Located in the French Pyrenees mountains, the Chemin de la Mâture is a path cut into a sheer rock face rising over above the river Gave d'Aspe."Fort du Portalet", Tourisme Aspe Completed by the engineer Paul-Marie Leroy in 1772,LEROY, P.-M.: Mémoire sur les travaux qui ont rapport à l'exploitation de la mâture dans les Pyrénées, Adret éditions 1776 (by way of http://ecomusee.vallee-aspe.com/mature.pdf ). the Chemin de la Mâture (literally "The Mast Road") was originally created to transport timber from the nearby Pacq forest to be used in constructing masts for French naval vessels. The path has since been incorporated into the GR 10, a long-distance footpath running along the Pyrenees from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.
The Chemin de la Mâture overlooks the Fort du Portalet and lies near the village of Etsaut, in the department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. The area is popular for rock climbing.
Notes
Translated in part from the article of the same name on French Wikipedia
External links
Pyrenees walking site (in French)