Parc naturel forestier de la Croix-des-Gardes

Parc naturel forestier de la Croix-des-Gardes occupies about eighty hectares of Mediterranean forest in Cannes. Its slopes reach 213 metres, making this the city’s second-highest point. Six viewpoints open across Cannes, the Bay of Cannes, the Esterel Massif, and the Prealps. The Croisette lies less than one kilometre away, while the woodland creates a quiet contrast to the coast. Mediterranean trees, birds, and small animals fill this protected landscape.

Around twenty kilometres of marked paths cross the hills, including a fitness trail with eleven exercise stations. Five main routes range from roughly 1.5 to just over five kilometres. Benches, picnic tables, and water points support family walks, jogging, and longer outings. Old botanical gardens preserve traces of the nineteenth-century British villas and their experiments with exotic plants. Villa Éléonore-Louise, built in 1835, began a neighbourhood tradition that included Villa Rothschild, Château Vallombrosa, and Villa Romée.

A large steel cross marks the highest point above the trails. Jean-Yves Lechevallier created the landmark in 1990, continuing a hillside story linked to a much older cross. The surrounding gardens still reveal how the Côte d’Azur became a testing ground for acclimatised plants. Protected natural areas, developed paths, and surviving historic estates meet here above Cannes.