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Departure from the Croisette car park.
(S/E) From the car park (altitude 1175m; already a superb view of Mont Blanc), follow the red and white markings ofthe GR® Balcon du Léman trail, heading west towards "Les Pitons". After about 50m on the Route des Crêts, take the path that branches off to the left. After a left turn, enter the pasture through a metal gate and continue west. Magnificent view of the Chablais, the Mont Blanc range, the Bornes and the Arve plain to the south-east, and the Franco-Genevan plain, the Jura, Geneva and its harbour, and Lake Geneva (Petit-lac) to the north/north-east.
Follow the roughly marked route (signposted at regular intervals) which crosses pastures grazed by herds of beautiful cows. The route is fairly obvious and the path through the pastures is relatively varied, with small woods, sinkholes, charming copses, a variety of flora and impressive views throughout. You pass a small hill, go through a gate and, after a slight descent, arrive at "Chavanne" and its farm (altitude 1,320 m).
(1) Another gate. Continue straight ahead along the barbed wire fence, trying to convince the geese not to follow you... The path continues through the pastures (still with exceptional views of Mont Blanc, with the Aiguille Verte as a bonus); a few gates later (keep to the left of the road), you will reach "Le Chenex".
(2) Continue straight ahead towards "La Thuile" and enter the forest. Shortly afterwards, turn right, following the signs for "Grotte du Diable". There is a wide variety of trees, with a carpet of beautiful ferns. There are some impressive traces of wild boar rooting.
You will soon reach the Grotte du Diable restaurant; the cave is 50 metres away (altitude 1,330 metres).
(3) Back at the restaurant car park, turn right and follow the D41A for a few hundred metres to the Col des Pitons (altitude 1,335 m).
(4) Shortly after the pass (car park), at Les Pitons, keep to the left and follow the signs for "Le Grand Piton". Go through a gate and climb up to the left into a sparse forest, which you will quickly cross to reach a beautiful sharp limestone pavement on the summit plateau. the marker at 1379m is in the grass, just before the rocky promontory and the Pitons tower (or Bastian tower, built between 1820 and 1830 by Claude-François Bastian); "Alphonse de Lamartine, author of the most famous poem about the Salève (the first lines of which begin: "Do you remember the day when, climbing the summit of Salève with its azure flanks, on a narrow path hanging over an abyss, we tremblingly placed our uncertain steps?") often walked in the massif with his friend Lord George Byron. Their two names are engraved on a rock a few metres north of the Tour des Pitons, although it is unlikely that Lamartine or Byron were responsible for this double inscription.
As the tower is on the edge of the cliff, caution is advised. On the left, a little further back, you can see the Rocher de la Sorcière (Witch's Rock). The view is splendid: the Franco-Genevan plain, the Jura, the city of Geneva (the harbour and the Jet d'Eau fountain, the Petit Lac), the Coin massif (La Corraterie), among other sights. For your information, the Petit Piton (1,359 metres) is nearby, but on the Cruseilles side!
(5) Continue by retracing your steps for a few dozen metres, skirting the edge of the sharp limestone pavement on the east side; as soon as you see red marks on the rocks, descend to the left into the small depression and follow the "path"; then climb the hill for the view (1370m).
You can also cross the pasture directly, descending gently to the road, just before the Petit Pommier farm.
(6) To return to La Croisette, turn left and follow the D41 (via "Sous Chavanne") or you can also take the same path you took on the way up, crossing the road (S/E).
Visorando member
Moderate 
Difficult 
