The ammonite slab at Rochers de la Baume, starting from La Cluse

From the D994 road between Veynes and Gap, head towards Le Devoluy on the D937. Before climbing the hairpin bends of the Col du Festre, turn left to cross the village of La Cluse and park in the car park at the western end of the village, just after the small hairpin bend.
To avoid walking along the track, you can drive along it and park in the few spaces on the left just before the bridge. You can even continue to the Voran sheepfold.
You can also take a coach to Devoluy, for example the Z or 515 line, from Veynes.

(S/E) From the car park, take the forest track and follow the GR®94 (white and red markings) westwards to the bridge over the Béoux.

(1) Leave the GR® trail. Without crossing the bridge, take the forest path on the right, heading north-west, and follow the Torrent de l'Abbéou until you reach the Voran sheepfold.

(2) Leave the path and turn left into the bed of the Torrent de l'Abbéou andfollow itupstream, then take the path along the Champforan woods. Cross a small stream, still in the forest, before reaching a second one.

(3) Descend into the stream bed on the right to reach the Abbéou stream. Follow it for about 100 metres, then take its tributary, the Plates stream, on the right. Be careful! Its entrance is partly hidden by vegetation, so you need to look carefully to find it.

(4) Enter this sort of canyon, marked by boulders that are not too difficult to climb over. Continue climbing up through the slabs and boulders until you reach a huge rock under which the torrent flows. This is the technical section, which requires some contortions over a distance of about ten metres. The torrent has carved a perfect channel in the limestone. Then continue along the hollow of the torrent until it is blocked by a huge impassable boulder.

(5) Turn left into the beech forest and continue climbing up a short but steep slope. You will soon see the limestone slabs on the eastern flank of the Rochers de la Baume. Continue along the meadow, keeping parallel to the slabs.

(6) Reach the top of the slabs (elevation 1,663 metres) , which tower vertiginously above the most rugged part of the Abéou. Admire the numerous ammonites on the horizontal slab. They are rather discreet and have been largely eroded away.
Descend from this ridge, heading north-west to join the track that leads to the Chalet de Chazal.

(7) Go around the pastoral installation below the Fontaine des Ruisseaux and take the track on the hillside, heading northeast, following the EDF line. After crossing the Torrent des Plates (often dry), the track passes by the Chazal sheepfold.

(8) Continue down the track, heading south-east.
In the trees, descend a few hairpin bends to follow the bank of the Abbéou at a place called Les Pierres Taillées.
Then cross the torrent (often dry) to reach the Voran sheepfold you passed on the way up.

(2) Descend via the same route as on the way up to pass near the bridge, then reach the car park (S/E).

Fountain and lodge in the village of La Cluse.

Picnic area with toilets near the car park. You can dip your feet in the stream.

Be careful! The ammonites have been weakened by erosion. It is very important not to damage these remains, which are several million years old, by walking on them or rubbing them.

La Cluse, a small village perched on a rocky outcrop, is the only passageway providing access to the Dévoluy from the south. It is also the only part of the Dévoluy that belongs to the Durance basin, via the Petit Buech, into which the Béoux flows. In Vivaro-Alpine Occitan, La Cluza is a narrow valley that can easily be closed off or protected. In 1245, the cartulary of Durbon Abbey mentioned the existence of a fortified site here: castrum de la Cluza.

This is the southern gateway to Dévoluy, a valley offering numerous hiking trails accessible to all.
The two resorts of La Joue du Loup and Super Dévoluy offer skiing and other mountain activities.

Although they are on the other side of the Dévoluy, the sites of Mère Église and the Gillardes resurgence (38) are worth a visit.

Longer option: at the point (4), continue up the Torrent de l'Abéou to enter the Leyvay Canyon, which consists of several pools, ledges and waterfalls, the last of which is 37 metres high and offers a superb atmosphere. To admire it (it is hidden by a fold in the rock), you have to pass behind a pool. Depending on the water level, this can be done either by a narrow ledge on the right bank or by stepping onto a fairly high slab on the left bank. Then return to the point (4) to continue the route.