Croix de la Salcette

Date of your route : Jul 13, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk with superb views, but there’s a tricky section of rocky terrain that’s poorly signposted, vertiginous and requires you to use your hands for support over a distance of 200 metres. The walk deserves to be classified as difficult. On the descent through the forest, the path isn’t very visible in places, but you always manage to find your way. We

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Hello Mapigap
Thank you for this additional information and for the photo.

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Date of your route : Jun 28, 2026
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hello,
This is a walk I’d already done a few years ago. I decided to park before the hamlet of Bouchier, walk through the hamlet and then head up via the Pas du Loup to reach the trail fairly quickly. The path between the Pas du Loup and the area around point 1873 has been re-routed. I can send you (Mr Britanicus) my route track if you’d like.
It’s perhaps worth noting that, due to frequent landslides, there are now sections that require caution:
1/ On the steepest section before reaching the Serre des Hières, the path splits into two; the one I took heads off to the right with a short, somewhat precarious section on crumbly ground. The other stays closer to the ridge line but is partially eroded.
2/ From the Serre des Hières to the cross: the first third of the route is fine; for the second third, the path follows a ridge line which may seem daunting if you’re prone to vertigo; then there’s a short section where you’ll need to use your hands for support, but the handholds are firm and therefore reassuring. Take the time to assess the terrain before proceeding. The final third of the route is straightforward.
A very steep climb, a bit technical but not insurmountable!
Lovely view from the cross. The descent presents no difficulties.
This route is a must-do in the direction suggested in this guide!

If you’re not fluent in Patou, here are the summer pasture dates: https://carto.geomas.fr/pastoralisme/ind...

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Date of your route : Aug 04, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

The description is sometimes too brief. It may be missing easily identifiable landmarks and distances. The trail for the descent back down is also not very clear. However, we completed this beautiful hike without any problems. Be sure to bring a windbreaker as it can get cold quickly at the summit (advice from locals).

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Date of your route : Jul 16, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant hike.
It would be best to avoid the logging roads at the start (steep and uninteresting) by choosing a starting point at Le Bouchier and using the hiking trails.
We hardly saw anyone except for a shepherd and his sheep.

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

A beautiful walk along a lovely, well-marked route, steep in places but not particularly difficult; there was one short section where we had to carry our walking sticks in our hands for a few metres, but that was all. A lovely circular route. A beautiful rocky landscape with Les Tenailles in the background.

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

published twice by mistake, I cannot delete it; see the following description

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Sir

No one in previous reviews since 2018 has mentioned this problem of the trail ending in a dead end at the foot of a wall, forcing you to turn around for about 20 metres and climb up the side of a precipice.

The previous review by Doucetol in July indicates that the description is accurate.
Xgale78 and Patembrun are satisfied.

There is no passage with a precipice on the left-hand side in any of the escarpments filmed in the video.

The Visorando software also automatically evaluates and recommends a degree of difficulty after analysing the GPX, which in this case is medium.

On the website, it is also rated as medium difficulty.
https://www.oduch.fr/Randonnee/Croix-de-...

And here, the rating is R1
https://www.bivouak.net/topos/topo-2899-...

As this route includes unmarked intersections, I have advised that the description be completed using the Visorando app.

For now, let's stop the discussion and simply let hikers decide whether or not to do this hike.

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Hello,
Are you familiar with the FFR ratings?
https://isere.ffrandonnee.fr/html/4115/l...
and
https://www.ibpindex.com/index.php/fr/
I sent the GPX file for this hike, here are the results of the ibp index
Red 98 HKG
The recommendations are: average physical preparation
the hike is classified as red (76-100) Difficult
For my part, I always use the mountaineering rating: in my opinion, it is the only one that is valid:
So if you need to use your hands, it's a 2 sup or even a 3
I will return with a camera to show you the path that leads to a wall and the easy climb that you suggest (but which is still a climb) by following the GPS and your route exactly.
Regarding your questions.
I have climbed the Croix de la Salcette several times, going up and down via the descent route, for two reasons:
1 - it's the same route as for the Renaud du Montbrison spur, which I did in 1982: a long 850 m route with 300 metres at 6B+.
2 - A friend told me that the whole tour was nice to do but that you had to climb at the end of the path and that her husband (an instructor at the 159th RIA) had roped her up. The 25,000 map does indeed show this direct route.
3 - So I looked on Viso rando to find your route. When I couldn't find the path, I took out my phone app and followed the GPS track to the letter, and I was surprised by your rating, because you climb rocks near a precipice on the left. My son told me that this was part of a trail running course, and there was always a marshal at the top of the rocks during the competition because the passage is technical and can be dangerous when you're trying to perform well.
4 - When I think about the rating of a hike, I don't start from my own level but from the level of an average hiker, so that they don't take unnecessary risks, and I differentiate between the length of the route, the technique required, and the difficulty of finding the route.
5 - For example, you classify: La Cime de la Condamine starting from Pelvoux (which I must have done about twenty times, including bivouacking at the summit with my children in the 1990s): TD like the Pic de Peyre Eyraute TD! (which I did again the day before yesterday but descending via the east ridge
For me, La Condamine would be more like TD inf. and Peyre Eyraute TD or TD for the first and TD sup. for the second.
But I'm 73, so as we don't notice ourselves ageing, my comments may be related to my age.
I have lived in the Briançonnais region since 1979, and I discovered the Ecrins with the Alpine hunters (I was in the 11th BCA in Jausiers above Barcelonette.
Yours sincerely

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Hello,

As I don't want to scare readers away, I don't like to use this rating system for hiking, which uses the term 'climbing' – often interpreted by some novice hikers as pure and simple rock climbing, when in fact it refers only to walking.

