Chemin du Beurre and Balais mines

Complete hike with cairns and stream crossing.

Details

48921
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 12.86 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 5h 05 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 482 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 485 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 375 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 161 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Park at Place de la Mairie in the centre of the village of Talencieux.

(S/E) Head towards Cance via Rue du Pavé and Route de Sarras. Turn right onto Route des Rameaux. Continue along the path that follows it until you reach a crossroads at Ravin de la Tailla.

(1) Stay on the left-hand path to quickly reach a Y-shaped crossroads.

(2) Take the left-hand path and descend to reach the road at the entrance to the village of Cance.

(3) Turn right onto the Beurre trail, which is almost flat, before starting the climb to the ridge.

(4) Turn right into the heathland, following the cairns uphill. You will come to a vineyard, then continue slightly to the left, passing some beehives on your left, before returning to the Y-shaped crossroads you passed on the way up.

(2) Take the same route as on the way there to the left to return to the initial crossroads.

(1) Turn left to descend into the Ravin de la Tailla and reach the hamlet of Assuis.

(5) Take the RD270 on the right, following the left bank of the Cance river. You will come to a bridge at the confluence of the Cance and the Ruisseau de Vert.

(6) After the bridge, take the path that climbs steeply to the right, zigzagging through the box trees to reach an area of pine and oak trees and a much more clearly marked path. Then follow the path to the right, which can be quite muddy when it rains, and you will come to the Ruisseau de Vert.

(7) Please note:
- it is impossible to cross in wet weather, in which case you should go around via the Vert dam,
- cross the stream and then climb up the clearly visible path until you reach Balais and theGRP® Tour du Bassin d'Annonay.

(8) Take it on the right and follow the yellow-red markings to the Talencieux car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 368 m - Town hall car park
  2. 1 : km 1.37 - alt. 318 m - Carrefour circular
  3. 2 : km 1.61 - alt. 331 m - Crossroads small circular
  4. 3 : km 2.63 - alt. 177 m - Cance
  5. 4 : km 4.16 - alt. 200 m - Crête
  6. 5 : km 6.13 - alt. 164 m - Assuis
  7. 6 : km 8.53 - alt. 201 m - Confluence of the Ruisseau Vert and - Cance (rivière)
  8. 7 : km 9.7 - alt. 268 m - Vert stream
  9. 8 : km 11.27 - alt. 374 m - Balais and GRP
  10. S/E : km 12.86 - alt. 368 m - Town hall car park

Reviews and comments

3.8 / 5
Based on 17 reviews

Reliability of the description
3.5 / 5
Ease of following the route
3.7 / 5
Route interest
4.2 / 5
Thierry 26
Thierry 26

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 14, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Good course, difficult first half, second half is very difficult and not straightforward as it is overgrown with vegetation.

Machine-translated

Thierry 26
Thierry 26

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 14, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Good course, difficult first half, second half is very difficult and not

Machine-translated

Thierry 26
Thierry 26

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 14, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Good course, difficult first half, second half is very different.

Machine-translated

TIFTUF65
TIFTUF65

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 14, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

This hike is a must, and you should definitely use GPS so you don't get lost, as there are no signposts until you reach Les Balais.
Start at the church below the car park, take the road on the right and turn right 50 metres later onto Rue des Rameaux, which is clearly signposted.
This hike includes steep descents as well as steep, rocky climbs. It's not vertiginous, but walking sticks are useful and you need to be in good shape as it's quite physically demanding. Don't do this hike after rain as it can be too muddy and slippery.
Crossing the stream may be problematic if the water level is high at this time of year.
Beautiful views of terraced vineyards, the Cance Gorges, Vercors, the Rhône Valley with its nuclear power plant, and hot air balloons from Les Balais.
We had a peaceful time throughout the entire hike on this circular route. Thank you for this route.

Machine-translated

COOKIE
COOKIE

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 22, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

This hike is advertised as moderate, with only one warning about precautions during rainy periods.
i think it should be pointed out that it is very technical and should only be attempted by experienced hikers, particularly because of the steep gradients both on the way up the rock faces and on the very steep descents.
The route along the D270 and on the return just after the wooden totem pole is a bit long. To enter Talencieux
It is still a very beautiful hike offering exceptional views once you reach the top.

Machine-translated

Thierry 26
Thierry 26

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 08, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Quite a difficult course with very steep slopes, especially in the first loop. In the second loop, it is parish specific to Brittany to follow the course because of the vegetation and the slopes are still very steep and rocky. You need to be in good shape despite the 13 km

Machine-translated

philkikou
philkikou

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 24, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

As a local hiker, I did this hike with a colleague in 3 hours and 40 minutes. It was a very varied route that I found interesting (flat, downhill, fairly steep climbs, especially after the butter trail). No problems with the route on my phone, unmarked route.

Machine-translated

ChantalG
ChantalG

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 25, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hello, I did this hike yesterday and, as is often the case with your routes, the start is already difficult and there is a lack of explanation as well as a lack of signs, such as for the cobbled path...
The circular loop that descends towards the Rhône offers magnificent views, but the path is very steep and even dangerous. It is worth pointing this out as it is not suitable for everyone!
After this circular, there are no signs to show you how to continue the hike, and the same applies to the return at the end of the hike.
Could landmarks be placed on stones?
That said, I imagine that the area is difficult to mark out, but the hike is well worth it.
I would conclude by saying that it is intended for experienced hikers.

Machine-translated

degli
degli

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 26, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

I know it's easy to criticise... but starting from the town hall car park: take Rue du Pavé, etc.
You have Rue du Pavé (the sign) in front of you to go left and right next to it (1 m away) the Rue des Hoches sign to go right. Why not mark Rue des Hoches, since you have to go right? So already there, the explanation is very poor.
The descent towards La Cance to reach point 1 is worthy of the GR 20 in places over 300/400 metres. So the medium difficulty rating needs to be reviewed.
I think that when marking out a route, you have to put yourself in the shoes of a hiker who is not familiar with the area.
Baron

Machine-translated

gerrytyhina
gerrytyhina

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 13, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

We only did part of the route, leaving out the circular that descends towards the Rhône.
There were no orientation problems until point 5. There, after the hairpin bends, a GPS is useful, as the path disappears at times and you have to go through the woods to rejoin the trail.
We were worried that the ford would be too difficult, so we took the detour via the dam (as indicated in the description). A path leads to the village of Vert, then follow the red and yellow markings that take you back to the start.
Points of interest: average. A nice descent after point 3. The stretch of road is not unpleasant. You just have to watch out for the many bicycles. It climbs steeply after point 4, but not for very long. The return trip is not very exciting.

Machine-translated

louis3838
louis3838

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : May 10, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Be sure to bring a GPS, otherwise it's not easy to follow the directions.

Machine-translated

bibi
bibi ★

Thank you for your feedback. Do you know where you went wrong? We could try to clarify these points in the description based on your comments.
Kind regards

Machine-translated

louis3838
louis3838

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 16, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

No GPS, but I was warned that it would be a few kilometres longer.
For this type of hike, you need to be properly equipped.

Machine-translated

gazok54
gazok54 ★

There you go. In my last post, I said as soon as possible. It took me seven months. Well, better late than never.
The description has been revised, points of interest have been added, and the text has been spaced out.
It's up to you, fellow hikers, to tell me what you think, because in some places, I'm not sure myself. Thank you in advance.

Machine-translated

• Edited:

The user account associated with this content has been deleted.

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.