Les Crêtes de la Molière from Autrans

A diverse hike: forests, ridges, vast panoramic views...

Technical sheet

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  • Snowshoeing
    Activity: Snowshoeing
  • ↔
    Distance: 13.97 km
  • ◔
    Duration according to author: 6 hrs 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Return to departure point: Yes
  • ↗
    Vertical gain: + 661 m
  • ↘
    Vertical drop: - 663 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 1,707 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 1,075 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Start from Le Truc hamlet, from the sqaure with a wash house.

(S/F) With the wash house to your right, go straight up the road opposite heading north-east and following "route du Guinchet".

(1) After roughly 400 m, take a path to the right heading uphill opposite the slope. At the first junction, take a left onto the GRP "Sentier des Quatre Montagnes" for about 150 m.

(2) Leave the GRP and head right up a steady slope.

(3) At the place called Obereaux (high point 1508), cross a forest trail and continue uphill on the other side through undergrowth. Go past a right turn, a hairpin turn on the left and, after 400 m you'll reach Pas de l'Ours. The ridge with view over "plateau de la Molière" takes shape.

(4) Head left following the ridge, pass by Sous Charande (5) and keep going along the ridge reaching Charande.

(6) Head north along the ridge to reach "Pas du Tracollet".

(7) Turn right onto a trail heading down towards "plateau de la Molière". The trail smoothly heads uphill (north-north-east) reaching Molière car park (inaccessible by cars in the winter).

(8) Opposite the viewpoint indicator, take a flat trail on the left-hand side leading to Plénouze. Ignore the trails heading off to the right.

(9) At the junction, climb up to "plateau de Plénouze" (10). Backtrack.

(9) Leave the trail you took to get here, and head down to the right.

(11) Cross a forest trail in Font Chaude et continue on the trail on the other side. At the junction with the trail that heads up to Plénouze, take a hairpin turn left and keep heading downhill due south-west. You'll reach the road on the right-hand side that leads to Ronins hamlet.

(12) Take a left and follow a flat path suitable for vehicles.

(13) At Villeneuve hamlet crossing, keep going straight ahead along a tarmac road.

(14) Go past a holiday centre on the left and keep going straight returning to your starting point Le Truc hamlet (S/F).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 1,096 m - Le Truc
  2. 1 : km 0.55 - alt. 1,131 m - Take the path on the right
  3. 2 : km 0.82 - alt. 1,184 m - Leave the GRP and turn right uphill
  4. 3 : km 2.97 - alt. 1,500 m - Cutting the forest road
  5. 4 : km 4.06 - alt. 1,641 m - Pas de l'Ours
  6. 5 : km 4.51 - alt. 1,676 m - Sous Charande
  7. 6 : km 4.99 - alt. 1,707 m - Charande
  8. 7 : km 5.64 - alt. 1,638 m - Pas du Tracollet
  9. 8 : km 6.42 - alt. 1,633 m - Table d'orientation de La Molière
  10. 9 : km 8.03 - alt. 1,617 m - Intersection for Plénouze
  11. 10 : km 8.1 - alt. 1,634 m - Plénouze
  12. 11 : km 8.64 - alt. 1,545 m - Cross the forest road
  13. 12 : km 10.56 - alt. 1,129 m - Turning left
  14. 13 : km 11.48 - alt. 1,110 m - Villeneuve, go straight on
  15. 14 : km 12.79 - alt. 1,075 m - Holiday centre, go straight on
  16. S/E : km 13.97 - alt. 1,097 m - Le Truc

Practical information

The hike was performed with snow shoes but can be achieved by foot when there's no snow.

In the nearby area

A detour can be made to gïte de la Molière (beneath Pas de l'Ours (4)) for a bite to eat or a sleep over. However be careful, the slope is steep and not recommended if the ground is covered with snow or ice. In any case, book in advance.

(8) Picnic tables and a view point over the entire northern Alps mountain range with viewpoint indicator.
From crête de La Molière (ridge), you can watch marmots, pelegrine falcons and incidentally, chamois.

Attractive spring flora throughout the plateau.

