The promontories and summit of Cresta

Date of your route : Jul 24, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike with an exceptional view from the summit of Cresta. The route is not very easy to find, and there is a lot of uncertainty about which path to take. I never found the second climb. As a result, I took the third climb as the second, which made me hesitate for a long time before committing to it. Luckily I did go up, because the view from the top is just extraordinary

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Date of your route : Nov 16, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

I did this hike yesterday, avoiding 4-5, but that's still enough, given that the last climb is very physically demanding.
The view from the summit is extraordinary, and the descent from point 6 is easy.

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Date of your route : Jun 05, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hello
I climbed point 4/5. Not interesting unless you want to learn orienteering and want to be reincarnated as a wild boar.
I agree with Yoguini's comment from 11/4/2021: the summit of Cresta is very easily accessible at point 6.
There are steep slopes before the summit, but if you walk steadily, it's very doable
Part of the route is shaded, which is very welcome in hot weather
Beautiful views
Pleasant descent
MB

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Date of your route : Jun 28, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

a lovely hike, but difficult without a GPS.
the route is sometimes difficult, steep and poorly marked.
A lovely walk with beautiful views of the village of Espenel.

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Date of your route : Apr 11, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A very beautiful hike in the Saillans region. Magnificent views over the Drôme valley.

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Date of your route : Apr 11, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Thank you for this wonderful overview.
But it's true that there are some areas for improvement:
i couldn't find the climb at point 4/5 and I strongly advise against trying to go there.
The path is unclear and dangerous.
The summit of Cresta is very easily accessible at point 6.
there is a beautiful 360-degree view from the top!

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Date of your route : Oct 19, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Excellent, very physical route. There are no flat sections. Route completed at 8:30 in the morning. We couldn't find the path to point 5, but that was more or less expected!

Perfect for the views and physical fitness.

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Hello,

@Thierryb26

I think there is inappropriate use of tags in xavierdes' text (truncated sentences formatted as links to a wiki article)

Exactly.

@xavierdes

I took the liberty of modifying the layout of your comment.
Why?

1. In your case, the brackets create an empty hyperlink with no destination. (To test this, you can click on your link (in blue) between brackets and in bold
2. To make a quotation, you can use the "Quotation block" module.
3. Entire paragraphs written in bold type do not make for easy reading on screen.

Best regards

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I think there is inappropriate use of tags in xavierdes's text (truncated sentences formatted as links to a wiki article)

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Hello Xavier, and thank you for your comments.

Thank you for taking the time to explain where and how the description could be improved. Let's wait and see what the author has to say.

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Date of your route : Dec 11, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Hello,

As this is by no means the first time, I will take the time and space to explain that the approximations, both for the starting point and the route, are truly regrettable. Above all, they encourage your users to rely entirely on GPS, which is detrimental to the environment, health, and skills in orientation and map reading.
I will quote the text and comment on it in bold:

(S) The starting point is located at a small pass above the Granges district in Espenel. There is a bench about 50 metres opposite the farmhouse with the dovecote.

Well before entering Espenel, turn right onto Chemin des Granges and continue for 1 to 2 km.... In this direction, the bench, which has no backrest, is on the left-hand side of the road, at least 100 metres (or rather) and in any case 400 steps from the Colombier farm

(1) Climb up the marl on your right and you will find the start of the trail just above the bench. It climbs up the marl before entering a forest and arriving at a ridge (2).

It's surprising to still be talking about marl. Everything grows here, which is rare on marl

Turn left towards the promontory (3), which you can reach by taking a small path on the left. The view of the village of Espenel is magnificent from this spot. Retrace your steps for a few metres and take the descent on your left to reach another small promontory at the crossroads of a path.
Turn left here to reach another crossroads, then turn right (4).

There are colours, so why not use them? The first part is orange, and the first path on the left has an orange cross, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the right one... The second path on the left is marked with a yellow arrow, so is that the one? On the other hand, the phrase "Turn left here to reach another crossroads, then turn right at this point" is really ambiguous.

The path that climbs to hill 887 is not very well marked but visible. You have to climb up the slope and turn right about a hundred metres higher to enter the boxwood trees (5) (there are orange bands on the trees). The view of Espenel and Saillans is even more beautiful from this summit. There is a flagpole at the summit (this summit is called Cresta d'Espenel).
There is a path between (5) and the foot of the Cresta summit at 923 metres, but it is very poorly marked and difficult to find. Do not hesitate to descend to the point (4) and join the (6) (take the climb on the right at this point) to reach the Cresta summit at 923 metres, which is marked by a beacon (this is the true summit of Cresta).

This description seems to be ten years old... The basic path is marked in yellow, and the climb to the summit of Cresta is also marked in yellow and perfectly visible.

Descend to the Espenel pass (7) and take the descent on the left. Pass the Barcours spring and turn left at the intersection below.

If you turn left at the pass, it is clearly the path you came up. Instead, at the pass, continue straight ahead (more or less south) for about 100 metres until you reach a crossroads. To the right, more or less towards Saillans, straight ahead you go up a small hill and to the left, yes, you have the descent to the start, which becomes a forest track after the spring.

Continue downhill to reach the tarmac road and turn left to return to the starting point.

PS: It's worth adding that the view from the top of Cresta is truly magnificent, with a 360-degree panorama.

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Hello,

@pamme

Thank you for taking the time to reply. However, could you please be a little more specific in your answers so that we can improve this hike?

Kind regards

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Date of your route : Oct 26, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

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Date of your route : May 11, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A beautiful hike in a little-visited area with a very pretty view from the top of Cresta. Towards the end: arrival at the summit with a few rocks to climb. We had to search a little for the start of the hike, as the Colombier farm was not signposted. Shortly before the village of Espenel, take the Route des Granges. Look carefully for a wooden bench by the side of the road, where the road climbs up towards the Col d'Espenel.

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Hello,

Thank you for your comment.

You rated:

Reliability of the description: Average

Did you have any problems with the description? If so, how can we improve it?

Reliability of the map route: Average

Did the route cause any problems?

Did you follow the route with a GPS or GPS application?
Did you deviate from the route of the hike?

See you soon!

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