Circular Herbeys loop to the 4 Seigneurs, returning via the Crêtes d'Herbeys

This is a lovely walk, offering a number of views of the Vercors, some of the Matheysin mountains, the Chartreuse in autumn and Belledonne. The village of Villeneuve is also very charming.
The climb is manageable, though the descent is quite steep.

Details

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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 10.03 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 4h 00 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 398 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 396 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 846 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 505 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Park at Herbeys, in the car park behind the Coquelicot shop, opposite the church.

(S/E) Walk past the shop, keeping to the left along the road and following the yellowPR® markings, then take the Route d’Uriage on the right. Follow it for about 500 m. You’ll reach a four-way junction.

(1) Turn left onto the road, then continue along the path that follows it. When you reach the village of La Côte, continue straight ahead at the crossroads to reach the La Côte landmark.

(2) Turn right onto the Chemin du Mollard. Continue until you reach the junction with the Chemin du Vivier.

(3) Ignore this path on the left and continue straight ahead onto Chemin de la Côte de Fournet, which is still marked in yellow. After an easy climb and a hairpin bend, you will reach Chemin de Fournet.

(4) Leave the yellow markings here and take Chemin Fournet on the right (follow the path marked with a Yellow Cross) to go round the Sommet des Quatre Seigneurs and then reach a crossroads of paths.

(5) Take the path on the right and begin a fairly steep descent. Continuing along this path, you will reach a four-way junction.

(6) Take the path on the left; the descent is less steep. You will reach another junction. Turn right and, via a steeper descent, reach the junction with the yellow-markedPR® trail.

(7) Turn right here to reach the entrance to the village of Villeneuve.

(8) Cross the village and, at the cemetery, take thePR® to the right. Continue straight on at the two junctions, without going to Les Combles.

(9) At the small pass, a road continues from the path. Follow this ridge until you reach a hairpin bend.

(10) Turn right onto the road, which is the Chemin de la Pra. Pass the houses at Le Pra.

(11) At Le Villard, continue straight on to reach, further on, the Herbeys car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 505 m - Car park behind the Coquelicot shop
  2. 1 : km 0.64 - alt. 551 m - Four-way junction
  3. 2 : km 1.34 - alt. 665 m - Landmark: La Côte
  4. 3 : km 1.76 - alt. 705 m - Chemin du Vivier
  5. 4 : km 2.3 - alt. 803 m - Chemin de Fournet
  6. 5 : km 3.18 - alt. 836 m - High point
  7. 6 : km 3.66 - alt. 721 m - Four-way junction
  8. 7 : km 4.31 - alt. 609 m - PR
  9. 8 : km 4.87 - alt. 573 m - Entrance to Villeneuve
  10. 9 : km 7.56 - alt. 566 m - Small pass
  11. 10 : km 8.09 - alt. 536 m - The ridges of Herbeys
  12. 11 : km 9.36 - alt. 525 m - Le Villard
  13. S/E : km 10.03 - alt. 505 m - Car park behind the Coquelicot shop

Notes

There are no particular difficulties on this hike, just the descent, which can be a bit steep.

Always be cautious and plan ahead when you're outdoors. Visorando and the author of this route cannot be held responsible for any accidents occurring on this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

Reviews and comments

4.4 / 5
Based on 6 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.3 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.3 / 5
Route interest
4.5 / 5
Mariefrez
Mariefrez

A lovely walk, though a bit long, especially towards the end when returning to the car park along a quiet road. The walk offers a beautiful view of the Belledonne range.
The start is well signposted and the landmarks and directions are clear, but on two occasions at crossroads in the woods we hesitated and followed the map and contour lines as there were no landmarks once we left the ‘4 Seigneurs’ sign.
At one point, we asked two people for advice as there were several small paths through the woods to find the one in the woods above Villeneuve. The descent was steep and muddy that day.

Note: the signposting and path names from point 4 onwards are missing. In particular, the Chemin du Fournet...
The four-way junction wasn’t particularly clear, so we continued down the steep descent as the village of Villeneuve was in sight....

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Mariefrez
Mariefrez

A lovely walk, though a bit long, especially towards the end when returning to the car park along a quiet road. The walk offers a beautiful view of the Belledonne range.
The start is well signposted and the landmarks and directions are clear, but on two occasions at crossroads in the woods we hesitated and followed the map and contour lines as there were no landmarks once we left the ‘4 Seigneurs’ sign.
At one point, we asked two people for advice as there were several small paths through the woods to find the one in the woods above Villeneuve. The descent was steep and muddy that day.

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karinelou
karinelou

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 30, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant walk in the off-season. A really lovely view of the ridges. Quite muddy at this time of year, but still very accessible. Took 3 hours rather than 4, without walking particularly fast.

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Mariefrez
Mariefrez

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 30, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk, though a bit long, especially towards the end when returning to the car park along a quiet road. The walk offers a beautiful view of the Belledonne range.
The start is well signposted and the landmarks and directions are clear, but on two occasions at crossroads in the woods we hesitated and followed the map and contour lines as there were no landmarks once we left the ‘4 Seigneurs’ sign.
At one point, we asked two people for advice as there were several small paths through the woods to find the one in the woods above Villeneuve. The descent was steep and muddy that day.

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Marc Gallardo
Marc Gallardo

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 23, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

:as expected

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Capucine S
Capucine S

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 25, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely circular pattern for a snowy Christmas Day.
The view is magnificent from the heights of Herbeys, particularly towards the Vercors and Belledonne.

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casillas
casillas
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 12, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A lovely walk with stunning views, but be careful in December as the descents are very tricky due to the leaves and the slippery mud, especially the one starting from point 7; the rest is perfect. Once I reached Villeneuve, I decided to take the tarmac road to cut the walk short as my back was playing up (the trees blocking the path are still there).

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babarr38
babarr38

Thanks for the feedback. I’ve tried to tweak my description so that it doesn’t follow the path all the way to the summit… Although that could also be a really nice option

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ocarina0656
ocarina0656

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 01, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

At the end of marker 4 (I’m following the instructions on a piece of paper……), at first, we left the path we were supposed to take down on our right. We carried on climbing and arrived at the pylon next to the Fort des 4 Seigneurs. No matter, we retraced our steps and easily found where to go down. That gave us a bit of extra elevation gain.
Between markers 8 and 9, there were lots of walkers. But the weather was so lovely. That’s to be expected.
An interesting walk for the off-season.

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