Discovery trails in Les Écouges

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This hike is not too difficult and takes you through a variety of landscapes. Discover a very old Carthusian church, sharp limestone pavement, magnificent ferns, vertiginous cliffs and unlikely mill ruins.

Details

n°31589750
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 9.25 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 30 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 307 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 307 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 1,099 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 887 m
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Photos

Ruins of a mill
Grésivaudan Valley
"Lapiaz" route
Tuf Waterfall

Description of the walk

Departure from the Pont Chabert car park.

(S/E) Follow the signs for Route des Chartreux. From the start, the slope is steep on the right. Enter the forest and stay on this path until you reach a meadow where you will find the Chartreux Church, which is unusual in this area.

(1) Walk around it, return to the entrance of the meadow and take the path on the right to reach the tufa waterfall, which is quite wide with its two arms.

(2) Continue down the path and climb up the other side of the stream. Stay on this yellow-marked path until you reach a forest track.

(3) At the La Scie signpost, keep right on this wide path, following the signs until you reach a fork (elevation 979).

(4) Descend for about 80 metres and turn right onto the Sentier découverte du sharp limestone pavement, which runs alongside the main path through the forest. Return to the main path.

(5) Continue straight ahead for about 150 m until you reach a path on the right.

(6) Take the Sentier Découverte des Fougères (Fern Discovery Trail) on the right. Follow it through the forest until you reach the wide forest path at a crossroads.

(7) Follow it straight ahead towards Le Rivet.

(8) At Le Rivet, walk past the chapel and continue towards the Belvédère du Rivet, which offers an impressive view of the Grésivaudan Valley.

(9) Take the same route back. The pond is teeming with life, so take a moment to admire its biodiversity. On the way back, take in the cliffs on the right with their waterfalls.
Caution: danger. Reach the Pré Berger crossroads.

(7) Keep right on the main path and reach a fork you passed on the way there.

(6) Continue along the path in the opposite direction to the outward journey and you will come to another fork that you also passed on the way out (elevation 979).

(4) Continue straight ahead for 300 metres, still on the main path, until you reach a left-hand bend.

(10) Then follow the Sentier Découverte des Roues (Wheel Discovery Trail) to the right, which passes by the ruins of a mill and its wheel. The trail descends steeply, so take care. You will rejoin the main path a little further down.

(3) Continue along it on the right, descending and following the stream on the right bank to reach the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 888 m - Pont Chabert car park
  2. 1 : km 0.44 - alt. 976 m - Chartreux Church
  3. 2 : km 0.71 - alt. 966 m - Tuf Waterfall
  4. 3 : km 1.42 - alt. 925 m - La Scie 920m. 1st fork A/R
  5. 4 : km 2.15 - alt. 985 m - Sharp limestone pavement trail. 2nd fork. Return trip.
  6. 5 : km 2.8 - alt. 1,001 m - Trail/path intersection. 3rd fork. Round trip.
  7. 6 : km 2.93 - alt. 1,004 m - Intersection of path and trail. 4th fork. Return trip.
  8. 7 : km 4.34 - alt. 1,084 m - Trail/path intersection. 5th fork. Round trip. - Versoud (cours d'eau) - Affluent de l'Isère
  9. 8 : km 5.15 - alt. 1,093 m - Le Rivet. Turn off at the viewpoint.
  10. 9 : km 5.29 - alt. 1,077 m - Rivet viewpoint
  11. 10 : km 8.3 - alt. 977 m - Route des Roues
  12. S/E : km 9.25 - alt. 887 m - Pont Chabert car park

Notes

Depending on the season, there is no shortage of water, but you will need to filter or purify it.
At Le Rivet, there is a shelter where you can take refuge in case of bad weather.
Visits to old millstone quarries are possible.

Worth a visit

There is a large waterfall on the access road to the car park going up from Saint-Gervais. At the tunnel exit, just before the Pont Chabert car park, take a moment to admire the canyon.

Reviews and comments

4.7 / 5
Based on 7 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.6 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.6 / 5
Route interest
4.9 / 5
User 1739537

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 30, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very shady walk, perfect for a day when the temperature reaches 30°C. Don't hesitate to leave the track to explore the discovery trails in the forest.

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Louis Aussedat
Louis Aussedat

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 21, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Access to the departure car park was difficult because the road via St Gervais was closed according to the GPS. MAPS. We therefore went via the plateau, Villard de Lans and Rencurel, which took considerably longer (+1/2 hour). This information was in fact incorrect, as we were able to verify on our return:
Otherwise, good description and we enjoyed the return journey, with unusually high temperatures for the season.

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Marc0Polo
Marc0Polo

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 25, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Route completed in the rain in August 2023, at 50%.

A very pleasant, fairly easy route with some fairly steep but short climbs. The Chartreuse trail starts right at the car park. The ruins are sheltered under a roof (see the Wikipedia article). There is also a beautiful waterfall, the ruins of a mill, nature trails, etc. Everything is well laid out and explained. Please note that the Molières lodge only accepts guests with reservations and does not provide shelter from the rain, unlike the one located in the Chabert Bridge car park.

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ninilu
ninilu

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 02, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Frequented on the track but not on the beautiful parallel paths.
Stay on the car park to find the Chartreux trail.
Stay on the paths parallel to the track (we mistakenly climbed up to Pas de la Porte. It was a good climb, but well worth it!). These parallel paths are so beautiful that we took them on the way back.
A very beautiful and refreshing hike.

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Ange Heureux
Ange Heureux

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 13, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Great hike. I knew the route from the Écouges car park to Le Rivet, but not the four other trails, which are well shaded and pleasant to walk in August. In my opinion, it's better to walk them "uphill" because it adds some elevation gain!
Before setting off on the fern trail, don't forget to go up and see the millstone quarry.
In short, it's an easy hike with beautiful paths and not too many people for a Sunday in August.
Thank you!

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christianmarche
christianmarche

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 03, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

In fact, there are four discovery trails: "l'ancienne chartreuse" (the old monastery), "la Scie" (the saw), "les sharp limestone pavements"* (the limestone pavements) and "les fougères" (the ferns), on either side of the forest track. They are well signposted and documented, but not shown on IGN maps. Do them on the way up, returning via the track. This allows you to make short circular loops without extending the outward/return journey to the Rivet viewpoint too much.

  • I didn't do the sharp limestone pavement (another time).

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MIMINE 38
MIMINE 38

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 17, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

The route is very well described.
At the "sharp limestone pavement trail", we did not turn after 80 metres because there was no sign or indication to turn right... (the guards we met at the Rivet farm were going to put up a sign in the next few days). As the main path climbed up in front of us, we followed it to the Porte pass... and then descended to find the main path again.
At an altitude of 995 metres, where a forest road branches off to the right to reach the Ecouges lodge, take this road for 200 metres to admire the site where millstones were extracted for the mills.
That day, there was thick fog and a "whiteout" at the Rivet viewpoint!
Worth doing again as it's a very varied route!

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