Les Grands Vignes, La Giraudière and the Pampailly Mine

This walk, suitable for keen walkers, is also accessible to children. It follows part of theGR®7before reaching the Pampailly silver mines. You’ll discover the Cour des Aîtres, the River Brévenne and the old, now disused railway line; then, after a stretch through the forest, you’ll cross the Le Cosne stream before reaching the site of the old Pampailly mines, which were in operation from the 15th century onwards.

Details

16935010
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 4.37 mi
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 40 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 764 ft
  • ↘
    Descent: - 764 ft

  • ▲
    Highest point: 1,486 ft
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 997 ft

Description of the walk

Park in the car park at the Brussieu village hall.

(S/E) Head towards the village via the Chemin de la Grand Fond. At the entrance to the village, just after a metal cross on your right, cross the Cour des Aîtres on your left. Come out onto Rue de l’École and follow it down to the left; this is theGR®7, marked in red and white. Walk past the school and then the cemetery, continue along the path as it descends and reach the Envers crossroads.

(1) Cross the D389 with care. Continue downhill, crossing the Brévenne and then the railway line.
Head back uphill, join the tarmac road and turn left. Continue along the Route de la Randonnière until you reach the railway line again.

(2) Cross the railway line, carry on, then at the station, follow the road to the right and cross the River Brévenne.
When you reach the junction with the D389, cross at the pedestrian crossing on the right and head uphill opposite.
At the junction with the departmental road, head downhill to the right, follow the bend and pass the La Giraudière chapel on your left. Further down, take the road on the left. Head downhill and then back uphill along the road, which makes a first turn left then right and reaches the River Le Cosne.

(3) Here, begin a very steep climb; at the bend to the right, take the path on the left.
Follow the path through a small wood and, at the junction further on, head up to the right. Pass the sewage treatment plant and continue to the hamlet of Les Rivières.

(4) Turn left onto the road and continue left before Les Vernays, then follow the path to the Ruisseau de Cosne.

(5) Cross the stream to enter the Pampailly mine site. Follow the path uphill in the shade of the trees. Further up, the path emerges into a meadow. Carry on and, when you reach the road, turn left.
Carry on, passing two roads on your right, and take the next path on the right. Walk downhill until you reach the D101.

(6) Cross the road, taking care of traffic, and take the path leading downhill opposite. Walk past the old wash house on your left and head uphill. A little further up, take the metal footbridge on the right to cross the wetland. On the other side, head back up towards the village hall car park (S/E) by following the path on the left.

Waypoints

  1. S/E : mi 0 - alt. 1,447 ft - Village Hall car park
  2. 1 : mi 0.94 - alt. 1,050 ft - The reverse sides - Brévenne(rivière) - Affluent de l'Azergues
  3. 2 : mi 1.61 - alt. 1,017 ft - La Giraudière
  4. 3 : mi 1.99 - alt. 1,007 ft - Cosne (rivière) - Affluent de la Brévenne
  5. 4 : mi 2.73 - alt. 1,289 ft - Les Rivières
  6. 5 : mi 3.25 - alt. 1,171 ft - Pampailly Mines
  7. 6 : mi 4.03 - alt. 1,375 ft - D101 Road
  8. S/E : mi 4.37 - alt. 1,447 ft - Village Hall car park

Worth a visit

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

4.3 / 5
Based on 4 reviews

Reliability of the description
4 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.8 / 5
Route interest
4.3 / 5
nlx
nlx

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 14, 2026
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

This route uses GPX only. A pleasant walk, really lovely along the stream! A few recreational ‘highlights’: the old railway footbridge (point 2), views of the quarry, the wash house and the ruins of the mining operation.

Machine-translated

Michel Mayoud
Michel Mayoud
• Edited:

Thank you for your comment – a surprising new development at checkpoint 4, but fortunately nudism isn’t compulsory on the course ;=)

Machine-translated

Françoise-S
Françoise-S

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 27, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

An easy and very scenic walk. The paths are generally well maintained. However, if you leave the path at marker 4, you’ll come across a nudist camp. You can’t miss it!

Machine-translated

Michel Mayoud
Michel Mayoud

Hello,
Thank you for your comment; I’ll take another look at the section on La Giraudière to try and avoid any misleading information
Kind regards

Machine-translated

SFBrunier
SFBrunier
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 06, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A nice addition to the western circular route, which we’d done four days earlier.
A lovely walk on the Brévenne side, with beautiful views on the descent from Brussieu. A great opportunity to see the ‘straight up the slope’ climb to Courzieu Mara des Bois opposite!
No particular difficulties, apart from the section through La Giraudière, where we missed the path to the chapel by passing a little too far below it.
We were then a bit unsure about the route from the bridge over the Cosne. We probably went too close to the stream, off the GPX track, but along a very pleasant little path. We joined the main route at the sewage treatment works, and had no further problems after that.
Thank you...

Machine-translated

Michel Mayoud
Michel Mayoud
• Edited:

Thank you very much for your very helpful comment, highlighting the positives and areas for improvement, which I will take on board for the next version.

Machine-translated

Fabrice0869
Fabrice0869

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 22, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk to go on.
A good descent at the start
A good mix of trails, woodland and quiet tarmac.
Crossing the stream several times is a nice touch
The old silver mines are interesting from a cultural point of view, even if there isn’t much left of them
The climb back up after the ruins is very steep, much steeper than indicated beforehand
Fortunately, the GPS track is very good, as the route description isn’t precise enough at times, but there’s little chance of getting lost.
We completed the walk at a leisurely pace in 2 hours 40 minutes.

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.