Circular route from the Fontaine de Pétouze starting from Le Faz

The starting point is at the car park of the cross-country ski centre at Le Faz. Park your vehicle at the cross-country ski centre.

(S/E) Head towards Le Faz along the D31, taking care to watch out for traffic.

(1) At the junction, turn left and stay on the D292 towards Les Fauries.

(2) At the crossroads, continue straight on along the D292 for about 250 m until you see a path on the left.

(3) Leave the road and take this heavily wooded path towards Les Fauries. This avoids having to continue along the road to reach the hamlet in question.

(4) Please note, the path is not easy to find. Pass between the two buildings and take the path on the left, which is not necessarily very clear: please take care not to damage the area. You will emerge onto a small road.

(5) Take the road on the left towards Les Bournets.

(6) Once you reach the only house in the hamlet, continue straight on towards the Fontaine de Pétouze. About a hundred metres further on, turn right and you’ll reach a fork where you need to turn right and head uphill.

(7) Take the track to the left towards Les Abissets, which takes you through beautiful pastures full of flowers in April. Follow this short circular route back to the original path, then head left to rejoin the route.

(8) Leave the path on your right and continue straight on to join a road which you should follow in the same direction to reach the Fontaine de Pétouze. You can stop here for a picnic and a drink; there are tables and a very pleasant spot to rest before setting off again.

(9) Take the path opposite the fountain, which winds through the woods and reaches a three-way junction.

(10) Turn right towards the Scialet de la Ravissière. The path, which is no longer signposted but remains clearly visible and clear, leads to a junction.

(11) Follow the path to the left to make a circular route towards the Grotte des Bœufs: the path is still unmarked but very pleasant. You’ll reach a crossroads before arriving at the cave.

(12) Take the path on the right towards Grande Combe. Be careful, as the path starts to become less visible, with nature reclaiming its rights: stay alert.

(13) At this point, try to spot the path: we lost the trail and had to improvise using GPS to find a path towards the karstic cave of Cogne.

(14) Take the path on the left towards the karstic cave in Cogne.

(15) Turn right to return to the cross-country ski centre and the car park (S/E).

This walk will mostly follow paths rather than roads, although it does start on a road. At Les Fauries, please be considerate of the locals as you will need to access a path behind a small cottage.

Please respect the local area; the only water source will be the Fontaine de Pétouze, where you can have a picnic as there are plenty of tables.

Take great care on the sections between points (13) and (14): a section off the trail.