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Moderator's addition on 22/09/2020: CAUTION! Please read the reviews of this hike as some people have had problems finding their way
Start at the car park 200 m above Chalencon (traffic in the village is restricted to residents).
To get to the start of the hike by car: in the centre of the village of Saint-André-de-Chalencon, near the church, continue through the village and take the steep road towards Chalencon (north-east).
(S/E) Descend towards the hamlet, visible from the car park. Enter this tiny village. After 100m, you will come to a straighter street (without a name) with the entrance to the castle stairs opposite (open only in high season). Note the low wall on the right. Before reaching it, take the mule track (beautifully restored and marked with yellow signs) which descends to the Ance Du Nord, which you cross via the magnificent Pont Du Diable bridge.
(1) Continue along the path on the right that runs alongside the Ance. After 200 metres, ignore a track on the right and stay on the main path that climbs back up towards the village of Durand. Cross this small hamlet, staying on the tarmac road (heading north-east) for 250 metres.
(2) At the canal (covered with a cement slab) that can be seen on both sides of the road, turn left onto this slab (yellow markings) which, 50 m further on, passes in front of an isolated house.
The well-marked trail, which is quite wide at first but sometimes very narrow, runs alongside the canal at times and then veers away from it, winding its way along the Ance valley. Stay on the well-marked trail with yellow markings. There are a few rocky steps, which are a little tricky but very accessible, especially as they have been made safe with handrails.
(3) Cross the Ruisseau du Cros, noting the cable attached to the canal, which makes this crossing easier. Climb up opposite into the woods to rejoin a wider track (GR®3F). Take this track on the right (yellow + red and white markings). Stay onthe GR® (red and white markings). After initially taking the track on the right, 200m further up, at the first crossroads, take the track on the left. After another 250m, at the second crossroads, take the track on the right to arrive at Le Cros 400m further on.
(4) At Le Cros, at the cross (on the right), take the small tarmac road on the left which leads to Tiranges. Continue straight ahead through the village until you reach a street perpendicular to your direction (cross on the left),
(5) Take this street on the left (Rue du Châpre, still following the red and white signs). 100m further on, at the fork, continue on the left-hand road, which immediately becomes a single track that you follow for 300m.
(6) At the junction of three tracks, take the middle one (still followingthe GR® signs). As you approach Chaumont, head towards the centre of the village on the left, leaving theGR® which heads north-east towards Boisset.
(7) In the village, at the next crossroads (cross on the left), turn left onto the lane (heading south) that leaves the village and continues along a track (yellow markings, which you will follow until you return to Chalencon).
At a fork at the end of the village, just after the last houses, continue in the same direction (south-east), do not take the track that branches off to the right.
(8) Keep heading south-east: leave the track on the left and, 100 m further on, the one on the right. 1 km downstream, as you approach the Ruisseau du Moulinet, continue on the descending track, leaving the track on the left (it goes back up to Le Cros).
(9) You will rejoin theGR®3F(Tiranges-Le Cros-Chalencon). Keep to the track on the right which runs alongside the stream that flows into the Ance Du Nord 200m further on. Cross the river 300m further on via the 15th-century Pont de Bounery (incorrectly known as the Pont Romain).
The trail (marked in yellow and white-red) climbs back up to the car park (S/E) located 300 m upstream
Take one last look at the Château de Chalencon.
Visorando member
Easy 
