Country:
City:
The hike starts at the top of the village of Virieu-le-Grand. You can leave your car opposite the Claire-Fontaine power station or a little further up the route where there are several car parks. Be aware that it gets busy from early afternoon as the waterfalls are very popular.
(S/E) Take the Chemin de Claire-Fontaine opposite the power station.
(1) Pass the holiday camp, then climb to the left after the Fiaciller bridge. You will find yellow and blue markers inviting you to cut the bends by taking shortcuts. At the "Altitude 380 m" sign, take the dirt track that climbs to the left of the road.
(2) A little further on, you will see paths leading down to the Claire Fontaine waterfall. Then go back up to the main path to continue on your way.
(3) Cross the Chanille Bridge and immediately take the path furthest to the right along the riverbank.
(4) At the first bend on the left, take the forest path on the right (marked in blue) towards the Niaz waterfall. This waterfall is well hidden and only reveals itself at the last moment (and is not always flowing).
Continue past the waterfall on the path that climbs upwards. The path can be a little slippery, and you will need to make your way through the roots.
(5) You will come to another forest path; turn right.
(6) The path then leads to a hairpin bend on the D53 road. Continue to the right until the next hairpin bend to admire the first view at the orientation table.
(7) Continue climbing on the D53 until you reach the bridge over the Arène.
(8) Immediately after, take the path that branches off steeply to the right. This is the most difficult part of the hike. The path is not marked and climbs rapidly. The trail is easy to follow until it leads to a forest path. Leave the path that climbs to your right and take the path opposite, which also climbs.
You will arrive at a main path. Continue to the right for a few hundred metres, then at a wood storage area, take a small path that descends to the right towards the orientation table and the Belvédère de Sérémond.
(9) Enjoy the breathtaking view stretching from the Vercors to Mont Blanc on your left. Turn back to the main path, then follow it in the opposite direction.
(10) At the junction with the path you took on the way up, leave it and continue along the ridge path until you reach a power line.
(11) Pass under the line and take the path that branches off to the left immediately afterwards. The path crosses a forest track and continues straight on to the hamlet of Pontieu and its wash house.
(12) Take the D53 on the left as it descends, then take the first path on the right a few hundred metres further on. Keep left at the intersection after the ford, then again at the next intersection, taking the path that leads into the forest.
(13) Pass the Pontieu boundary stone (a 14th-century stone marking the boundary of the former territory of the monks of Saint-Sulpice). Continue along the main path to the Resistance memorial.
(14) Continue for a few more metres and take the D53 again until you reach the hairpin bend after the orientation table.
(6) Then take the path on your left in the opposite direction to the one you took on the way there and join the fork after the wide right-hand bend.
(5) Leave the route you took on the way there and continue to the right until you reach another hairpin bend on the D53. Then take the first path on the left, which will take you back to the Pont de Chanille bridge.
(3) Cross the bridge and turn right onto the path you took on the way there. Take the paths that cut across the bends and pass the old holiday camp again. You will then arrive back at the Claire-Fontaine power station (S/E).
Visorando Member
Difficult 
Easy 
