Practical tips

In August, heat is the main challenge

• Local guidance is consistent: set off early, between 6 and 8 am, and return before noon. Avoid the Maures ridges — Roches Blanches, Fort Freinet and Rocher de Roquebrune — and the Plaine des Maures in the afternoon.
• No water points on the capes (Lardier, Taillat, Camarat) or Maures trails. Springs run dry. Allow 2–3 litres per person.
• The most shaded local areas are the chestnut woods of Collobrières and La Garde-Freinet, and the Pont des Fées valley in Grimaud.

Parking

• L’Escalet (Cap Taillat): full by 9 am in August. First half-hour free; free before 9 am and after 5 pm. Arrive early or choose another outing.
• Gigaro (Cap Lardier): paid parking until 30 September, filling by mid-morning.
• Ramatuelle village: completely free parking all year, a welcome local exception.
• Moulin Saint-Roch in Grimaud and Pointe des Sardinaux: limited spaces, which also keeps visitor numbers low.

A good car-free option

• Take Bateaux Verts from Les Marines de Cogolin to Saint-Tropez (25 min), walk the coastal path to Les Salins, return on the €0.50 electric Saint-Tropez Bus, then take the ferry home. No parking or D98A traffic jams.
• ZOU bus 875 serves Pampelonne’s beaches from May to September, making one-way cape walks possible.

Cap Lardier and Cap Taillat — National Park rules

• Dogs must be kept on a lead on the path and are prohibited on beaches in summer. Bivouacking, camping and picking plants are prohibited; leaving marked paths may incur a €1,500 fine. Take your rubbish away: bins are only provided at entrances.

Where to find GPS tracks and maps

• The “Balades Golfe de Saint-Tropez 2026” map is available as a free PDF from the Tourist Office website and covers the area’s waymarked trails: the key reference map.
• IGN TOP 25 maps: 3545 OT for Cogolin, Grimaud, Gassin and the peninsula; 3445 OT for Collobrières; 3544 OT for Le Plan-de-la-Tour and Roquebrune; 3446 ET for the Corniche des Maures.
• GPS tracks: Visorando (the widest local coverage, including PDFs with IGN mapping), VisuGPX, Komoot and Cirkwi. IGN Rando has closed; its links no longer work.
• Tourist offices: Cogolin 04 94 55 01 10 · Grimaud 04 94 55 43 83 · Gassin 04 98 11 56 51 · La Garde-Freinet 04 94 56 04 93 · Collobrières 04 94 48 08 00 · Ramatuelle 04 98 12 64 00.