Country:
District:
From Saint-Laurent-du-Pont or Voreppe, take the Col de la Placette road (D520A). On the south side of the pass, reach the village of Pommiers-la-Placette and continue south towards the old church, where you turn left to go up to Préfanton. Park near the end of the surfaced road, taking care not to cause any local inconvenience.
(S/E) Continue opposite the end of the road along the path towards Voreppe and Chalais. After a 1/4-hour walk through the forest, you will reach a crossroads (hill 653) at the corner of which is a spur-shaped rock.
(1) Climb the forest track to the left, which becomes a footpath and, as it rises towards the cliffs, crosses several corridors where the path is washed away during thunderstorms (Take care in these passages!). After a short cable-stayed passage to cross the fall of a rocky bar, the path, which has come close to the Roize and the cliffs, makes a bend to the left.
(2) This bend marks the start of the climb up the slope, whose rocky passages are equipped with old ladders: the Passières. Between the three equipped passages, the path is steep and runs alongside the Charminelle cliff, requiring care.
At the top of the third equipped passage, the path levels out again towards the east, even descending a little and crossing a final projection by a fourth ladder, before continuing to cross to join the signposted path from Chalais to Charminelle via Les Gourhauts.
(3) Take this signposted path, which twists down to the right and fords the Ruisseau de Charminelle.
(4) It continues downhill until it fords the Roize.
(5) It then slopes up to the south-west on a grassy ridge, then through undergrowth to the Abri Forestier de la Roize.
(6) Do not take the forest road but the path heading west. Initially level, it then descends into the forest, passes by water wells and reaches Chalais near car park 2 of the belvedere (monastery nearby).
(7) Stay on the forest track that descends and crosses the road to Chalais, then head opposite and join the path under the power line until it crosses the road again.
(8) Cross the road and continue under the power line towards Bouzonnière, on a gentle slope, until you reach a crossroads (hill 704), again under the power line.
(9) Instead of continuing down towards Bouzonnière, which would require you to climb back up a little further, turn right at this point to follow a path that is inconspicuous at first but continues through the forest down a ridge to the Gerboudière crossroads (hill 617).
(10) Turn right to follow the level path, which after a few short ascents and descents, fords the Fond de Roize.
(11) Continue straight ahead to return to the level of the right bank of the Roize as far as the crossroads you passed on the outward journey.
(1) Follow the right path back to the starting point (S/E).
Visorando member
Easy 
Moderate 
Difficult 
Association / Club / Walk leader
Extremely difficult 
