Loop from Pré Marcel to Col de la Mine de Fer, Lac de Crop and Orionde.

By car: on leaving Villard-Bonnot via the D523 heading north, take the D290 towards Sainte-Agnès. After Sainte-Agnès, join the D280 and turn left towards the Col des Mouilles. At the pass, leave the D280 towards Allevard and turn right, before the wooden buildings, onto the Route de Pré Marcel. After 850 m, at the junction, follow the road to the right for 2.4 km, and, at the Fork in the road, head left to the car park in a shaded meadow.

(S/E) Return to the fork in the road at the car park entrance, turn left onto the forest track (east). Note a track on the right leading uphill in the opposite direction, marked with a hiking sign.

(1) Follow this track towards the Refuge Jean Collet.

(2) At the wide left-hand bend, ignore the old path branching off to the right (south-east).
The IGN map is out of date and the path mentioned above is still shown as the access route to the refuge.
Following the edge of the woodland, take the bend to the left, continue for 150 m and then turn right. After about 400 m, you’ll reach a junction at a left-hand bend.

(3) Leave the track (north). Take the path on the right (south) which, shortly afterwards, enters the forest for a good two kilometres before rejoining the old path (alt. 1,500 m).

(4) Leave this path on your right and continue straight on. After a few hairpin bends, you’ll reach a junction on a flat stretch (alt. 1,640 m).

(5) At the sign for “Sous le Rafour” (a severed post with no indication), ignore the path on the left towards “Sous Orionde”, which you will take to complete the circular route. For now, follow the path on the right (south-west) towards the refuge. After crossing through the forest and a few hairpin bends, you’ll reach open, rocky terrain (alt. 1,800 m), and cross (south) several gullies and steep sections, some of which are secured by cables, before reaching the Refuge Jean Collet (alt. 1,950 m).

(6) Walk past the refuge and continue along the path (south-east) for about a hundred metres until you reach a three-way junction.

(7) Leave the GR®738 on your right, heading towards the Col de la Sitre, and the middle path, heading towards Lac Blanc. Follow the GR®738 to the left, towards the Col de la Mine de Fer, which climbs diagonally, parallel to the path to the lake. Cross a small hill, then climb up the bottom of a grassy valley, on a gentle slope. At an altitude of around 2,150 m, begin the final ascent via a steep path zigzagging through rocks and scree, and finally reach the Col de la Mine de Fer (2,400 m).

(8) At the ‘Col de la Mine de Fer’ signpost, descend for 50 metres down the opposite slope of the pass (north-east) to a junction.

(9) At the second “Col de la Mine de Fer” signpost, leave the^GR®®738to the right, towards the Pas de la Coche. Continue to the left, on the yellow-marked path, towards Lac de Crop. Descend (north-east), passing between a steep slope on the left and a rock face on the right, until you reach a precipice.

(10) Turn left (north-west) and descend the rocky terraces via two hairpin bends.

(11) Cross a scree slope, then a field of large boulders (west). Do not attempt to head straight down towards the lake but keep level. After a narrower section between a cliff and large rocks, gradually turn right (north).

(12) On the path, still keeping level, across a wider scree slope, head towards a gap. Once through this, the path becomes clearer again and, on the scree, resumes its descent in switchbacks towards Lac de Crop (alt. 1,910 m), which it follows along the eastern shore.

(13) Shortly after the end of the lake, you’ll come to vegetation again. Pass a few hairpin bends in the lake’s headwall and reach a junction (alt. 1,830 m).

(14) Leave the path on the right, heading towards the Habert du Ferrouillet. Continue along the path on the left (west–north-west) for about 800 m. Leave the forest and reach a junction (elevation 1,706).

(15) At the sign for “Sous Orionde”, leave the path straight ahead, which leads to the Pont de la Betta. Turn left onto the yellow-marked path, heading towards “Sous le Rafour”. Climb the right-hand side of a small valley on the Montagne de Barlet (south–south-west), then at an altitude of 1,820 m, turn right (north) to reach the ridge of the valley and follow it westwards to a high point (altitude 1,900 m), above an alpine shelter. Descend towards a junction on your left.

(16) Ignore the paths to the left and right; descend along the path leading to the shelter. On the opposite side of the shelter, follow the path to the left (south-west), alongside a fence. Pass an unmarked path on the right, heading in the opposite direction, which leads to the Source de Michu. After the drinking trough on the left, continue along the path on the right which follows the fence. Cross the crest of a hill and, through the woods, reach the “Sous le Rafour” junction sign you passed on the way up.

(5) Take the path on the right and, following the route in reverse to the one taken on the way up, head back to the Pré Marcel car park (S/E).

Route marking

The circuit is fully signposted.
The route is not aerial or exposed, but it is still a mountain route with rocky terrain and steep slopes.
However, there are several ravines and steep passages, some of which are secured by cables, before reaching the Jean Small Pass Refuge (altitude 1950 m).