From the lower Beaujolais to the upper ridges

Walk among the vineyards of the lower Beaujolais, the forests and the ridges above.
Paths and trails marked in yellow with signs.

Details

87581
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 17.81 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 6h 45 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 595 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 592 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 754 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 355 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Park in Saint-Étienne-la-Varenne, near the beautiful church.

(S/E) Take the road north that crosses the D62 (table) then follow a small road (Croix des Rameaux) towards the forest.

(1) At the first fork, take the right-hand path that climbs towards "le Trou du Loup" (sign)

(2) Turn left onto a level path towards "l'épingle" in the south-west.

(3) Go around the fortified house and reach a hairpin fork.

(4) Head due west until you reach a crossroads (below Morion).

(5) Head north for 500 metres.

(6) Turn onto the path to the west which climbs towards "Taulauzière", passes Roche Martin, then under Crêt David, then Crêt de l'Oiseau.

(7) Continue straight ahead to reach the Col de la Croix Rosier road.

(8) Retrace your steps back to the crossroads.

(7) Descend to the right to reach a forest path 100 m below, which follows a first valley to the east, then another large valley for 3 km towards Le Perréon.

(9) Take the small road on the left to climb back up to the ridges and rejoin the outward route.

(5) At the crossroads, head east to the hairpin bend.

(4) This time, take the road that descends to the right for 2 km, crosses La Roch and cuts across a road.

(10) Continue straight ahead on a path that crosses the D646, cross a valley and climb back up to the viewpoint.

(11) Follow the yellow markings to reach the village and the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 379 m - Church of Saint-Étienne-la-Varenne
  2. 1 : km 0.66 - alt. 431 m - Fork in the road, head towards "Le Trou du Loup"
  3. 2 : km 2.03 - alt. 599 m - Trou du Loup
  4. 3 : km 3.2 - alt. 585 m - Fortified house
  5. 4 : km 3.83 - alt. 536 m - Hairpin bend
  6. 5 : km 4.86 - alt. 554 m - Crossroads
  7. 6 : km 5.24 - alt. 595 m - Path to the west, towards Taulauzière
  8. 7 : km 8.15 - alt. 750 m - Crossroads
  9. 8 : km 8.64 - alt. 711 m - D72
  10. 9 : km 12.72 - alt. 504 m - Road junction
  11. 10 : km 16.54 - alt. 404 m - Road crossing
  12. 11 : km 17.43 - alt. 382 m - Belvedere
  13. S/E : km 17.81 - alt. 379 m - Church of Saint-Étienne-la-Varenne

Notes

No shelter or water on the ridges. Café at the Col de la Croix Rosier.
Good walking shoes recommended.

Worth a visit

The village of Saint-Étienne-la-Varenne and its church.
Several châteaux in the surrounding area.
Mont Brouilly, its viewpoint and wine at 2 km.

Reviews and comments

4.2 / 5
Based on 24 reviews

Reliability of the description
4 / 5
Ease of following the route
3.9 / 5
Route interest
4.7 / 5
veronique01
veronique01
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 28, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant hike done as a group; only the 7/8 return journey (downhill and uphill) seemed completely pointless to us.

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Jean-pierre André
Jean-pierre André

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 18, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Beautiful hike, well frequented, very pleasant 😉

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BV61
BV61
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 07, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely, physically demanding hike with a nice climb at the start, done in the sunshine with beautiful, varied scenery and gorgeous autumn colours.
I tracked the hike with the app, so no problems. Thanks to the author.

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Philpatou
Philpatou

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 11, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely short hike, done on a fine day, with pleasant and varied scenery...
Hike completed using the Visorando app, so no worries about following the route
Have a nice day

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M. Audigier
M. Audigier

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 22, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hello,
Right from the start, the numbers associated with the route obscure the road you need to take. This makes it unclear which route to choose.
We made a mistake right from the start and ended up travelling the route in the opposite direction.
It's no big deal, just a bit tricky to read the map.
Kind regards
FA

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Jmont
Jmont

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 09, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful route that we modified slightly, as there was a wild boar hunt.
There will be hunting (and therefore hunts) every weekend from October to February.
We will do this hike again in the spring.

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Pinky001
Pinky001

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 05, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We did this hike in early July 2023 and only encountered one other hiker. This hike offers beautiful views along the ridges, with lots of woods, vineyards and chestnut trees.
One small downside was on the way back at point 8, where the path was overgrown with grass, making this section a little tricky; however, this hike is very beautiful.

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CATTIN
CATTIN

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 15, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

The trail is rather poorly marked.

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chrishooter
chrishooter

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : May 01, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful hike with a nice elevation gain (600 metres) to work your thighs
The route alternates between ridges with magnificent views, passages through trees and vineyards.
the route is perfect.
i agree with a comment that the return trip on points 7 and 8 is not particularly interesting.

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jcmrtl
jcmrtl

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 10, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hello,

A very pleasant walk on a winter Monday (3°C) in fine weather.
The 8-7-8 round trip is a sad waste of time: you go downhill only to come back up again, and end up nowhere (at the side of the road, with no view or point of interest...). You can easily skip this round trip, especially as the clear view is at point 8.
Other than that, very good.

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THAVARD
THAVARD

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 02, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

I only did part of the hike from Saint Etienne la Varennes to the Saint Marie farm and back by road to make a circular route. I couldn't find the path through the vineyards for the return trip. I
Very beautiful view of Mont Blanc, the Alps and the plain.

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YoannPi
YoannPi

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 25, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

It seems to me that there is a problem with the route at the start of the return journey, or else the planned route really does not take the most obvious paths. I will try to post my route as a correction, as I probably followed a more obvious and no less interesting itinerary.

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caro_louvet
caro_louvet

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 17, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

very beautiful hike, pleasant views
the first climb was affected by erosion, making the path difficult to walk on...

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pascal.amieux
pascal.amieux

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 12, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Departure at 10:30 a.m., return at 5:30 p.m. We are still keeping our contemplative pace ;-)
The description of the walk is brief, which means you have to rely on the map, which is not always accurate (point 9). This is not a problem as the route on the ground is fairly obvious.
The hike is very interesting. It alternates between forest and Beaujolais moorland, mainly between points 5 and 7. There are numerous educational signs about the revival of pastoralism along the entire route from Taulauzière to the Col de la Croix Rosier.

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gln69
gln69

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 23, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A beautiful hike with no particular difficulties, only the signage leaves something to be desired! Markings are difficult to see or even absent.

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