Le Grand Serre - Around the Galaure

The starting point is in front of the church in Le Grand Serre, a small village on the border between the departments of Isère and Drôme.

(S/E) Head east along the Grande Rue, past the church. You’ll pass the very pretty old market halls. Take the first street on your right that leads down into the valley (Rue Saint-Antoine). A little further on, it becomes “Route de la Roche” and, once in the valley, it leads to a “Stop” sign at the D51. Turn left, then take the first small road on the right (Route de l’Étang).

(1) You come to a ford. You can, however, take the bridge on the left rather than getting your shoes wet. Ignore the road branching off to the right at the bins. Your road climbs. You pass the group of houses on the Saône. Ignore the road branching off to the right towards a spa. At a second group of houses, continue straight ahead. The tarmac gives way to a good stony path.
You enter the forest.

(2) On your right, you come to another wide path; take it. There is a wire fence on your right. Then take the first track on your left.

(3) When you reach a crossroads, head slightly uphill to the left. You’ll walk alongside a field, before quickly returning to the woods. You’ll walk alongside a meadow, before returning to the woods again. You’ll come out onto a very wide gravel track (it was built to install the wind turbines).

(4) Turn right onto it. You’ll pass by/under a wind turbine (it’s quite impressive...). Continue along this track, which, after a while, is tarmac-surfaced across half its width.

(5) There is a lovely little pond on your left, by the roadside. Carry on until you reach a small country road.

(6) Turn right, then very quickly leave it to join a path, also on the right. The path becomes quite rough, rutted by machinery. Follow it. At the first fork, turn right. At the second, turn left. You’ll come to a small road (Route de Saint-Christophe). Take it to the right.

(7) Very soon, you will see two paths branching off simultaneously on your left. Take the second one (yellow and red markings). Ignore a wide path coming in from the left.

(8) After a while, you’ll come to a track; take it to the left. Follow it for a while. It turns into tarmac (it’s a common problem...). You’ll come out onto a small road.

(9) Turn left. The small road curves naturally to the right.

(10) On your left, you’ll see a sign: Bonne Combe – 408m. Take the grassy path opposite (i.e. to the right as you approach). Follow it for a while until you come out onto a small road

(11) Turn right and, a few metres further on, continue to the left.

(12) You will come to the^second ford over the Galaure. In the event of high water, there is a footbridge on the left. You will arrive at a main road (Route de Roybon).

(13) Cross it and take the small road opposite that goes uphill, slightly to the right. Pass a private track and take another small road, again to the right.

(14) You are at a place called "Labyrinthe de Hauterives". Continue for a while along the hillside before coming out onto a small main road.

(15) Turn right. __ Be careful!!! Traffic moves quite fast._

If there are several of you, walk in single file, unless otherwise indicated, on the left-hand side of the road, facing the oncoming traffic.

After about 1 km and a fairly steep climb, you enter Le Grand Serre and thus return to your starting point (S/E).

The only difficulty lies in the length of the walk.

The Palais Idéal du Facteur Cheval is just a stone’s throw from the Grand Serre.
Along the walk there is an attraction: "the Hauterives mazes".