Line © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), drawn by Global Adventurer.
The walk
From the car park in the centre of Escalles the walk goes south through the village to the lane of Le Tap Cul, then east to La Haute Escalles. The Chemin du Moulin climbs north to the ridge by the Noires Mottes, and a path follows the ridge west over the Mont d'Hubert, 151 m, to the top of Cap Blanc-Nez. A paved footway leads out to the Dover Patrol memorial on the cape, and a gravel path follows the cliff top west to the Cran d'Escalles, from where the Rue de la Mer brings you back to the village. The Département du Pas-de-Calais lists this route as Les Balcons d'Escalles, 8.5 km, 2 h 30 and 231 m of climb, starting at the Haute-Escalles car park (the Deux-Caps list gives 7.8 km and 2 hours). Our line starts at the village car park, which the official line passes, and adds the short out-and-back to the Dover Patrol memorial, which the official line passes about 70 m away.
It is 8.6 km round with 208 m of ascent; allow about 2¾ hours. The grade is Easy: village lanes, farm tracks and cliff-top footways, with several climbs, the longest to the ridge above the Noires Mottes.
Cap Blanc-Nez is a chalk cliff 134 m high, and Eden 62's page for the site shows a warning of the risk of the cliff giving way: keep to the paths and well back from the edge. About 600 Boulonnais sheep graze the grassland from May to October. Dogs are allowed only on a lead, on the waymarked paths. The municipal orders of Escalles and Sangatte that Eden 62 links say walkers must keep to the waymarked paths and that the site is closed to visitors at night. Bicycles are forbidden, except on the military track between the Mont d'Hubert and the Noires Mottes crossroads (Escalles order of 4 February 2025); picking plants and dropping litter are not allowed.
The walk starts at the village car park near the Place de la Mairie in Escalles; a bus stop is mapped beside it in OpenStreetMap. The Département's own page starts the walk at the Haute-Escalles car park.
Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.
Good to know
- Cap Blanc-Nez is a chalk cliff 134 m high above the Strait of Dover, in the Grand Site de France des Deux-Caps, a label the site has held since 2011
- The cape belongs to the Conservatoire du littoral; about 600 Boulonnais sheep graze its grassland from May to October, and the cliffs hold colonies of gulls, fulmars and kittiwakes
- The Département du Pas-de-Calais gives Les Balcons d'Escalles as an 8.5 km waymarked loop of 2 h 30 with 231 m of climb, starting at the Haute-Escalles car park; the Deux-Caps list gives it as 7.8 km and 2 hours, starting in the village centre
- At the cape, picking plants is forbidden, dogs are allowed only on a lead on the waymarked paths, bicycles are forbidden except on the military track between the Mont d'Hubert and the Noires Mottes crossroads, and Eden 62's page shows a warning of the risk of the cliff giving way
Summits on the way
- Noir-Mottes 141 m · passed close by
- Le mont d'Hubert 151 m · passed close by
Getting there
Start: Escalles village car park. 50.91715, 1.71337
Directions to the start
Places to stay nearby
Rooms in and around Côte d'Opale: Booking.com → Expedia → Hotels.com →
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Paths change, and the weather decides the day. The line is drawn along OpenStreetMap paths and the figures are worked out from it; take a map, check the forecast, and turn back if it isn't right.