I simply use the Visorando ratings like all the other authors on the site, easy, difficult, etc.
Sometimes I refine this information by adding "sup" or "inf" in the practical information section.

As for our hike, as already mentioned, I filmed all of these passages in their entirety.

I have just added practical information on the use of one hand rather than both in certain places on these steep passages. (One hand holds the poles and the other touches the rocks with the fingertips). You can see this for yourself by watching the video.

There is nothing particularly difficult about this short hike, which is rated as "medium-high" in terms of difficulty.

This is a hike I did in June 2014 with my wife, who was 62 at the time.
I don't remember encountering any dead ends or having to turn back on the trail for about 20 metres, nor do I remember climbing a steep slope at the edge of a precipice.

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Dear Sir,
I think you read my "review" too quickly. When you continue along the path to the end, you come to a cliff, which I rate as a level 3 in terms of difficulty. I climbed 10 metres and thought to myself, there's no way I can get through there, so I took out my phone and opened the Visorando app, only to realise that I had to climb back down and return to the path 20 to 30 metres behind me. There was no indication to turn left, so I put my complete trust in the app. I held my phone in my right hand and followed the GPS instructions to the letter, climbing a hundred metres up the rocks with the precipice on my left.
I trained mid-mountain guides at the CRET in Briançon from 1979 to 1983 and participated in trail rating during my studies in land use planning engineering. I therefore believe I have a certain level of expertise in this area.
On the website https://blog.kazaden.com/cotations-en-es...
You have: "3": beginning of hand use.
That's why I rate this last section as 2 sup.
I'm going to go back there to film this section with a friend who is a high-mountain guide and former member of the Briançon PGHM (High Mountain Rescue Team) to get his opinion and see if he can find the section without the Visorando app but with your Topo.
I will keep you informed.
Kind regards.

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Hello,

This is a hike that we had previously done with our hiking club at the MJC in Briançon (ARBB).

As a group, the club is responsible for its members' safety, so you can imagine that they do not include any grade 3+ sections on their routes.
Once again, as I mentioned in a previous message, I filmed all of these sections, which can be seen in my video.
It's here.
https://youtu.be/ejvH7O2Geqc?si=x_32gpnz...

You can see that these passages, consisting of a series of small steps, are easy to navigate, sometimes with just a little support from one hand rather than both, as you can clearly see in the video.

I have only encountered passages rated 3 sup twice while hiking (out of more than 200 routes with more than 150 peaks, 32 of which exceed 3000m).
At Pic de Rochebrune, a passage protected by a knotted rope (rated 2 max by Camptocamp) and at Sainte Victoire for the crossing of the "Pas du Berger".
For this second passage, which has nothing to do with those on the hike, we can start talking about climbing.
It is here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMekL8rU...

If you look at the route at point 3 on the satellite map at high magnification
you can clearly see the path winding through the fir trees. There are no rocks at this point; the rocky sections are much further away.

The paths marked in pink dotted lines (visible at medium magnification) on the IGN map are indeed lost in places among the rock formations. (This is the IGN meaning of the pink dotted lines).

On these passages, and to save time, the Visorando app can indeed prove very useful.
I therefore recommended it.

Finally, the black dotted lines on the IGN maps simply represent mountain trails (PR)
and not specific paths for mountaineers, although they can be used to reach the foot of the
Tenailles de Montbrison and Tête d'Aval, where the climbing routes are located.

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Date of your route : Sep 23, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

This circuit must be rated "difficult" for two reasons.
1 - You have to use your hands (level 2 climbing between points 3 and 4).
2 - The end of the path at point 3 is wide but ends at a wall (grade 3 sup). You therefore have to backtrack thirty metres to find a passage on the left, rather than a path. There, following the GPS track exactly, you have to climb 100 metres (climbing grade 2 to 2 sup) of rocks. This passage on the left is not marked by a cairn on the path and the 1:25,000 map shows a straight line. You therefore either need to already know the route or have the app on your phone. By zooming in on the map on your mobile, you can see the dotted line that you should not take (mountaineering route), but follow the GPS track exactly.
In conclusion.
1 - Review the rating.
2 - Review and rewrite the description between 3 and 4.
As I live nearby, I will return to place cairns.

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Thank you for your feedback on this wonderful journey.

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Date of your route : Jul 01, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

The description accurately reflects the route, which is a bit aerial and a bit off the beaten track, but we like it and it's nothing too serious and well explained.
We followed cairns that took us a little off the trail at Tenailles de Montbrison (we saw some climbers there!), but it was no big deal.
A very pleasant route with beautiful views, particularly of the Barre des Écrins.
Well done, Britanicus!

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