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The trail starts from the Nances cemetery car park, 150 metres east of the church.
Nances can be reached from Novalaise by leaving the CD921 or from the A43 motorway interchange.
Please note: if you return late, the cemetery road is closed by a chain at night for safety reasons, so park near the church.
(S/E) Start on flat ground heading south, pass two paths on the right and begin climbing up the mountainside. Before crossing an intermittent stream, a very steep path on the left leads to the Grotte de la Conche (resurgence) for a round trip.
(1) Return to the marked trail: the slope quickly becomes steeper, until you reach a steep section equipped with handrails and safety cables to help you cross a rocky outcrop.
The path continues to climb until it reaches a hairpin bend to the left at Les Balmes. Do not continue straight ahead, as the old path down to La Drayère has become impassable.
(2) Turn left heading due north. The climb up the mountainside joins a thalweg, which you follow to the bottom: the terrain and slope then become gentler until you reach a forest path at 821m (on the left, this path joins the Route du Col de l'Épine via the Reposoir viewpoint).
(3) Take the right path southwards: it runs along the side of the mountain, passing old coal platforms and then a viewpoint over the lake. The path becomes a much more uneven but marked trail, which begins to descend into the forest at an old crossroads (altitude 686) at Les Logers.
(4) Do not take the old path downhill to the right, which is now lost in the scree, but continue straight ahead towards the south, passing above the Tête de Cheval rock.
At Les Platières (560m), the path flattens out (and even climbs a little) until you reach the hamlet of Les Gustins, which is served by a road.
(5) Descend this road for about 400m and, when crossing a small valley, turn sharply right to descend the wet valley straight north and reach the road along the lake at La Combe.
(6) Follow this road (CD921d) to the right and walk along it to the end of the lake.
(7) Turn right to follow a motorway service road at the foot of the mountain, towards Cesar Area. Pass under the motorway through a small tunnel and continue straight ahead along the service road to a clearing where a roof shelters a resurgence: the Source du Guâ.
(8) After visiting the site, continue along the road, turn right twice at the hamlet of Guâ and take the path that starts at the edge of the forest and soon begins to climb.
Near the hamlet of Les Gollets, turn right and leave two paths on your left to arrive at the Grotte du Loup after a bend.
(9) Opposite the cave, take the path heading north. After a short climb, it joins the path taken on the way there and then the cemetery car park (S/E).
Visorando Member
Moderate 
Easy 
