Col des Champs (elevation ) is a high

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

in the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

at the border between the departments of

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (sometimes abbreviated as AHP; ; ; ), formerly until 1970 known as Basses-Alpes (, ), is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the sou ...

and

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; ; ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the France–Italy border, Italian border and Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'A ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It connects Saint-Martin-d'Entraunes and Colmars, joining the valleys of the Var River and the Verdon River. Together with the Col de la Cayolle and the

Col d'Allos Col d'Allos (elevation ) is a high mountain pass in the Alps in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in France. It connects Barcelonnette in the Ubaye Valley and Colmars. It lies parallel to the Col de la Cayolle and Col de la Bonette west o ...

it forms part of a popular round trip for cyclists (see for example ).

Details of the climb

The western side, starting from Colmars, is 12.5 km long, climbing at an average of 6.6%. The state of the pavement is partly very poor (as of August 2014). While some parts are recently renovated, others contain numerous potholes and are covered by loose gravel. Along this route, mountain pass cycling milestones are placed approximately every kilometre for cyclists. These milestones indicate the current height, distance to the summit, average slope in the following passage, and also denote the street number(D2). Starting from Saint-Martin-d'Entraunes, the climb is 16.5 km gaining , resulting in an average gradient of 6.4%. The state of the pavement is generally good along this route, there are no designated signposts for cyclists on this side. However, at intervals of every kilometre, signs are placed indicating, as well as the distance to the summit (uphill) or the next villages (uphill and downhill).

The exact height

The height of the summit is commonly specified by , including the signpost at the summit used until 2013. However, the current signpost at the summit indicates a height of (see below). A topographic map Topographic map published by

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

Number 3540 OT, Scale 1:25 000. of the French

Institut géographique national An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

marks at this position of the sign, and some 50 metres away from the signpost. Col des Champs cycling milestone.jpg, One of the mountain pass cycling milestones along the climb from Colmars Col de Champs Summit 2013.jpg, Signpost at the summit of the Col des Champs as of 2013 Col de Champs Summit 2014.jpg, Signpost at the summit of the Col des Champs as of 2014

References

External links

Profile on cyclos-cyclotes.orgDescription on Quäldich.de (in German)Cycling up to the Col des Champs: data, profile, map, photos and description
Mountain passes of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Mountain passes of the Alps {{Provence-geo-stub