Bayard Plateau fitness trail

On the A85 between Gap and Grenoble, park at the Gap Bayard Golf Club (oxygénation centre).
A free shuttle bus runs between Gap and Bayard every summer (route 73) and every winter (route 75).

(S/E) From the car park, take the path southwards for about 250 m, following the fitness trail arrows, until you reach the first junction.

(1) Turn onto the path leading uphill to the left and continue to follow the fitness trail markings, heading east, until you reach a Fork in the road.

(2) Turn left (north) until you reach a multi-way junction and a track (elevation 1258).

(3) Turn right and follow the track eastwards. It gradually turns south-east and passes close to a pond. About 300 m further on, the track turns sharply south. Follow it for several hundred metres until, at a right-hand bend, you reach the start of a path. Possible alternative route: see “During the walk or nearby”.

(4) Take the small footpath that heads straight on and joins another track.

(5) On the track, head down towards the south-east for about 200 m until you reach a junction. Alternative route: see “During the walk or nearby”.

(6) Leave the path on your left and continue along the fitness trail on your right until the next junction.

(7) Continue along the fitness trail to the right, heading north-west. The track skirts the Gap-Chaudun State Forest to the north and reaches a junction (elevation 1273).

(8) Carry on straight ahead; the track climbs northwards for nearly 1 km and then, after a left-hand bend, reaches a junction.

(9) Follow the track to the right, heading north again, until you reach the junction you passed on the way out.

(1) Carry on straight ahead in the opposite direction to the outward journey to return to the golf course car park (S/E).

Do not stray from the course; the Bayard plateau is also a golf course.

Shorter alternative:
(4), continue along the track to the right heading west. It continues as a path (still heading west) until it rejoins the fitness trail shortly afterwards between (8) and (9) (estimated total time: 1 hour 45 minutes – 50 m elevation gain).

Longer alternative routes:
(6) Turn left onto the lovely signposted path which crosses the Buzon torrent, then leads to the hamlet of Pauchon. Continue along the path, veering slightly to the right, to go round the lower part of Pauchon. Join a small road leading to the Drac Canal, then follow the canal to the right. Cross the small Route des Furons, then cross the Buzon torrent again. At the junction, leave the canal and turn sharply right (towards the back) onto the path heading due north. Walk through the forest to join the fitness trail at point (7) (estimated total time: 3h30 – 190 m elevation gain).
- Extend the above alternative route by continuing along the canal to the Manes nature reserve (rather than heading back up the path). A few metres past the reserve, take a path that climbs northwards and joins the fitness trail at the golf course at point (8) (Bayard plateau). Follow it for 2 km back to the car park at the start (estimated total time: 3h30 – 180 m elevation gain).