Reviews and comments

4.5 / 5
Based on 14 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.4 / 5
Clarity of route map
4.4 / 5
Route interest
4.6 / 5
bebert38
bebert38

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of walk : Jul 26, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

The exact starting address is: 'Place de la Fontaine des Gaberts, Autrans'.

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GELAS
GELAS

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Jun 24, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

There were around ten of us and everyone really enjoyed the route and the views.

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nom
nom

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of walk : Aug 07, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : Yes

No particular problems, with help from the GPS application in some places.
A pleasant walk, especially once you reach the ridge.
Lots of people (50?) on the Molière plateau: I didn't stop...
Stony, slightly steep descent.

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Deuxpattes
Deuxpattes

Thanks for the info, Bernardino! my car GPS is brand new! I'm going to set it all up!
Sincerely
Two legs

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bernardino
bernardino ★

And no, there is no bug in the departure coordinates because :
Le Truc N 45.173917° / E 5.560455° and Le Truc N 45°10'26.1 / E 5°33'37.6
are exactly the same coordinates
The only difference is that the former are expressed in decimal degrees, the latter in degrees minutes seconds.
This can be set in your account by clicking on the Settings link in the software.
All you have to do is match this setting with your car's GPS if you're using it to get to the starting point.
Enjoy your visit to the site

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Deuxpattes
Deuxpattes

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Jan 06, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Reply to Henry57:
So for the GPS coordinates at the start there is a bug somewhere ..... On the visorando paper file, which I edited on 5 January 2020, it says:

S/E : Le Truc N 45.173917° / E 5.560455° ( different from what you indicate below ....)

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henri57
henri57 ★

Hello,

Thank you for your feedback.

because the start is ambiguous and we lost time looking for the start at the washhouse.
The GPS coordinates for the start mean that we have to stop in Autrans.

The starting point is written in black and white in the description

Start: N 45°10'26.1 / E 5°33'37.6


Map on Google

The exact address of the start is: 'Place de la Fontaine des Gaberts, Autrans'.

And to be more precise:

Exact Google address 9 Place de la Fontaine des Gabets, 38880 Autrans

A+

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Deuxpattes
Deuxpattes

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Jan 05, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Description: I put "average" because the start is ambiguous and we wasted time looking for the start at the washhouse.
The GPS coordinates of the start meant that we stopped in Autrans, in Thur as indicated, but a long way from the washhouse, which was in Bouchet. The exact address of the start is 'Place de la Fontaine des Gaberts, Autrans'.

Otherwise, it's a superb hike with an imposing and majestic view of Belledone with its snow-covered ridges on this day.
The ice in places made the path a bit tricky at times, but nothing insurmountable.

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GérardP71
GérardP71

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Aug 08, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

beautiful walk with magnificent views of the Alps.

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chriris
chriris

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of walk : Aug 10, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

The ridges are very popular - I'd even go so far as to say "touristy" - because you can get there by car as far as the Molière car park. The descent path has been completely ravaged by forestry machinery. It's a shame.

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Valérie PREVEL
Valérie PREVEL

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Feb 24, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Hiking with teenagers, with an overnight stay at the Moliére refuge.
Perfect!

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toposrandos
toposrandos

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Feb 24, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

It was a beautiful day, and we did a quick search at Font Chaude for the path that descends steeply and found it after a mistake that was corrected by the good description of the itinerary.

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Mazette
Mazette

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Feb 03, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Very nice snowshoe hike. We cut off at La Molière via Le Villeneuve because the route was wilder.

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s010558
s010558

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Mar 25, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Magnificent snowshoe hike, starting from the hamlet of Bouchet, I modified Bellecombe, Pas de L'Ours, Charande, Plenouze, then back via the Feney refuge, then Les Combettes at 1508 leave the wide track and head towards Autrans on the right, careful, beautiful descent on the snow and join Bouchet.

The view from the ridge is splendid: the Ecrins, Belledonne and Chartreuse. The weather was superb, with about 30 cm of snow at Le Bouchet and 140 cm on the ridge.

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fanfan026
fanfan026

hello
I am going to propose it for 14 January 2014 - snowshoeing
for sporty hikers
so no comment for the moment
thank you in advance for the route and the gpx track
but if I could find a way to extend this trail, not necessarily in distance, but in altitude difference
Sincerely
fanfan

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