Circular hike in the Chamelet woods

A lovely, easy walk through the woods above Chamelet.

Technical sheet

222482
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 13.07 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 5h 15 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Return to departure point: Yes
  • ↗
    Vertical gain: + 519 m
  • ↘
    Vertical drop: - 518 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 724 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 300 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Leave from Chamelet train station (car park).

PR Yellow waymarking and GRP Red and Yellow waymarking.

(S/E) From the car park, take the D82 on the left, cross the bridge over the Azergues river and then turn right at the crossroads in the direction of Bergeron, following the Yellow waymarking. Climb uphill on the tarmacked path up to the end of the housing estate.

(1) At the fork, turn right in the direction of Clayet Wood and continue straight on, going alongside Clayet Wood up to the fork with a small tarmacked path after a sharp bend to the right.

(2) Turn left and continue on until you reach Corret.

(3) Take the path on the left in the direction of Gutty. Be careful, the start of the path is poorly marked: you need to take the path which is just above the one marked "propriété privée" ("private property"), GRP waymarking in Yellow and Red. It heads into a conifer wood and goes rapidly downhill. At the bottom, cross over the small river and head to the left (very clear Yellow and Red waymarking).

(4) At the Gutty crossroads, head to the right and then again to the right for a few metres and follow the path in a south-west direction which leads to a tarmacked road at Croix du Sec.

(5) Follow the tarmacked road on the left. Ignore a road on the left heading towards Guerry and, at the crossroads, turn right onto the D82 until you reach the Croix du Thel Pass.

(6) At the pass, turn left onto the D629 (there is a picnic area on the left) in the direction of Roche Saint-Martin.
Continue to follow the Yellow and Red waymarking.

(7) At the fork, stay on the left of the D629 and then turn left onto the access road for the relay pylon. Leave this road around 200m further on and take the left again until you reach a branch in the paths.

(8) Leave the GRP by branching off to the left towards Font Davy and go downhill through the woods. At the branch in the paths, turn left onto the PR (Yellow waymarking) and continue straight ahead. Ignore all the paths on both sides of the path and continue straight on until you reach the road leading to Peignaux.

(9) Follow this road to the left, going past the reservoir and then, a few hundred metres further on, leave the road and take the path on the right in the direction of Chamelet.

(10) At the road, turn left and, after about 50m, turn right onto the path going back down towards Chamelet with a view over the village and the Alps if the weather is right. At the first branch in the paths, continue to the right and then, at the crossroads with the D82, turn right, go over the bridge and you will return to the car park at the station (S/E).

Happy hiking!

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 309 m - Chamelet station car park. Cross the - Azergue (rivière)
  2. 1 : km 0.79 - alt. 383 m - Bergeron, fork, fork right
  3. 2 : km 2.5 - alt. 429 m - Fork, turn left towards Corret
  4. 3 : km 3.39 - alt. 525 m - Take the GRP to the left
  5. 4 : km 4.44 - alt. 535 m - At the crossroads, turn right twice
  6. 5 : km 5.83 - alt. 667 m - Turn left towards the Croix de Thel
  7. 6 : km 6.82 - alt. 650 m - Col de la Croix de Thel, left on the D629
  8. 7 : km 7.61 - alt. 681 m - D629, keep left
  9. 8 : km 8.24 - alt. 715 m - Fork, leave the GRP, turn left
  10. 9 : km 10.42 - alt. 528 m - Road, turn left
  11. 10 : km 12.16 - alt. 409 m - Road, 100m left then right
  12. S/E : km 13.07 - alt. 309 m - Chamelet station car park

Practical information

(8) At Roche Saint-Martin, it is possible to go up to the orientation table (needs restoring) and back. To do this, take the road in the direction of the relay and then, at the relay, turn to the right in the direction of Brou - the Guerin cabin (1.2km there and back).

 Always stay careful and alert while following a route. Visorando and the author of this walk cannot be held responsible in the event of an accident during this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

Reviews and comments

4.7 / 5
Based on 42 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.7 / 5
Clarity of route map
4.6 / 5
Route interest
4.7 / 5
2
2
• Last modified:

Quite a nice route, steep climb at the start, the rest is much more bearable apart from the climb back up the stream at the start. Hang in there!

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Grossat Gilbert
Grossat Gilbert

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Oct 22, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

Very good signposting, pleasant route.

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Steph69*
Steph69*

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of walk : Sep 01, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

It might be worth pointing out that the descent from the pylon is slightly steep with lots of stones. Watch out for slips and knees. A bit too much road section. Otherwise a good walk.

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lolbertmarchons
lolbertmarchons

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Apr 25, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

Hello,
We should add a continuation of the loop to go towards the orientation table near point 7, it's a shame not to go and see this viewpoint.
Thank you for sharing this hike with us.
See you soon

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toposrandos
toposrandos

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Mar 26, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

pleasant walk, a little too much tarmac road though.

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manoudeli
manoudeli

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Jun 26, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

Beautiful hike with lovely views. The return almost entirely downhill was a bit painful, but I didn't suffer from the stones despite being 70 years old....! A little (too much) road but no traffic, so no inconvenience.
A must-do.

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jeannotbi
jeannotbi

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Jun 26, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

Lovely loop above the Azergues valley and lovely views over the Tarare region, but I'd put one downer: there are too many sections on the road, particularly when it's very uphill (I can confirm that the pile of fermenting matter is still there near the picnic area).

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MHM
MHM

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Feb 08, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

We really enjoyed this walk. There weren't many marks, probably due to trees being felled, but the description made it easy to find your way around. There was a lot of fog on the heights, so there was no visibility, but that wasn't a problem as it was ghostly at times. In any case, it was magnificent and very natural. Many thanks

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pechal
pechal

Overall rating : 4.5 / 5

Date of walk : Oct 27, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : N/A
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

Lovely walk, a little spoiled by the persistent fog that only allowed us to see the landscape from the heights (croix du sec and croix de thel).
Beautiful paths and tracks; a few small, little-travelled roads.
No problem using the GPS route via the Visorando app.

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T.M.B.
T.M.B.

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Oct 05, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

Car park near the T.B. station
SUPERB walk in the sous-Bois
This is the walk of silences
We lost our way on the last part of the walk
We certainly weren't paying enough attention .... "

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cebtudid
cebtudid

Bonjour dommage pour le tas de manier quand j'ai créé cette randonnée il n'était pas là merci pour le commentaire

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Mercatello
Mercatello

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Sep 04, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

Everything is fine except for the picnic tables, where a huge pile of manure is less than 4 m from the tables set up by the département! Too bad !!!!

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FTM
FTM

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Jun 14, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

varied and interesting circuit, a little too much tarmac for my liking
The white rocks viewpoint is well worth the diversions + picnic table, great viewpoint.
Circuit a little too short could be lengthened in the forest of brou.

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pascal.amieux
pascal.amieux

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : May 24, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

Departure 11am, return 5.15pm. Very fine weather, with a welcome cooling northerly breeze.
To find the station in Chamelet, head towards Dième on the D82 (the station is not signposted).
A beautiful walk in the forests above Chamelet. At the Croix de Thel, we continued in the direction of the Col de Chal as far as point 816 (+2.5km). From here, you have a very wide view to the south and east.

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coco.srz
coco.srz

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Mar 14, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Lovely shady circuit with several viewpoints!

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