The three passes: Aliénard, Tracol and Ruchère

Date of your route : Aug 01, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very pretty views, really pleasant in summer as it's often shaded, and nature is everywhere.
The only downside is the lack of landmarks to help you find your way around... so I ended up doing a sort of figure of eight, but we found each other again thanks to my phone's GPS (otherwise we would have got lost!!)

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Date of your route : Oct 17, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

First of all, thanks to the author for his work. It's a beautiful hike, best done in summer as 80% of the route is shaded.
Sunshine, calm winds, autumn scenery – exceptional conditions for this time of year, when rain has made everything that isn't rock-hard impassable, and leaves litter the ground, making it slippery and hiding hazards.
I started from the Habert car park and walked to La Ruchère and back via the oratory (without going through the cross-country skiing centre).
Between point 2 and the Alienard pass, it's a swamp, so if you're doing this hike after rain, make sure you go around the meadow before the pass on the right, unless you have wellies.
In my opinion, the descent from the Alienard pass to Habert de Billon is uninteresting and even boring. I had been there on snowshoes and cut through the forest from the top left of the Prairie d'Alienard to the top of the Prairie de la Folie.
It's true that there are hardly any markers, but that's where the Visorando app comes in handy: no need for markers.

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Date of your route : Apr 01, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hike undertaken in difficult weather conditions, but still a real pleasure to walk in these surroundings. The presence of snow does not make it easy to find the trails.
I sometimes hesitated over certain descriptions of the route.

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Date of your route : Jun 29, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

There is a lack of signposting or signage at the Aliénard pass...otherwise very good...varied between forests and mountain pastures.

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Date of your route : Apr 08, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Really very good. We did most of it in crampons in the snow. The only tricky part was having to make our own trail to get to the Col d'Allienard, but it was so beautiful.

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Date of your route : Sep 10, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful hike that starts with an uphill climb but then winds through the Cartusian forest. Partly shaded, with views from various passes. Two possible routes for the return journey, one of which is steep and very stony. No particular technical difficulties.

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Hello and thank you for this important comment.
I have added to the description that you should leave the GRP at Tracol, which is not actually mentioned on the ground but whose junction is particularly visible.
The pink line (between 2 and 6) is due to the IGN highlighting and clearly specifies that this section is part of the GR.
Enjoy the rest of the site and happy hiking!

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Date of your route : Jun 11, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Small issue with "point 2" in the description. (Tracol not clearly marked on site). The "pink" line on the map between points 2 and 6 is confusing (better to remove it). Otherwise, a very nice parish specific to Brittany walk...

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Date of your route : Sep 27, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Done on the same day as the climb up Petit Som in a frenzy of kilometres and elevation gain that we'll surely pay for tomorrow!

Overall, a beautiful hike, done backwards by mistake.
A mistake not to be repeated between Habert de Billon and Col de l'Aliénard, as the climb is endless and the slope unpleasant. We met a group going in the right direction, who had had a much easier start than us, even though the climb before Tracol is also quite steep.
On this long section (Tracol to Habert de Billon via Aliénard), we didn't see any markings, but it was possible to follow a sort of path, which became a forest track, then a quad bike track and finally a normal path.

Beautiful view from the Col de la Ruchère.
Thanks to the hiker.

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NOT YET DONE

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Date of your route : Oct 29, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : Not used / Not applicable
Route interest : Not used / Not applicable

Very pleasant hike with autumn colours, no particular difficulty. No orientation problems either with the app.

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Date of your route : Aug 20, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Very beautiful hike
A minor issue with the direction to the Col de l'Aliénard! And when we arrived at the meadow to descend to the pass, it was difficult to see the path, so we just guessed our way!

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Date of your route : Jul 19, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

I had to change the route because access to the Aliénard Pass is closed for forestry work until mid-August.
At the end of the trail (point 1), I followed a steep path to reach the return route before point 6. Then I did the route in the opposite direction. Then I cut back towards the tracol to reach the return route to Le Cleylat (+727m and 9.9 km).
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Thank you, jfhiajb@viso
As bibi said above, we ask our hike authors to describe the route to be followed in detail so that there is no need to follow markings.

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Date of your route : May 24, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Please note that the Alienard Pass is not marked, whereas the GRP is clearly marked. As a result, I missed the fork at point 2 of the route and continued on the GRP.
I ended up walking a figure-of-eight route. On your map, I did: S/E, 1, 2, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 6, 7, S/E.
Note that the Alienard pass is no more signposted at point 4 than at point 2.

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