The Saut du Gier from the Col de la Croix du Planil

Date of your route : May 06, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hike under a heavy sky, low clouds and cool temperatures; arrive at marker no. 1, as there are four possible routes to the Gier waterfall. Take the least trodden path on your right, which descends; all the paths are a little rough following heavy rain at the end of 2024. There is quite a lot of water at the Gier ford, but you can get across with your feet getting a little wet. Once you arrive at the Saut du Gier, it's a shame about the fog, as the flow was really good this time. To return from point 4 to point 5, we preferred to retrace our steps and take a path lower down on our left, marked by a white line on a tree with a steep drop, and rejoin the trail halfway between points 4 and 5. There was also a lot of water on the GR 65 in some places.
Thanks to the author for this hike

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Date of your route : Sep 18, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

this route isn't particularly interesting. Also, be careful at one point where you have to climb up the side of a cliff or take a long detour, after which it's difficult to find your way back.
I don't recommend it with the current route.

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Date of your route : May 22, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

It's hard to say if this route is very busy because there are many rocky sections and sections under the woods, but the grassy sections were starting to get tall...
The description or signposting of the route could do with a little more detail because I didn't pass the right places. Fortunately, my son had the app, which helped us when we were unsure or made a mistake. This made the walk less enjoyable and peaceful. Otherwise, I really liked the setting of this walk, with two beautiful viewpoints.
It had rained a lot and I appreciated my walking sticks because the paths were often very stony and slippery. On the way back to the GR, a large section had been transformed into a stream.

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Date of your route : Jul 31, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Several passages are poorly indicated; additional descriptions would have been appreciated. I'm not sure I got to the right places every time...

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Date of your route : Feb 05, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

the passage between points 4 and 5 is quite difficult. I couldn't find any markings. I used my GPS and followed the route, which is parish specific to Brittany and very rocky

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Date of your route : Feb 05, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

the transition between points 4 and 5 is quite difficult. I couldn't find it. I used my GPS and followed the route, which is parish specific to Brittany and very rocky

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Date of your route : Jan 02, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

At the start, there are four paths, not three: take the one furthest to the right.
When you reach the road:
"Then, at the bend, take the path that goes up to your left" should be clarified:
Take the path on your left AFTER THE HOUSE LOCATED IN THE BEND

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Date of your route : Jul 22, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

We preferred to start from the shepherd's hut to pick up the route of the loop.
However, the descent to the Saut du Gier is very steep and rocky, and requires a lot of attention.
It had rained heavily in the previous days, so the waterfall was magnificent.
As a result, some sections of the trail had turned into streams.

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Date of your route : Jul 18, 2021
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Taking into account all the previous comments, I loaded the GPS track onto my Garmin and didn't rely on the description. As a result, I didn't have any problems except on the way back from the waterfall, where I couldn't find the path back up. But it does exist. Its starting point is closer to the waterfall than indicated by the GPS track and the IGN map, according to a couple who were doing the loop in the opposite direction. We went around the scree and through the woods.
At the point (5), we continued straight on to the Shepherd's Hut and even to Crêt de la Perdrix. Unfortunately, the view was blocked .
The difficulty of the day was the amount of water flowing on the GR7 on the way back, which had turned into a stream. But it did allow us to see a beautiful waterfall. You can't have everything.
All in all, once we got past the problems with the description and with the detour to Crêt de la Perdrix, it was a beautiful hike.

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Date of your route : Jun 26, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : Yes

Quite a long hike, mainly through forest, without many views of the landscape... Of course, there is the waterfall...

Suggestion: at point 6, follow the GR 7 south to the shepherd's hut (restaurant, drinking water) then to Crêt de la Perdrix, to the south-east. Beautiful 360° views on a clear day.

It is also possible to start from La Scie du Bost (car park).

Gilles

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you are correct

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Date of your route : Mar 30, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Nice hike, average description. The route dates from 2015 and there have been changes since then, with rockfalls on the way back from the Saut (point 4) where the path is no longer visible and you have to climb over rocks a bit at random. Thank you to GPS Visorando

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Date of your route : Sep 13, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very good. It is necessary to follow the GPS route as there are many paths leading off in all directions.
Be careful after point 4, as the GPS route takes you through a large scree slope, whereas the correct path is slightly further on towards Gier (no signpost). However, this path is in exactly the right place on the OpenStreetMap background map.
We continued on to the Shepherd's Hut rather than returning directly (+100m elevation gain). On this additional section, there are lots of blackberry bushes, which were excellent. There are also blueberries, but it's much too late for them now.

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Date of your route : Jun 08, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Well, the entire route needs to be redone. It's clearly poorly marked. What's more, when you mark something in black and white, you should put the black ON the white to avoid getting black paint on black bark... because it's just invisible...

Highlighting the edges of the black with white is also a good idea... anyway.

Otherwise, the hike is pretty nice. The elevation gain is concentrated in section 4, where you basically climb 400 metres in one go, so watch out for your thighs, they'll get burning.

Otherwise, the views are nice and the hike is accessible if you're not afraid of scree and are reasonably fit.
Be careful though in wet weather or in winter, as the hike can suddenly become really dangerous.

One last thing: after the waterfall, be careful not to be stupid and climb the scree anywhere... We saw people doing this because there weren't any clear signs.

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Date of your route : May 21, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

From the cut to the fork, jump over the Gier, a new and very disruptive forest road. No signposts

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