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Car park opposite number 60 Grande Rue in Sault-Brenaz (be careful not to block the fire brigade exit).
(S/E) Cross the pedestrian crossing opposite the car park and turn right, between the cul-de-sac and the Grand Rue, onto the pedestrian walkway. Continue straight ahead at the next two crossroads.
(1) Atthe third crossroads, leave the pedestrian alleyway and take the street on the left towards the HLM housing estate, then head towards the La Péralle housing estate. Follow the signs for "Théâtre Romain" (Roman Theatre) and take the small road to the small car park with the last sign for "Théâtre Romain".
(2) Follow the path on the right to visit the Colombier archaeological site.
Once you have finished your visit, retrace your steps back to the small car park. Take the small path on the right. At the first crossroads, continue to the right. At the hut, continue straight ahead until you reach the intersection.
(3) At the intersection, take the path on the right that descends to the Nérivent stream. Ford the stream and walk south to the next crossroads.
(4) Turn left at the hairpin bend. At the next intersection, continue straight ahead. When you reach the village of Bouis, continue straight ahead on the small tarmac road. Join Rue des Deux Fontaines (D60) at a crossroads near a cross.
(5) Turn right towards the centre of the village. At the fountain, leave Rue des Deux Fontaines and keep left on the D60 towards Villebois, until you reach the pretty wash house on your left.
(6) Just before the wash house, on the left, take the small Rue du Château which climbs up to the castle ruins. Continue along the stony path that runs alongside the ruins. Leave the two paths on your right and continue to the hairpin bend to the left. Cross the stream and, at the end of the bend to the right, a little further on, you will come to a crossroads.
(7) Leave the main path and take the small path on the left (signposted "Pas de la Mulette" on the post). Follow the red and green markings. This path has a few tricky and even dizzying sections, then becomes a gravel path marked in red and green. At the crossroads, take the small tarmac road on the left to the entrance to Soudon.
(8) Take the first path on the right (marked in yellow) and keep left at the next crossroads just after the car wreck. Initially heading east, the path gradually turns north and the slope becomes steeper. About 100 m after a sharp right turn, at the crossroads, keep left and continue climbing south-east to the Croix de Grassonnet, where there is a magnificent view.
(9) Continue along this path eastwards until you reach a crossroads and turn right. At the next crossroads, at the sign for "Creux Payet", take the path down to the right. Stop for a moment a little further down at the viewpoint on your right.
(10) Return to the path and, a little further on, ignore the path on the left at the crossroads and continue straight on westwards until you reach another crossroads. Turn left towards Grange de Mignaval. Continue along the path on your right. You will reach the next crossroads just before a right-hand bend.
(11) Leave the path and take the small trail immediately to the left (signposted "Les Tuffières 15 minutes") marked in yellow and blue. When you reach the three-way junction, stay on the path to the left marked in yellow and blue. A little further on, on the right, admire the ruins of a tuff stone hut. 30 metres after this, take the small path on the right that climbs a small hill (marked in yellow and blue). You will arrive at the old tuff quarries that were once worked. On the left, a small path leads to the Tuff Waterfalls.
(12). Retrace your steps and continue along the path on the left that runs alongside the tuff quarries. Turn left at the next crossroads (yellow and blue markings). Ford the Crot au Gay stream and continue for a few dozen metres along the stream until you reach the crossroads.
(13) On the right, a small path leads to a pretty waterfall and its natural jacuzzi, then a little further on to the Trou du Curé and the Rhéby Canyon (slippery in wet weather). Retrace your steps.
(13) Continue to the right. Ford the Rhéby stream and continue to the right along the yellow and blue marked trail. At the crossroads, take the gravel path to the right. It heads south after a wide left turn and reaches a crossroads.
(14) At the crossroads, take the leftmost path (old stone trough). Close to the rock formations known as Demoiselles de Villebois, after several hundred metres, a small, barely visible path branches off to your right.
(15) Take this path. At the next crossroads with the other path, turn right. When you reach the crossroads with the gravel path, turn right and then immediately left onto the path that runs alongside the vineyards and leads to the village of Villebois.
(16) Descend into the town via Rue du Quartier Latin, then take Rue du Perron opposite. Cross the roundabout and take Chemin du Boulodrome, then turn right onto Traverse des Meules. Walk along the wall of a property and turn right. Go straight ahead at the next crossroads. You will arrive at a crossroads near the statue of the Virgin Mary.
(17) Turn left onto the path. Continue straight ahead at the next three crossroads until you reach the next crossroads.
(18) Leave the main path and take the small path on the left. When you reach the back of the Sault-Brenaz marble workshop, turn right and continue straight ahead until you reach the footpath you took at the start and return to the car park (S/E).
Magnificent hike completed on 29/07/25; some steep sections could be tricky in wet or rainy weather; beautiful views of the Rhône; numerous sections through forest, which are very pleasant in summer. The directional signs have been removed on the last part of the hike; (route shifted from the terrain, probably explained by the loss of GPS data in the partly enclosed section). We did the hike in summer and the various river crossings were not a problem for us.
Visorando member
Difficult 
Easy 
