Finding your bearings when hiking: signposting on paths
The FFRandonnée (French Hiking Association) has created close to 180.000 km of signposted paths, four and a half times the Earth's circumference! Discover the different signs and find your ideal hike!
Signposts complement other orientation tools such as a compass and map. We recommend always using these three tools together. Signposts are maintained but you may encounter damages signs after bad weather.
We distinguish 3 main types of paths and 3 different types of signposts:
Warning: signposting codes may vary from one country to another and one organisation to another. Find out as much as you can before leaving to enjoy your hikes to the fullest. In this article, we will be talking about signposting in France.
The gr® (grande randonnée)
They often enable you to visit whole regions, such as the famous GR ® 20 in Corsica. You probably know others, such as the G ®65, used by the Way of St James pilgrims. Remember to take a hiking bag that is large enough to carry foul and good weather gear.
You will recognize GR® paths thanks to their white and red markings.
Regional gr® paths (grande randonnée de pays - big country hikes)
The path always remains within a single geographic area. Regional GR® are perfect to discover a region. They are modular, "links" enable the route to be lengthened or shortened depending on your ability.
They are marked yellow and red.
Pr (promenade et randonnée - walks and hikes)
Each person can find what they are looking for with local heritage or wildlife routes. On these paths, we recommend a small 20 litre bag, unless you are also carrying your child's belongings, in this case, a 40 litre rucksack would be more suitable.
They are marked in yellow.
On the path, the colour markings will be painted on rocks, trees, walls and posts
Their frequency depends on the terrain and direction to take. The signposting is maintained by close to 8000 volunteers who adapt their markings to the environment to help you find your way, while preserving the beauty of the paths.
Before starting, find out more about your route, particularly the following points:
- distance
- steepness
- duration of the hike
- maximum altitude
Please note!
To not make a mistake, remember that MTB markings have a triangle and two circles (red, orange or brown depending on the distance of the route) and markings for horse-riding routes are orange. In the winter, you may also come across purple markings for snowshoe routes.
Cloe
Passionate hiker working at Quechua
