Circular starting from Saint-Chef

Saint-Chef, a large village in the Dauphiné region, is well known to fans of Frédéric Dard, author of the adventures of Commissioner San Antonio. This circular route allows you to follow in his footsteps and discover the beautiful Château de Chapeau Cornu halfway through the walk.

Details

1631129
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 9.22 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 10 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 190 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 197 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 408 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 237 m

Description of the walk

Park in the large car park below the South Cemetery of Saint-Chef.

(S/E) Take the wide path to the right of the car park, Chemin des Rossignols, following the red and blue markings that lead to Château du Marchil. Turn left onto Route de Champ Bernard. Cross it and walk along the verge. Leave it at the next crossroads and turn right into a less busy street, Chemin de la Basse Biousse. You will reach the entrance to the hamlet of Basse Biousse.

(1) Turn right onto a wide path that leads to the houses in La Biousse. You will come to a tarmac road. Follow it straight ahead, then turn left to reach a Y-junction with a farm track.

(2) Turn right and take this wide track. Walk along the fields and enter the woods to reach a wide left-hand bend at a new crossroads, Brenaise.

(3) Keep left on the track, continue along it and you will reach the first houses of La Rivoire. Keep right on the road until you reach the junction with Château Cornu.

(4) Turn left down this road. Pass a wash house and then the water reservoir. At the stop sign, cross and enter the Château de Chapeau Cornu estate. Continue along the driveway opposite to reach the château.

(5) A few metres before the entrance to the château, turn left downhill and go around the château on the left. Atthe second right-angled crossroads, turn right to reach the straight track running alongside the ponds. Turn left onto this track and follow it, leaving the road leading to the Ferme du Lac on your left, and you will soon come to another crossroads.

(6) Leave the road and turn left onto this farm track. From the bend on the right, walk along the edge of the woods, then past the houses in the housing estate to enter the village of Arcisse.

(7) Cross the village, taking the road on the left that climbs to the right until you reach a crossroads at a hairpin bend.

(8) Start a short descent on the right to find a crossroads with two paths at the next bend.
Leave the first one on the right and take the one on the left. Make a final climb and then begin a very short descent. Reach the crossroads at Tour du Poulet Le Fayet. Take the road on the left, walk past the two cemeteries and finish the descent that takes you back to the car park where you started (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 335 m - Car park under the South Cemetery of St-Chef
  2. 1 : km 1.13 - alt. 340 m - Basse Biousse
  3. 2 : km 1.91 - alt. 388 m - Biousse
  4. 3 : km 3.43 - alt. 390 m - Brenaise
  5. 4 : km 4.25 - alt. 387 m - La Rivoire
  6. 5 : km 5.39 - alt. 282 m - Chapeau Cornu Castle
  7. 6 : km 6.53 - alt. 240 m - Crossroads after Ferme du Lac
  8. 7 : km 7.27 - alt. 267 m - Entrance to Arcisse
  9. 8 : km 8.02 - alt. 299 m - Exit from Arcisse
  10. S/E : km 9.22 - alt. 334 m - Car park under the South Cemetery of St-Chef

Notes

The route is marked, but the colours are so faint that I have not mentioned this marking. If you have good eyesight, you may sometimes see this yellow marking. It is supplemented by blue and red markings, which must correspond to a local route, but I have no explanation for them.

Worth a visit

(Between 8 and S/E) The North Cemetery is home to the grave of Frédéric Dard.

Reviews and comments

4.2 / 5
Based on 11 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.2 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.6 / 5
Route interest
4 / 5
User 16416953

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 26, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hike on 25 January 2026. Easy route to follow, and beautiful view of Mont Blanc.

Machine-translated

User 7625613

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 13, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

No reply

Machine-translated

myrtilles
myrtilles

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 17, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

Apart from the castle, not much to see. At the end, there's a section on a fairly busy road.

Machine-translated

Waitukubuli
Waitukubuli

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 22, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A pleasant short hike with beautiful houses and varied paths, despite quite a lot of tarmac and tractor tracks. Even so, the walk remains interesting and can easily be extended. If you take the time to look around, there is also plenty of heritage to discover. A lovely walk in any case.

Machine-translated

Saint alban
Saint alban

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 10, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk with one major point of interest: the Château de Chapeau Cornu.

Machine-translated

Nousky38
Nousky38

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 20, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

On the positive side, the yellow markings are more visible than indicated in the description. Part of it has probably been repainted recently. No particular difficulties.

Machine-translated

Saint alban
Saint alban

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 10, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Beautiful hike, beautiful scenery, but with fog that prevented us from admiring the mountains.

Machine-translated

bernardino
bernardino ★

Hello, and thank you very much for these comments, which I have included in the description.
Have a nice day.

Machine-translated

TineDo
TineDo

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 12, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful autumn hike, where you can gather chestnuts in the woods along the way. Pass by the Chateau Cornu estate, quiet villages, a wash house, and ponds (not very visible).
Paths and a few quiet roads.
The last climb (8) is steep, but it's the last one!
A few details for some:
S/E: from the car park, it's a little difficult to find the start: the wide path on the right is called CHEMIN DES ROSSIGNOLS. That helps!
Follow the red and blue signs to start.
(5): at the second right-angle crossroads...
(7): Cross the village, taking the road on the left that goes up to the RIGHT until you reach a crossroads....
(8): reach the crossroads at the Tour du Poulet LE FAYET;
.

Machine-translated

Eva J
Eva J

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 09, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Great hike with beautiful views of the castles, every section has something interesting to offer! A great mix of sunny and shaded areas, making it ideal in summer. There's also a mix of paths and roads (and not too many roads).
It rained yesterday and recently, so the dirt paths were quite muddy but still accessible.
The difficulty was moderate, suitable for everyone.
Hope this helps.
Enjoy your hike!

Machine-translated

ACéF
ACéF

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 28, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Great trip! We'll definitely do it again.
Thank you.

Machine-translated

JAROSZ
JAROSZ

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 01, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Very busy route : No

Too much driving for this route

Machine-translated

Other walks in the area

For more walks, use our search engine .

The GPS track and description are the property of this route's author. Please do not copy them without permission.