The Trou de l'Enfer, starting from the Auberge de Liézey

Park near the Auberge de Liezey.

(S/E) Head towards the inn and take the road that descends to the right until you reach the bend where the Croix de Saucefaing stands.

(1) Turn around and take the path marked ‘Green Cross’ on the left until you reach the road.

(2) At the junction, turn right onto the road leading to the Pré d'Anis toy workshop.

(3) Continue along the path marked with a Green Cross until you reach the RD30, at a place called La Grangeotte. Cross carefully and head right for about a hundred metres.

(4) Turn left, continue to the farm and pass between the buildings. About a hundred metres further on, take a sharp right to follow the Yellow Ring-marked path to the next junction.

(5) Take the Red Ring marked trail on the right, which descends to the Trou de l'Enfer.

(6) Cross the footbridge and follow the stream to the right until you reach the first stream crossing. Follow the stream coming from the left for a few metres, then cross it using the stones to reach the path on the other side, which climbs quite steeply to a meadow. Walk along the meadow fence on the right towards the tarmac road, which you follow to the right until you reach the junction and houses at La Racine.

(7) Take the hairpin bend to the left and proceed with caution along the D31 for a few hundred metres. Then turn right onto a small road.

(8) After the first house, take the barely visible path on the left which climbs through a meadow and heads towards a house on the hill. Walk past the house and follow its access path to reach the junction with the Chemin des Blanches Roches.

(9) Turn right, head into the woodland and continue to the junction at the edge of the woods.

(10) Turn right again, walking alongside the fir trees until you reach the RD50. Head left and walk carefully along the road until you reach the cross.

(11) Cross over and take the path on the right, which leads back to the D50.

(12) Cross it with the same caution and follow the dirt track opposite which runs alongside the road on its right. Pass an old farm, continue left at the junction just after it and return to the D50 one last time. Turn right onto it and follow it for about a hundred metres.

(13) Turn right onto the path leading back towards Saucefaing. Look out for a tree with a bulging trunk: the spruce bark beetle. You’ll come out onto the small access road to the Auberge de Liezey; head left to return to the car park (S/E).

The workshop for making wooden toys and objects (2).

The beautiful site of the Trou de l’Enfer (6).

The spruce tree on the final stretch of the path after the (13).

The legend of the Trou del’Enfer

In the Middle Ages, a violinist was returning from a wedding. It was late, night had fallen, and in the distance, a human figure emerged from beneath a blanket of fog. The strange-looking man approached our musician to ask him to play at a ball. The man gave our good musician a gold coin.
At dawn, the violinist hurried to find the village priest to ask his advice. The priest told him he must honour the agreement, but recommended he play the ‘Veni Creator’ if he wished to reassure himself. At the agreed time, though without knowing how, the musician found himself in the middle of a vast hall in a castle. Bravely, he played his instrument to accompany the ball, and all the guests were delighted.
After a few hours, the musician remembered the priest’s words, and to bring the ball to a close, he struck up the Veni Creator. At that very moment, everything vanished, and our musician awoke on a rocky outcrop, with no idea how he had ended up there, in the gorge, by the stream. Since then, the place has become known as the Trou de l’Enfer.