Summit of Montgelas and Croix de Chignin

Date of your route : Apr 19, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

There are a few tricky sections on the way back after point 6.

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Date of your route : Nov 12, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

On a day like this, fairly sunny but during a very wet period with already quite a lot of snow at relatively low altitudes, this is a beautiful route that remains very accessible. However, in such conditions, you should use the excellent (and marked) path that joins the ridge at point 3 directly from the hamlet of Montgelas via Roc Blanc, as indicated above by FDG38410. The route described in the guidebook was barely passable at the top of Bois de la Mègne because it was extremely slippery and steep.

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Date of your route : Apr 10, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Nice suggestion.
Beautiful views of numerous mountain ranges and a lovely glimpse of Lake La Thuile. Enjoyable picnic at the summit of Montgelas.
The description of moderate difficulty is a little misleading, as the percentage of ascent and descent are actually quite steep, and my GPS shows a distance of 11.2 km and an elevation gain of 820 m. Everything is relative.
So it's best to be in good shape.
Many thanks to the author, we really enjoyed it.

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Date of your route : Sep 11, 2022
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : Not used / Not applicable
Very busy route : No

Did not complete this route. Delete this message.

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Date of your route : May 16, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful hike with very interesting views. We went as far as Roc and Croix de Tormery and returned via the Hermit's Cave route.
Two comments:
1- Regarding the car park:
Three cars can (reasonably) be parked in the hairpin bend. No more.
As indicated in the information sheet, there is no car park in the hamlet of Montgelas. However, at the top of the tarmac road leading up to the hamlet, in the forest section, at the "Montgelas" sign, there is a widening in the road with space for two cars to park.
2- There is a lot of road noise (in addition to the noise from the railway line at Montmélian) between points 2 and 7 whenever the path is on the western side of the ridge. But when the path is on the "right side", you can enjoy the birdsong.

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Date of your route : May 02, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

As we did this during the week, we didn't meet anyone on the trail. We followed the trail to Croix de Chignin. The noise coming up from the valley was very noticeable, so we decided to return via the uphill path. On this occasion, we noticed that there is another trail leading off to the left in Montgelas, just after the house marked "risque de glissade" (slip hazard). In dry weather, they are equivalent. When the ground is wet, the GPX trail seems steep and slippery to us.

Otherwise, there is a magnificent view of Belledonne all the way to Mont Blanc.

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Date of your route : Aug 12, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Good evening, two little-known peaks near my home that I really enjoyed (took a bit of searching to find the start...) Thank you.

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Date of your route : Aug 15, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Started from Fornet, which added 2 km and 200 m of elevation gain. Quite often in the shade, which was pleasant. Met one person!

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Date of your route : May 27, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

On the day of our hike, there were more people than we had anticipated, which caused parking problems. We finally set off from the hamlet of Vernay, where we found a small spot near an old oven. From this hamlet, a path through the meadows (in bloom!) allowed us to rejoin the original route at the hairpin bend in the road. A very pretty, varied hike with two beautiful panoramic views at the summit of Montgelas and at the Chignin cross. Note that the last part before reaching the ridge is very steep and can be slippery in wet weather. The rest of the hike is on a very pleasant path with almost no stones. As pleasant as La Galoppaz and less crowded.

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