Beauregard viewpoint in the Conest mountain

Date of your route : Mar 01, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A summit well suited to snowshoeing. Starting from Les Arnauds and on the climb, at the Trois Fourches crossroads, I head directly left to have more mountain pasture on the ridge.
Beauregard is shrouded in fog this morning, but the views gradually clear.
The descent passes by Petit Lac and then the pastoral hut. There, instead of descending further, I follow the horizontal tracks just above the hut to cross the snow-free eastern face of Beauregard and return to Clos de l'Oiseau, then back into the forest.
I am not providing a snowshoe guide for this variant, as the traverse under Beauregard is prone to avalanches in heavy snow and cannot be recommended in winter.
I'm adding a few winter photos.
Jicépé.

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Date of your route : Nov 12, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Beautiful trail. The end of the route, when you reach the summit meadow, is more difficult because the slope is very steep. In addition, there was an icy wind, a wind strong enough to knock you off your feet, which made it difficult to stand up. But the landscape is magnificent, with a 360-degree view. We descended via the same route we took to ascend, so I cannot comment on the end of the route.

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Date of your route : Jul 10, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Beautiful hike to the summit via the Chemin de Sagnas (forest path with beautiful clear undergrowth followed by pastures). Magnificent 360° panorama.
However, the descent on the other side, after Petit Lac, is difficult. The path is unmaintained, disappears, has no signposts, is overgrown with brambles and nettles, and has low branches covered with hazel trees. We managed to get back to the starting point with the help of an app (thank you, Visorando), but it was no fun. I was wearing shorts, which was great...
My advice: go back down the way you came up, this short hike is just as beautiful!

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Date of your route : Jun 08, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A magnificent hike, very varied. No difficulty. Often windy, which keeps it cool. Climb through airy woods then up the side of the Connest. Superb descent. Not always easy to find the path in the maze of cow parks. The views are remarkable. I always enjoy doing this hike again. Thank you.

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Date of your route : Apr 07, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful walk above the lakes and a superb viewpoint.

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Date of your route : Jan 15, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful hike with a sea of clouds and a 360-degree panorama. On 13 January 2025, the snow was hard and well-packed, making for a magnificent day.

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Date of your route : Aug 31, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Plan B after wanting to escape the crowds at Lake Crozet, which I had planned to do... I quickly found a hike an hour's drive away, searching the app for nearby trails that weren't too difficult. I wasn't in the mood for a long, hard hike that day... haha

I prefer rocky terrain and challenging high mountains, so I set off thinking,
"well, mountain pastures... yeah, whatever, they say the view is cool".

And the view is definitely worth the detour.
It's a great healthy walk if you're an experienced hiker, with a little bit of orienteering.
If you're less experienced, it's still an easy hike but with a gentle and balanced 400m elevation gain.
You won't meet anyone there; I imagine people generally avoid the mountain pastures. Just as well, since I was avoiding the crowds myself.

As someone else said, and as is clearly indicated, it's a large mountain pasture with lots of cows grazing. They were all at the pass when I went through. And yes, passing through the fenced areas is a bit of a pain, but that's normal because there are lots of wires to go under and passages to find.
Personally, I took the double wire at the bottom of the path, then veered slightly to the left to reach the gate on the left of the pond.
(I hate cows, you never know if they're going to kick off XD I usually give them a wide berth, especially in wild areas, but I didn't have much choice there).

The weather was nice but humid that day.
Clear views of the Obiou, Taillefer, the Belledonne massif, the Chartreuses with Chamechaude and Dent de Crolles standing out powerfully, and the eastern balconies of the Vercors with the Aiguille also visible. In short, a feast for the eyes.

If you're frustrated by the elevation gain like I was and you have time, add the return trip to Peyrouse, which offers an additional beautiful view of Lake Monteynard-Avignonet...and another perspective on the previous view. This adds ~ +200m from the pass and about 4km more to the hike.
According to the app, it was about 13.7km and 670m of elevation gain. I didn't check in real life, but it must be about that.

As for the description, I personally had no problem finding my way, but for those who have more difficulty, or if it's foggy, it might be a good idea to describe the route after the pass in a little more detail. After a marked descent through the woods, you then navigate an unmarked section on the hillside, either through meadows or woods, depending on your choice.
Since the tracks on the ground are sometimes random, it's better to have a clear view, and since the map shows a route between woods and meadows, I choose to stay in meadow mode at the edge. And at least you have a view the whole time, hihihi. And when you arrive at the little valley that leads back to Les Arnauds, you can see it coming and it has its own charm.

Otherwise, on a clear day like this, it's really not difficult at all if you don't get lost at every turn. The route to take is obvious.

So it's a short hike in "health walk" mode, but with a nice view and a short, interesting descent.

Cheers

PS: Didn't meet anyone on the route, just a family at the top of La Peyrouse who had their cars at the Col de Petit Étang.

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Date of your route : Aug 24, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike that deserves to be better known. Beautiful panoramic views and we didn't see any other hikers.
The route was diverted after the descent from Conest Mountain due to herds of cows (there were numerous electric fences to cross, which were not always easy to identify).

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Date of your route : Apr 08, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Thank you for this superb hike with extraordinary views. You have to climb to the top of Conest to get a 360° view of all the Alps and Northern Pre-Alps (except Mont Blanc, however!).
Not having a GPS, we had some doubts and questions about the route: when we arrived at the Conest mountain pasture, we didn't know which path to take, but in fact they all lead to the summit, which you can see anyway. On the way down, the 'lower crossroads' is well marked, but the path that runs along the mountain to Les Arnauds is long and not always clearly visible, so you have to trust your instincts: you arrive at Les Arnauds after leaving the woods, crossing a meadow on a sort of small pass and then taking a well-defined path in a small valley.

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Date of your route : Feb 19, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

As indicated, park in the car park at the bottom, as the spaces in the village are for residents. A very pleasant hike, starting with a photogenic forest, a steady climb, to be repeated in snowshoes! I used the GPS track because there was a lot of fog at the summit. For your information, a sign announces more than 600 cows during the summer grazing season...

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Date of your route : Jul 16, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike with magnificent 360° views of all the surrounding mountain ranges (Chartreuse, Vercors, Belledonne, Obiou).
The only problem at this time of year is that from point 6 onwards, the trail is only passable if you follow the GPS track. From this point onwards, the trail, which is rarely used, disappears into tall grass, brambles, nettles and thickets. The only way to find your way and continue the hike is to use the GPS track that you will have downloaded onto your mobile phone.

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Date of your route : May 15, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Beautiful route, thank you.
We were in fog at the summit, but it's still quite pretty even in chaotic weather; it must be superb when visibility is good.
We set off from Saint-Jean-de-Vaulx, then Les Arnauds, the summit, and back via Villaret. It changes things a bit, but it's very good. Add 190 metres of elevation gain.

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