The Crêt du Nu / Retord Plateau

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An easy loop along Retord Plateau taking you past the "Gouffre de la Bauche" sinkhole and the "Crêt du Nu" viewpoint.

Details

n°6724
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 14.51 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 5h 10 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 369 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 368 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 1,348 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 1,038 m
Downloads
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Photos

Walking between snow and forest
Beautiful panorama near the crêt du Nu
La Grange à Julien
Bergerie du Tumet

Description of the walk

(S) Starting out from the Biathlon stadium at Plans d’Hotonnes.

(1) Take the path to the south towards l’Oreille, go past the farm and carry on due east until you reach the "Tour du Valromey" which takes you under the power lines.

(2) Continue northeast for 300m then turn left and head due north until you reach the "Croix des Terments."

(3) Take the GR9 to the north until you reach the "Ferme du Tumet", making a short detour on your way (return trip) to the "Crêt du Nu" viewpoint (4). Be careful as this little path on the right is not very well marked.

(5) In "Tumet" turn left and continue southwest along the footpath which takes you within 200m of the “Grange à Lucien.” Carry straight on until you reach the crossing where you will need to head due east to reach the "Gouffre de le Bauche" (6), a site that is not very impressive and that is hard to find.

(7) Carry on southwest again towards "Granges Charpy" and then carry on down the path until you reach the tarmacked road, then cross the D396 to reach the biathlon stadium.

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 1,040 m - Car park
  2. 1 : km 2.14 - alt. 1,156 m - Power line crossroads
  3. 2 : km 3.54 - alt. 1,199 m - Cross - Les Terments
  4. 3 : km 5.84 - alt. 1,348 m - Crossroads towards - Crêt du Nû
  5. 4 : km 8.38 - alt. 1,234 m - Le Turnet
  6. 5 : km 9.27 - alt. 1,230 m - Carrefour Grange à Lucien
  7. 6 : km 10.12 - alt. 1,239 m - Multi-directional crossroads
  8. 7 : km 10.86 - alt. 1,292 m - Gouffre de le Bauche
  9. 8 : km 11.66 - alt. 1,234 m - Plumeau Coppice
  10. 9 : km 12.94 - alt. 1,158 m - Granges Charpy
  11. S/E : km 14.51 - alt. 1,039 m - Car park

Always be cautious and plan ahead when you're outdoors. Visorando and the author of this route cannot be held responsible for any accidents occurring on this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

Downloads
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Reviews and comments

4.3 / 5
Based on 70 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.1 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.3 / 5
Route interest
4.5 / 5
jcb38
jcb38

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 13, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely spring hike with alpine meadows dotted with daffodils. You do need to keep a close eye on the path on the way back, about three-quarters of the way through the hike, as there are numerous paths criss-crossing these meadows; but it’s nothing too serious, as they all lead you more or less back to your starting point.

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Vinithebrute
Vinithebrute

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 13, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk, beautiful views, and daffodils everywhere this April.
Please note: there is little or no mobile signal at the start of the walk, so remember to download the map before setting off.
The GPS tracking was very effective and really helped us on a few snow-covered sections.

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GABY et OLIVIER
GABY et OLIVIER

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 04, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful circular route, with lovely views and beautiful forest trails. We encountered very few people and enjoyed the silence.
The Visorando app was useful on this slightly snowy route on that particular day.

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Jf69
Jf69
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 23, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Beautiful walk, forests, plateau, viewpoints.
Be careful on the plateau, in the second part of the walk, to follow the GPS, uncertain landmarks, poorly marked paths.
Deserves a very good rating.

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132
132

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 31, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful, wild route with very few roads.
Use of the app is essential, particularly for the start of the route.

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brunosabine
brunosabine

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 02, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Nice walk with no particular difficulties, and a magnificent view of the Alps, Bugey and Sorgia.
A little difficulty finding the way at point 7, but the app's guidance makes it easy to get around.

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Michanne
Michanne

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 04, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

It would be useful to specify that the start car park is the biathlon car park, next to the biathlon stadium. A large car park on the right as you arrive at the Plans d'Hotonnes resort could be misleading and lead you to look for the starting point.

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bibilavoudonc
bibilavoudonc

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 09, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We'll do this walk again in fine weather. Not always easy to follow the route if you don't have GPS

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dpetitjean
dpetitjean

trail completed at the end of november 2023: forestry work, logging making the return journey difficult (mud stream to cross!)
easy and very pleasant circuit, beautiful view of mont blanc

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trebig
trebig

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 03, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Very nice walk in pleasant sunshine, undergrowth, pasture, pleasant

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visorandojpp
visorandojpp

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 27, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

nice walk, as described

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M Grisel
M Grisel

Overall rating : 4 / 5

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

We did this walk in May in search of spring flora, the daffodils were a bit late but we discovered other species identified thanks to Plan Net. The route is very pleasant and easy to follow, except at the start after the bend towards the farm, where there are a number of different routes. We found the chasm, which is well hidden and allowed us to leave the wide path. You come across some beautiful trees and it's a great route for the whole family.

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piccolopripri
piccolopripri

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 23, 2022
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : Not used / Not applicable
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

It's a shame not to make the diversions to Beauregard from the Croix des Terments: follow a VERY nice path lined with beech trees, then climb to the orientation table. Continue along the path to the summit, then rejoin the track towards the Cha. It's obvious on the ground.
Crêt du Nu: signposted summit, then take the path on the right to see the panorama. Nice spot for a picnic. The view is clear.

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pingon
pingon

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 07, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

this Monday the very cold wind spoiled a very sunny day!

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toposrandos
toposrandos

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 16, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Very good snow cover

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