From Saint-Sorlin-en-Bugey to La Roche de l’Église

From Lagnieu or Sault-Brenaz, head to the centre of Saint-Sorlin and park in the car park opposite the town hall: avoid driving up into the village.

(S/E) Cross the road, walk past the town hall and take the village’s main street, which climbs gently between the houses. After 100 m, turn left to climb a steep street leading to the church via a flight of flat stone steps.

(1) In front of the church, turn left to follow the^GRP® markings^. The road climbs to a left-hand bend. Just after this bend, turn right onto a stony path that climbs steeply, offering views overlooking Saint-Sorlin, until you reach a junction on the plateau.

(2) Take the signposted path on the left which climbs straight up to cross the CD60. Continue straight on along the signposted path which climbs through the forest, turns left to continue climbing, leaves the forest and reaches the buildings at Bessey.

(3) Turn right onto the hamlet’s access road for 200 m (^GR® markings). When it turns right, continue straight on along a marked path that veers right and climbs through the forest, crosses the CD 60A and continues straight on its ascent through the forest, which is sometimes rutted, to the edge of a meadow at a place called La Fayette.

(4) Turn sharply left onto a path, still marked^GR®, follow the meadow and veer left to cross a threshold leading onto a good country lane. Follow this on level ground to the right to join the D 99C at Col de Fay (cross).

(5) At the junction, take the small road to the right of the cross, heading north-east; the road is initially level before starting to climb again. Ignore the^GR®-marked path branching off to the left and continue along the road, which curves to the right and reaches the edge of the grassy Rochettes plateau at its highest point, dotted, as is often the case, with relay masts.

(6) Continue eastwards beyond the end of the road along the path which begins to descend and comes to a blocked passage: a well-trodden track bypasses it on the left and allows you to continue down the ridge, along the edge of a cultivated field.

At the far end of this field, the track turns north to cut across the last strip of meadow and enter the forest, then follows a steep descent to a valley floor, from where the path continues eastwards down to the forest road leading up from Souclin.
(This descent through the forest can be slippery in wet weather as the ground is clayey; as the forest has been thinned out, brambles have taken over in this area, so a pair of secateurs might come in handy!). 

(7) Follow this road to the left for 400 m, then take a good forest track on the left which heads back up a moderate slope. Before a left-hand bend, take a path that climbs steeply to the right towards the ridge, then heads right across the slope, staying in the forest, to the highest point of the ridge and then the Croix de la Roche de l’Église.

(8) Descend straight ahead towards the east along the standard access path to La Roche to rejoin the forest track you left earlier. Cross over to take a forest track straight ahead with a moderate gradient, which heads south. Turn right at a three-way junction to follow the reverse side of the Tirolliet ridge.

(9) The forest track begins its descent, crosses a meadow and then another wood, before making a wide hairpin bend to avoid cutting across a cultivated field: stay on the track until you reach, at Molard de la Chambre, the Chemin des Combes, a tarmac forest road.

(10) Follow this road down as it curves to the right and, at its hairpin bend to the left, leave it to follow the path opposite, heading north-east, which runs along the hillside without descending much and joins a larger track at a place called Champioux.

(11) Take this path to the left. At the crossroads (cross), continue left towards the south, cross the Route de la Chartreuse de Porte and reach the first houses of Soudon via Rue de Champiout. Head down Rue des Branches to the right to reach Place de la Camponne.

(12) Turn right onto the main street of Soudon heading north-west. As you leave the village, turn left onto the path leading to the sewage treatment plant, which eventually rejoins the D60. Follow this road for a few hundred metres, pass above the old Moulin de Tarot, and continue to the start of the path that branches off to the left beneath the road just after the path leading up from the mill.

(13) Take this path, which crosses steep then gentler slopes, runs alongside a field and finally veers left to join the D60 at a junction.

(14) Opposite, take the small road leading down towards Brénaz, marked in yellow. After a bend to the left, leave it to take a path on the right, heading south, descending straight towards the Chapel of Saint-Christophe, in the middle of the cemetery.

(15) From the cemetery entrance, head north up the path marked in yellow. After a steep climb through old stone quarries, it gradually veers north-west, running more or less level above the Rochers de la Plaine. It skirts the summit of the Bois du Cieux before descending into a grassy valley upstream of the Grande Gorge.

(16) Climb back up the opposite side to rejoin the level traverse heading north-west, until you reach the junction with the ascent path.

(2) Turn left onto the descent leading back to Saint-Sorlin and its church.

(1) Turn left below the church to descend to the Place de l'Ancienne Halle. The village’s main street leads right back to the town hall and the starting point (S/E).

The start is signposted^GRP® from Beaujolais to Bugey via La Dombe, then^GR® 59. The end via the Chapelle Saint-Christophe is also signposted^PR® (yellow). Between these two sections, the route is generally not signposted.

The entire route follows paths, tracks or well-marked trails: not all of these are shown on IGN maps; some sections are only marked on the OpenStreetMap Hiking layer.

The village of Saint-Sorlin is well worth a visit.

The view of the Rhône and Île Crémieu is almost unbroken. From the heights, in fine weather, the view stretches towards the Pilat and even the Vercors.