Country:
District:
Park in the large car park on the side of the road at the Bois Barbu Nordic Centre.
(S/E) Pass to the right of the Auberge de la Glisse to reach the start of the snowshoe trails. From there, follow the markings consisting of a snowshoe on small purple signs bearing the number 2. You will soon reach the Sables crossroads.
(1) Turn left and follow a very slight incline to reach the crossroads of the cross-country ski trail at Galmiche. Follow the trail on the right and you will come to another crossroads.
(2) Cross the cross-country ski trail and take the path opposite. Be careful at this crossroads not to follow the sign for Malaterre on the right. Continue through the woods and, after an easy climb, you will reach the Col de Liorin trail crossroads.
(3) Turn right, then continue to the right at the hairpin bend that follows. Stay almost horizontal and, after a wide bend to the left, you will reach the highlight of this area: the Sapin Bellier.
(4) Continue south, still following signpost no. 2, to reach the large Glacière crossroads.
(5) Turn 90° to the right to begin a short climb and easily reach the Refuge de Malaterre.
(6) Return to the crossroads and take the track on the right, which runs parallel to the cross-country ski trail, to reach a place called Pison.
(7) From there, the snowshoe trail sometimes shares the cross-country ski trail. Be sure to follow the instructions by staying to the right or left of these trails to safely reach the Galmiche crossroads.
(2) Follow the same route back to the car park (S/E).
A pleasant walk. Mainly through woodland.
a very beautiful snowshoe hike. The "visirando" direction is opposite to that indicated by the white snowshoe signs on a purple background #2, but that's fine because it takes you away from the crowds heading to the inn for lunch! Easy route to follow, no risks in the woods. It took us 5 hours to complete the loop from Bois Barbu with a 1-hour picnic break, followed by tracking our progress on the app map (downloaded in advance) with GPS + alerts for deviations from the route with sound reminders, which was great 👌
unglasses:Tr It's such a beautiful circular hike with lots of snow. It's easy to find your way around because there are lots of people and the signs are clear. We got soaked walking under the fir trees, which sometimes drop so much snow it almost hurts. According to my tracker, I walked 11.1 km, whereas this circular is 9 km, but that's no big deal.
Visorando member
Easy 
Local authority
Difficult 
