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Start: Leaving Messigny-et-Vantoux (21), park your vehicle on the wide roadside at the junction of the D7 (Val Suzon) and the D104 (Route d'Étaules) near a meadow (horses).
Follow the blue signs.
(S/E) Cross the road and take the carriageway for 200m up to a fenced-in park. Follow this park to the left (path). At the first crossroads of tracks, turn left into the undergrowth on the path that descends slightly at the start.
After 200m, you come to a crossroads of paths; turn right (uphill), then take the first track on the left, still undergrowth.
A smooth climb leads under the rocks (Roche Château), which we follow alongside.
(1) A steep, stony, winding climb leads to a good path, wide at first, on the hillside which, after 100m of peaceful ascent, offers a beautiful, unobstructed view of the Val Suzon. You then roughly follow contour line 425.
Follow this path for about 400m before it curves sharply to the right and re-enters the undergrowth. Continue for around 300m, always flat (slightly uphill or downhill).
In a hollow, you come to a junction of tracks. Immediately turn left, then left again (grassy path), which you follow for 50m.
You then come to a wide track. On the left is a barrier (blue and yellow cross). The path beyond the barrier leads down to Val Suzon, but do not take it.
Follow the track on the right, slightly uphill for 300m to reach another track, suitable for vehicles.
(2) Turn left. There's a barrier on the right, which you mustn't cross. Follow this track to the left for about 350m to a water reservoir.
Take the track again to find, 20m to the left, a path leading down into the woods. Take it, but don't go down the valley on the left; stay on the flank and follow it uphill.
The path remains level with the curve for almost a kilometer. It runs through open undergrowth and alongside a wall on the right. Straight at first, it then makes a wide right-hand curve. A short descent brings you to a clearing.
(3) Don't turn right onto a wide path leading up to a leisure centre, or left into the valley that descends (Combe de Lambrun), but take the path opposite that enters the wood. Follow it, more or less on the side of a contour line, for about 600m. It leads to a wide track. Keep to the left of the track, not taking the first two paths on the right or descending into the valley on the left.
Go straight ahead and, after a bend and a clear space, enter the undergrowth. You then follow this path, still on the left, on a flank with no significant difference in height.
You come to a rough section where you can see the path opposite, on the other side of a valley. Descend into the valley. Ignore the upward path on the right and the downward path in the valley on the left.
Climb up the side of this path, which has an easy step to climb, and then climb up the other side of the valley. You'll then arrive above the rocks (Falaises de Saint-Fol).
(4) Continue along the flank; at one point, don't continue along the path but take a scree slope that climbs up and joins a path higher up. Take this to the left and follow it until it ends at the top of the Combe de Saint-Fol, on an open carriage road that runs along the edge of the woods. N.B. From the cliffs, the route avoids descending into the Combe de Saint-Fol and then coming up again. This can be done if you want to see the spring).
Turn left for about 400m until you come to another track on the right.
At the junction, take the left-hand edge of the road, which has two paths. Take the right-hand path and follow it until you reach a large clearing with a pylon (700m).
(5) Go past the pylon on the left and immediately take the undergrowth path on the right behind the pylon. Follow it (downhill and uphill) until it forks off completely to the right (250m).
We're still in the undergrowth, and the path follows the contour lines (flat, rising flat). You are now at the top of Combe Charbonnière (south).
Caution: at the top of a small rise, look out for the markings and don't follow the path straight ahead. There are rocks here, and if you continue without looking up, you won't see a gap to the right, which need to take.
The path continues flat and joins a wider track which you follow (left) for about 100m. At the left-hand edge, take the path down into the Combe Charbonnière (blue markings).
Descend to the bottom of the valley (approx. 750m), then down the right-hand side when the valley is occupied by a stream.
You then come across the GR®7, which you follow to the left down to Sainte Foy.
(6) From Sainte Foy, turn right on the D7 towards Val Suzon.
(7) After the Pont du Suzon, turn left onto a path that leads to the Route Forestière de Jouvence (GR®7). Turn right for about 300m. Ignore the first path on the left, which climbs straight up the slope, and take the second, which climbs at an angle (blue markings).
This path winds its way up the slope. At each junction, always take the uphill path.
At the first junction, turn left. At the second, turn right, then left again. At the next junction, turn right. After two more crossroads clearly marked in blue, you come to curve 476.
(8) The path turns left and follows this curve for about 300m to reach an intersection of 4 paths. Take the second path on the right (marked), the only one that follows the top of the cliffs. After around 300m, take the right-hand path and follow it, ignoring the left-hand path. You'll then arrive at the edge of the cliff, with a beautiful viewpoint.
(9) Continue and after a good kilometer, you come to a crossroads. Ignore the left-hand path which leads down into the Combe du Prau. Ignore the right-hand path leading to the Maison Forestière de Roy Jeannot. Turn left at the next junction (approx. 400m). Do not take the first path on the left, which also descends into the valley. Ignore the paths on the right and also the one straight ahead which leads into a field (place called "Le Saussois").
(10) Turn left into the undergrowth and follow the path for about 500m. Ignore the left-hand path and turn right.
Follow this path for about 200m to a signpost indicating Roche Tire-Barbe 40m. Nice viewpoint.
(11) Continue on the path along the line of cliffs (flat, uphill or downhill). Ignore all paths to the right (uphill) and left (downhill). After approx. 900m, the path turns sharply right and follows the cliff line slightly uphill, (viewpoints) to reach a junction with the GR®7 which descends into the valley on the left (hill 484).
(12) Turn left after the crossroads to continue along the cliffs (downhill path narrows). After 250m, a path on the left leads for 30m to a viewpoint over the Val Suzon.
Take the same route again, still on a downhill slope. Ignore the paths to the right (uphill) and left (downhill). After approx. 800m, the path turns right and then, after 250m, left at the junction with a path leading up (right). It follows the contour (455) for about 400m to a clearing (Le Plain d'Avaux).
(13) Take the downhill path to the left (blue markings and yellow plaque with number 114 nailed to a fir tree).
Follow the main path downhill from elevation 455 to 317 to the Route Forestière de Jouvence, and reach a car park.
(14) From here, take the D104 to the parking area (1.8 Km)(S/E).
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