• CONTACT US if you have any problems registering for the forums.

Occitanie La Lèque Standing Stone

The La Lèque Standing Stone (Menhir de La Lèque) is the tallest prehistoric standing stone in the Gard, standing over 18 feet tall (5.6 meters). The stone has been shaped and polished. It is near the village of La Lèque and is difficult to find but is well worth the effort. This is the best standing stone in the area around Uzes.

Location: France - Occitanie - Gard - Lussan
Signs may say Pierre Plantée. This translates to "standing stone".

There are three ways to get to La Lèque Standing Stone:

Drive. From Lussan, take D979 north to La Leque. Keep on D979 and turn right on D787, signed Malataverne and Verfeuil. You come to a hamlet called Beth. Turn left (north) on a lane with a small sign saying "Menhir". The road is called Chemin de Menhir. The road goes up past houses, then turns to a dirt track. It is a 12 minute drive (2km) on this rough dirt track. It is drivable, but just barely. Go slow. Keep on the main track and just when you are about to give up, there it is on your left (very visible).

Walk (difficult). Drive to Les Concluses de Lussan and park (follow signs from Lussan). This is a popular walking trail. Walk down to Les Concluses, a river bed with interesting rocks, cross the river and follow the trail up the other side of the valley. This trail is steep and narrow, with sharp drop offs in some spots. It was too scary for us so we turned back, but if you keep going you get to the top of the valley and then follow the trail to the standing stone.

Walk (easy). There are several marked hiking trails. You can walk from Beth or from a trail off D979.

If you are in the area and like standing stones (and who doesn't?), spend the time to find this one. We found it on our second trip to Uzes. Before our first trip I found something about it on the internet, but I was not sure where it was. When we asked in Lussan, we were given vague directions and could not find it.

On the next trip I was armed with hiking maps and we planned to hike to it from Les Concluses de Lussan, but the trail from the Concluses up the valley was too steep and we turned back (I am afraid of heights). Instead we took the car and the hiking map and attempted to drive to it - and succeeded - but only after going down a very rough road and through a large hunting party. We almost turned around before we got to it because the road was so rough. In hindsight, we should have parked where the road turned rough and walked. It was only a 2km walk and we were driving at a walking pace.

full

Pauline at the La Lèque Standing Stone.

Other Standing Stones Nearby (that are not worth visiting)

There are two other standing stones around Uzes which are not worth the effort of finding:

- La Pierre Bamboche near Collias on D112 from Collias to Sanilhac. It is 6.5 feet tall (2 meters) and cemented back together after it broke in the past.

- Sanilhac Standing Stone. I saw this stone noted on the Uzes hiking map. We parked in Sanilhac and walked south to meet the GR6 - GR63 hiking trail that goes along the northern edge of the Gardon River. It was a long and boring walk through woods, with no view of the river, to the standing stone. And it was just a short square stone by the side of the trail.

Google Map


More Photos

 

How to Find Information

Search using the search button in the upper right. Search all forums or current forum by keyword or member. Advanced search gives you more options.

Filter forum threads using the filter pulldown above the threads. Filter by prefix, member, date. Or click on a thread title prefix to see all threads with that prefix.

Sponsors

Booking.com Hotels in Europe
AutoEurope.com Car Rentals

Recommended Guides, Apps and Books

52 Things to See and Do in Basilicata by Valerie Fortney
Italian Food & Life Rules by Ann Reavis
Italian Food Decoder App by Dana Facaros, Michael Pauls
French Food Decoder App by Dana Facaros, Michael Pauls
She Left No Note, Lake Iseo Italy Mystery 1 by J L Crellina

Share this page

Back
Top