From Montagnole to Pas de la Fosse

Parking: large car park near the cemetery and the church in Montagnole.

(S/E) From the car park, cross the road opposite the town hall, leaving the war memorial on your left, and follow the Route de Montagnole (D6), using the left-hand pavement. Walk up to a junction, at a right-hand bend with a large cross opposite.

(1) Turn right; shortly afterwards, cross the road to take the pavement on the other side. Walk past the football ground to reach a Y-junction.

(2) Leave the return route on your left, turn right (towards St-Cassin), then left at the next junction (end of the pavement), towards the hamlet of Les Guillermins.
Walk through the hamlet, uphill along the road, noting the large cowbells hanging on the front of the farmhouse on your right. You’ll reach a T-junction.

(3) Head up the small road on the right. This runs alongside the Maison du Penet (end of the tarmac) and enters the forest until you reach the first crossroads.

(4) Take the path that heads straight up to the left. (Note: do not take the path at a 90° angle to the approach path, which is not shown on the IGN map). After a gentle climb through the forest, continue straight on, following the boundary of the meadow. The path levels out. After passing a spring, the view opens up towards Lac du Bourget and the Bauges. The path widens and passes through the meadows, which are often occupied by horses. After passing a few houses, it reaches a tarmac crossroads.

(5) Head down to the left for about 140 m until you reach a four-way junction. Turn right and stay on the downhill road until you reach the junction with the Route du Petit Pays.

(6) Head right towards this hamlet on this gently ascending road. Stay on the tarmac road which continues towards the Grand Plateau and enters the forest. Further on, it passes the Grand Plateau car park, then becomes a track, passes under high-voltage power lines and reaches the hamlet of the Grand Plateau.

(7) Go round the house opposite, keeping to the left. About 80 m past the house, leave the flat track to the left (markings are very faint), and head down to a wide track, which you follow to the left to reach the D912 (the road leading up to the Col du Granier).

(8) Cross the road carefully, and walk along it on the left before quickly taking the wide path on the right, past a statue of an owl (the emblem of the Chartreuse National Park). At the top of the short climb, turn sharply right, and continue along the path between the meadow and the property fences. The path descends to the Vard stream.

(9) Cross it via a pretty wooden footbridge, then take the path that climbs up to the left, through the forest, running alongside the meadow, before joining a small road (D4).

(10) Continue straight ahead; the road runs past a few inhabited houses before reaching the ruined farm of Pas de la Fosse, by the roadside. Continue to the next hamlet, Combe Pichat, and walk to the centre of the hamlet, pass the access path to “La Grange aux Écureuils”, and continue for about fifty metres.

(11) At the corner of the house, leave the road to the left and take a small path that crosses several meadows, enclosed by gates. Make sure you close the gates properly after passing through. Descend into a small wood, following a stream, then across another meadow before reaching a wide track leading to a farm.

(12) Take this track to the left, then immediately right, and, after crossing the Vard stream via the bridge, join the tarmac road. Follow it up to the right, heading due north, and at the top of the climb you’ll reach a 90° bend in the road (large cross on the right-hand side).

(13) Leave the road and take the path opposite, which enters the forest for a long descent before reaching a bridge over the Vard stream.

(14) Cross the bridge and turn left onto a path that climbs steeply. After three right-angled bends, the path joins the end of a road where the “Tétras libre” centre is located, the Savoie Region Wildlife Conservation Centre.

(15) Head up to the left along the road and, at the bend, leave it to the left onto a path between two properties which, after running alongside a large aviary, climbs through the meadows before reaching the hamlet and the Col du Granier road.

(16) Proceed with caution along this minor road on the left until you reach the end of the left-hand bend, at the junction where you must turn right. The road climbs through the meadows before rejoining the path taken on the way out.

(2) Turn right (between the stadium and the riding school) and, following the pavement first to the left then to the right, follow the main road before returning to the car park at the start (S/E).

Bring water with you, as there are no refreshment points.

The route alternates between tarmac roads and footpaths. However, make sure you wear good walking shoes.
There is just one slightly muddy section between (13) and (14), covering about thirty metres.
The mix of ascents and descents makes this an easy route to follow.

The roads (apart from the one at the Col du Granier) are fairly quiet, but you must respect the right of way and watch out for silent electric vehicles and cyclists.

The landscape opens up as you climb and, in addition to the magnificent panoramic views, the route is dotted with beautiful farms and country houses, numerous animals in the meadows and a wide variety of wildflowers and orchids.