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In Le Grand-Bornand, take the Route de la Vallée du Bouchet towards the Col des Annes. At a place called Le Terret, just after the Héliantis hotel, take the road on the right which crosses the Borne (towards ‘Espace Grand-Bo’ – Route de la Patinoire), until you reach the three-way junction.
Park on the lay-by on the right if you’re in a car (Terret car park, no parking between 11 pm and 8 am) or on the left if you’re in a campervan.
(S/E) Head towards La Broderie-Le Pessey, driving up the valley for about 500 metres to the hamlet of Le Pessey, where a stream flows under a metal footbridge. Continue along the road until you reach the D4E.
(1) Carry on for 500 m until you reach the next junction.
(2) Turn right towards Les Journaux. Cross the River Borne and, shortly after the bend, turn right onto a footpath.
(3) Take this path and join another track, the Route des Frasses Jacquier. Carry on to the right.
(4) Turn left onto this track, which climbs steadily and passes a very old chalet before taking a hairpin bend to the left.
At a gate, a sign reading “Les Frasses Jacquier – 1270 m” points straight on towards “La Tête du Danay”. Carry on until you reach a four-way junction.
(5) At this junction, turn right, heading uphill through the forest to the next junction.
(6) At this three-way junction, turn left (to head uphill, in any case). Continue along the same track, which winds its way up through a few large bends before reaching an open area near the hamlet of Sur Frête.
(7) At the four-way junction next to the hamlet, signposted “Sur Frête – alt. 1580 m”, turn right towards “La Tête du Danay”: a lovely track, partly suitable for vehicles, which climbs towards the wooded summit.
(8) It’s impossible to go wrong (you have to go uphill anyway); you’ll reach a clearing with a bench (a welcome sight!) and three signs marked “Alt. 1,720 m”. A path leads, via a final climb, to the summit itself: a clearing with a huge iron cross, benches and an orientation table; a 360-degree panorama.
Head back down to the signposts and turn right towards “Grand-Bornand”.
(9) After a descent through the woods, you’ll emerge near a large chalet on the edge of a vast clearing. Go round this chalet to the right and take the wide track that descends gently towards the north-west.
When you reach a copse, walk alongside a car park (for those wishing to drive to the start of the Danay route), beyond which the track is tarmacked and becomes a road.
(10) At a hairpin bend to the left, turn right onto a forest track (the ‘Piste des Mouillés’) which, after running level for a while, begins to descend more and more steeply.
(11) Ignore the path branching off to the left, which slopes gently, and stay on the track, which turns sharply to the right and descends steeply.
(12) When you reach some huts, ignore a track branching off to the left and continue straight on, following a gentle slope.
(13) About 150 m further on, leave the track (which soon disappears) and take a path on the left that descends steeply, initially in switchbacks.
Note: when I was there in 2012, I couldn’t find any signposts between the Mouillés forest track and the huts, so I used the IGN map to guide me; I’m sure there are more signposts in this area now.
(14) Once past a group of huts on the left, at a three-way junction, take the path on the left which descends steeply with a few switchbacks. Shortly before the Villeneuve neighbourhood and the ice rink, the path crosses a small ravine and winds through a series of tight switchbacks.
At the sign for “La Patinoire – alt. 920 m”, follow the sign for “Le Grand-Bornand”; soon after, go round the ice rink building on the right to come out directly onto the road, where you should turn right.
After about 500 m along the road, you’ll return to the car park where you started (S/E).
Visorando Member
Easy 
Moderate 
