean, it forms a landscape where lagoon environments, sansouïres (salt marshes) and pine forests mingle. This protected natural area hosts a rich diversity of birds and plants adapted to salty environments. In summer, the pond can also experience episodes of "malaïgue", a natural phenomenon linked to the proliferation of algae and heat, which can give the water a characteristic odor.

The étang d’Ingril is part of the vast complex of coastal lagoons of Frontignan. Between the Bois des Aresquiers, the old salt marshes and the lido that separates it from the Mediterranean, it forms a landscape where lagoon environments, sansouïres (salt marshes) and pine forests mingle. This protected natural area hosts an important diversity of birds and plants adapted to salty environments. In summer, the pond can also experience episodes of “malaïgue”, a natural phenomenon linked to the proliferation of algae and heat, which can give the water a characteristic odor.

Between the ponds of Vic and Ingril, the Bois des Aresquiers forms an astonishing coastal pine forest of nearly 97 hectares. Its peculiarity lies in the immediate proximity between the forest and the lagoon environments: the pine forest succeeds the sansouires and salt marshes before reaching the banks of the ponds. Protected by the Conservatoire du littoral since 1980, the site also has an agricultural history. After belonging to a religious community, the estate was exploited for various agricultural activities, then for vines until the 1970s. Pine plantations and a period of non-management then contributed to forming the current woodland. This history has not prevented a remarkable plant diversity: about fifteen rare or threatened species have been recorded there, including Bupleurum glauccum, a protected species discovered on the site, and Ophrys cumbulifera, an endemic Mediterranean orchid.