The Grand Brion Circuit

The start is at the La Valonne park-and-ride car park; parking is therefore easy, as is access by public transport via bus routes 25 or 26 from Grenoble.

(S/E) Take the south exit from the car park and follow Rue du Bois du Gua almost to the end.

(1) Look out for a path on the right which climbs via a few steps; follow it alongside the railway line until you reach Rue de la Merlatière. Walk down this street for just under 100 metres and turn right onto a path that climbs and passes under the motorway.

(2) Ignore the path on the right and carry on in the same direction. The path runs alongside the railway line, then begins a descent which becomes steep and joins the small road to Chabotte.

(3) Turn right onto this small road and follow it to the hamlet of Chabotte.

(4) Carry on along the same road to the hamlet of Les Rossinants.

(5) As you leave the hamlet, take a hairpin bend onto a path on the right which climbs steadily through the forest. Turn left at the Fork in the road and you’ll reach a crossroads.

(6) Turn right and continue due north to the hamlet of La Merlière.

(7) Once you’ve passed through the hamlet, turn left onto the small road that descends towards Le Serf de Vif and pass through the hamlet.

(8) Turn left to cross the bridge over the motorway, then use the underpass to cross the RD1075 safely. Take this and continue along the Route des Trus.

(9) Before reaching the hamlet of Les Trus, take the track on the right, running alongside the motorway and then the departmental road. Keep following the track until you reach the railway line. The track then becomes a footpath, runs alongside the stone railway viaduct and eventually leads out onto Rue du Viaduc.

(10) Turn right onto this street, go under the motorway again and head back up to the RD1075.

(11) Turn left onto the departmental road towards Vif. At the motorway viaduct, cross the road with great care and take the road opposite. Turn left immediately onto Chemin du Crozet and follow this road, which further on becomes a track. Head for the Plateau du Crozet.

(12) Turn right, follow the track for about a hundred metres, then turn left onto a path that runs alongside farmland before entering the woodland. Cross the footbridge over the railway line.

(13) Ignore the path that goes straight on (not shown on the map) and continue down the slope to the right until you reach Rue du Bois du Gua, then the park-and-ride car park, the starting point of the walk (S/E).

The walk follows good paths, with a little tarmac road but very little traffic. Walking poles may, however, be useful if the ground is slippery between (2) and (3).