Woods and vineyards around Rochecolombe

The starting car park, clearly signposted from the road, is located on the right bank of the stream, opposite the old village of Rochecolombe.

(S/E) Leave the car park via the path heading east. Go behind the open-air theatre, pass a path on the right that crosses the stream via a ford, then two paths on the left, and cross the stream via a small bridge.

(1) Head straight up into the old village, then turn left and continue uphill. There are several possible routes; the main thing is to reach the front of the chapel.

(2) Above the chapel, take a hairpin bend to the left onto a path which then turns right and joins a road. Follow this road to the left, then left again at the first junction.

(3) Before the first house on the left, take the path that runs alongside this house and continue south-east.

(4) At the first junction, marked by the Ron Chamorel signpost, turn right. At the next junction, leave the path that continues straight ahead into the valley and head up to the left. Pass in front of the Fontaine Saint-Martin and arrive at the Tête de Crespi signpost on the Route Royale.

(5) Turn right onto this road and continue straight on for about 3 km. You will reach the Le Charnier signpost.

(6) Turn right, slightly back, onto a path leading into the woods. Continue straight on, ignoring the paths to the right and left. Ford the Ruisseau du Nègre.

(7) At the first junction, ignore the road on the left heading up towards Courbessas and continue towards Leyris to the north-west.

(8) Turn right onto the road, then left at the first junction.

(9) At the top of the climb, ignore the first path on the left, take the descent and then, immediately afterwards, turn onto the path on the left. Ignore a path on the right and you will reach the D1.

(10) Cross the D1 straight ahead and continue along a wide track to the Mas de Chaussy campsite

(11) At the campsite, turn right, follow the car park on your right and continue alongside a vineyard. After a left-hand bend, pass another signposted path on your right and continue along the ridge to a three-way junction. Turn right and descend into a small valley.

(12) Before passing under the viaduct of the old railway line, turn left to join this track, which has been converted into a cycle path. Continue to the right towards Saint-Maurice-d'Ardèche.

(13) Before passing under the third bridge, leave the cycle path via a staircase on the right to climb up to the level of the bridge. Take the street on the right, then turn right twice. The street ends in a path that joins Impasse des Chênes. Take the tarmac road, leaving one road on the right and two on the left, and continue straight on along a dirt track. At a left-hand bend, leave the track and take a path on the right. You’ll come to a tarmac road at the La Planche hiking signpost.

(14) Take this road to the left. After a short climb, descend to a bridge over a small stream.

(15) At the corner of a vineyard, leave the road on the right and take a path between the vineyard and the river. Descend under the D1 bridge and wade across the Ruisseau de Vendoule. Climb back up to a track. Turn left and continue to the village of Rochecolombe.

(16) In the square, opposite theRochecolombe sign, turn left. Immediately afterwards, ignore the signposting which heads off to the right towards the old village via the paved slanting street and continue straight on along the tarmac road (Route de la Tour). Turn left at the three-way junction and cross the bridge to return to the car park (S/E).

Update 13/11/2023:
Following safety works, access through the old village is prohibited and physically blocked at the chapel. As this restriction is temporary, I have not altered the route, but here is how to get around it in the meantime:
After the waypoint (1), in the old village, instead of turning left, turn right into Ruelle du Vieux Village. Follow this street to the tarmac road (Route de la Tour) then follow this road to the waypoint (3) where you can rejoin the normal route.
After 200 m on the Route de la Tour, you can optionally take a shortcut by turning left onto the marked path leading directly up to the tower and then passing to the west of it. This path was not closed when we passed through.

The entire route follows^PR® trails marked in white and yellow.
At point (15), if the ford is tricky, you can continue along the road and cross the bridge, then turn left immediately afterwards to rejoin the path.

In Rochecolombe, take the time to explore the old streets, enjoy the view from the old castle and perhaps walk up the small valley to the waterfall when it is flowing.
Saint-Maurice-d'Ardèche doesn’t look like much from the outside, but here too there are a few old streets with beautiful doors and an interesting Romanesque church.
Halfway between Montagu and Le Charnier (between (5) and (6) ), as you pass through a small valley, take a detour to the left to see a field of lavender at the bottom of the valley.