Around Vanosc

Vanosc is a small village situated not far from the town of Annonay in the north of the Ardèche department. Head to the village centre and park in the car park in front of the church, opposite the town hall.

(S/E) Leave the car park and take the Montée du Pavé on the left. Walk through the village, continuing uphill, until you reach a small chapel. Just before you get there, turn left onto the Rue des Esclops, which leads downhill. At the end of this street, carefully cross the D570a and continue straight ahead onto a dirt track leading downhill. Follow this track until you reach a road near a few houses.

(1) Take this road on the right. Carry on straight ahead, passing a property entrance on the left. You’ll come to a Fork in the road; carry on straight ahead along the Chemin des Soyeux.

(2) Pass the Montée de la Citadelle on your right and carry on straight ahead, negotiating the bend to the left as you cross a stone bridge over a stream. Continue along the road, which climbs gently for about a hundred metres.

(3) Turn right onto an uphill dirt track. Pass a property entrance on your left and carry on straight ahead along the track. You’ll come to a fork in the road; take the right-hand path. Pass a detached house on your right and join a tarmac section.

(4) Turn left and carry on straight ahead, ignoring the paths branching off to the left and right. The path will make a hairpin bend to the left, leading you into the heart of the hamlet of Moras. After the first house on the right, take the path immediately on the right, which leads uphill. Just a few metres further on, between the houses, follow the path which continues uphill to the left: this path does not appear on any map. When you reach another path, also not shown on any map, turn right and carry on straight ahead, ignoring the other paths branching off. You’ll come to a crossroads.

(5) Carry on straight ahead, keeping to the left as you climb, and ignoring a path branching off to the right. As you continue uphill, ignore the first path on the left and two others on the right, sticking to the main path. Staying on the main path, ignore the paths branching off to the right and left and carry on until you reach another wide path.

(6) Turn onto this path on the left and, a few metres further on, you’ll reach the highest point of the walk. Continue to the hamlet of Roche Serveyre.

(7) Ignore a path branching off to the right and carry on straight down the slope. You’ll reach a tarmac section just before the hamlet of Le Bosc.

(8) After the first house, turn left onto a downhill dirt track. Carry on until you reach a road, cross it and continue straight on downhill. You’ll come to another road; follow this to the right to pass through the hamlet of Combe.

(9) At the junction, take the road on the right known as Chemin des Préaux. Ignore the road branching off to the right (Chemin de Vallat) and carry on straight ahead. Stay on the road, cross the bridge over a stream as it curves sharply to the left, and carry on until you reach the hamlet of Préaux.

(10) Leave the road and turn left onto a downhill dirt track. Follow this main track straight on, ignoring the side paths on the left, until you reach a tarmac section. Turn right until you reach the hairpin bend.

(11) Immediately after this hairpin bend, leave the road and take a small, downhill dirt track on the left: the botanical trail. Continue along this downhill track, keeping straight on and ignoring all the paths branching off to the right and left. You’ll come out onto a small road at a bend.

(12) Take the road on the right. Walk for about 500 m, then take a dirt track on the left which heads in the opposite direction and goes downhill. You’ll reach the bottom of the valley at a metal footbridge spanning a stream.

(13) Cross the footbridge and head back up the path opposite. This path will lead to another path where you should turn right. Continue along this path for about 300 m.

(14) Take a path on the left, heading uphill. During the climb, ignore a path branching off to the right and carry on straight ahead. You’ll reach the first houses of the village of Vanosc on Rue du Couvent Saint-Joseph. Cross Rue du Bon Accueil and carry on straight ahead along Montée du Pavé to reach the church car park (S/E).

At point (14), you can continue straight on for about thirty metres to see Château de la Rivoire perched above, before turning back the way you came.

At present (26/08/2026), at point (13), at the end of the iron footbridge, a blue string symbolically blocks the way. However, it is easy to walk underneath it, and there are no signs prohibiting access or indicating private property at this location.