From La Molière to Pas de Bellecombe

A short family walk offering excellent views for the effort. Best done on a day with good visibility.
Please note: a hiker has informed us that in summer, at weekends, access to the plateau is restricted: you must take a shuttle bus (or a chairlift, which is quite far away).

Details

115989
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 6.78 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 30 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 190 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 184 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 1,705 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 1,555 m

Photos

Description of the walk

An orientation table allows you to identify all the peaks you can see in front of you.

But you've come here to walk, too... The general route is as follows:
- On the way there, we walk on a small plateau heading south (eastern branch of the route).
- On the way back, we take the ridge and head north (western branch of the route).

(S) From the orientation table, we take the obvious path below, heading south, which leads to a small plateau. We ignore all the paths that branch off to the right or left until we reach the lodge.

(1) Gîte de la Molière. Turn left. Continue south.

(2) Turn right onto a beautiful path that heads straight towards it, diagonally, taking us away from our original path. We arrive at the Pas de Bellecombe.

(3) From here, head up to the right (due north) following the ridge. Pass a pylon.
You will arrive at the Pas de l'Ours, ignoring the paths to the right and left.

(4) At the Pas de l'Ours, you can descend slightly to see the paw engraved on the rock (on the left as you exit the pass).
Go straight ahead, leaving the path on your left. Continue along the ridge until you reach the highest point of the walk

(5). Highest point: Charande.
Caution: Take care with children, as there is a small rocky outcrop below.
Continue north along the ridge.

(6) The Pas du Tracolet. Continue north, ignoring the paths to the right and left.

We then return to our starting point (E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 1,633 m - Molière car park - Table d'orientation de La Molière
  2. 1 : km 2.29 - alt. 1,558 m - Gîte de la Molière (1565m)
  3. 2 : km 2.7 - alt. 1,586 m - Fork in the road. Take the right.
  4. 3 : km 3.44 - alt. 1,623 m - On the right. - Pas de Bellecombe
  5. 4 : km 4.47 - alt. 1,641 m - Opposite. - Pas de l'Ours
  6. 5 : km 5.46 - alt. 1,704 m - Charande
  7. 6 : km 6.12 - alt. 1,636 m - Pas du Tracolet. Opposite.
  8. S/E : km 6.78 - alt. 1,633 m - Molière car park - Table d'orientation de La Molière

Notes

If you are coming from Grenoble, at the Lans-en-Vercors exit, turn right onto the D106 (roundabout on the D531 - towards Autrans/Méaudre) until you reach the Col de la Croix Perrin. At the pass, you have two options:
Either take the small road that leaves just after the restaurant on the right. It is a long, 10.5 km drive on a small road, which is very pleasant, but where it is not always easy to pass other vehicles. In principle, you should not get lost. However, the tarmac surface is becoming increasingly damaged... You will come to a three-way junction (Les Feneys) where you turn right.

Another option is to continue to Autrans, heading towards the Domaine de la Sure (downhill ski resort). Pass it and drive past the old Montaud tunnel. When you reach the Feneys refuge, turn left.

When you reach the car park, you will see an earth wall in front of you. Just climb this small hill and you will be very glad you came. The view is breathtaking.

There is a water source at the Molière lodge (I drank and drank, and apparently I'm still fine).

Good shoes are essential.

There are some lovely places to eat your packed lunch around the car park, so you don't need to bring anything with you.

The access road to the site is not cleared of snow. You can therefore only do this walk after the snow has melted (between early May and early November).

If the lodge is open, you can eat there (06 09 38 42 42).

This route passes through a protected area, which may be subject to special regulations:

Worth a visit

A magnificent view of the Alps and the Grenoble metropolitan area.

Reviews and comments

4.8 / 5
Based on 56 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.8 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.8 / 5
Route interest
4.8 / 5
MIFA46
MIFA46

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 04, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Very pleasant hike with beautiful views of the valley and surrounding mountains. A little too cloudy to see Mont Blanc that day.
The description is good at the start, but the GPS track takes us down a path in a park (gate at the entrance and exit, which must be closed ) just above the wide path that starts to the left of the orientation table.
WP 2 is not very clear... But there is a sign indicating Le Pas de Bellecombe.
WP 4 You have to go down to the right at Pas de l'Ours to see the "footprint" on the left.
These comments did not prevent me from enjoying a very pleasant outing.
Thanks to the author.

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User 16258140

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 18, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A lovely family hike

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claudekiko
claudekiko

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 15, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Magnificent walk. We were high above the sea of clouds, with the Alps in sight and the sound of clarines in the mountain pastures.

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j'aime la rando
j'aime la rando
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 19, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

very nice hike done in very good weather very beautiful scenery .. no major difficulty picnic at the refuge de la moliere on the other hand pas de l'ours nothing seen! otherwise hike to do.

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bernardino
bernardino ★

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 16, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Well, there you have it, but in reverse. There were people everywhere upstairs, downstairs, at the gîte, on foot, on bikes, muscular and electric, dogs but no cats, and marmots again. As I was saying to my wife, this is a hike made for grannies and grandpas with small children, and you can enjoy a few treats at the gîte de la Molière ... provided you can find a seat.
On a more serious note, this is a superb plateau with sublime autumn colours today.

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Dine1961
Dine1961

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 26, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

The start of the hike was quite tricky to find! It took us an extra hour. Magnificent scenery and very pleasant

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Yannick_Josset
Yannick_Josset

Can you tell us where the shuttle leaves from?
Thank you in advance

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Yannick_Josset
Yannick_Josset

Thank you for this very important information.
Happy walking.

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StephJay
StephJay
• Edited:

ATTENTION: Access to La Molière is impossible by car at weekends during the summer period, but is possible by shuttle bus (for a fee), departing every hour at the top of the hour and returning at 30 each hour.
Plan ahead for the hike, as this greatly extends the journey time and you don't want to miss the shuttle by a few minutes.
You can also get there by chairlift (the ticket is valid for both the shuttle and the chairlift, but the chairlift is about an hour's walk from La Molière, so it adds just as much time to the hike), on a flat, shady and very pleasant path.

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ZOUBI38
ZOUBI38

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 01, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Magnificent walk, very few people except pensioners as it was done during the week. We were lucky to have very good weather, the view of the mountain range was superb. Very easy to do, we did it in the direction indicated in the description. Do it again in the spring when all the flowers are in bloom. Anyone can do this walk, as the difference in altitude is small and the paths have very few stones. We loved it.

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Ponamael
Ponamael

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 28, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Magnificent scenery, flat path, great for a family walk.
I highly recommend stopping off at the Feneys refuge, where the charming ladies bake fruit tarts to die for! 🫐

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Hibiscus_26
Hibiscus_26

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 09, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Very pretty views with lots of flowers. End of the walk in the forest with a wonderful backdrop. We didn't see Mont Blanc because the sky would have had to be really blue as far as the eye could see... but we didn't miss it. Very good blueberry/raspberry tart at the gîte, but it's a shame they won't let us have a picnic on one of their tables, even if we take two tarts... which can be done in other gîtes...

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M. Audigier
M. Audigier

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 26, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Very nice walk with views over Grenoble, but above all a long passage through meadows and then a wooded ledge that gives this short walk variety.

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Tlucchino
Tlucchino

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 20, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

A beautiful autumn walk

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GphPhil26
GphPhil26
• Edited:

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 14, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Beautiful landscapes

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