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Park in the car park 200 m west of Sainte-Catherine church on the D2.
(S/E) Walk to the car park and turn right (south-east) onto theGR®7, which follows the D126 for about 200 m before turning right and crossing the Route du Chatelard twice. The second time, leave theGR®7 and take this road on the left for 200 m.
(1) Take the path on the left (marked in red) which descends into the forest.
(2) At the altitude of 670, turn right onto a level path which then climbs back up to join theGR®7 (815 m), which you take to the left (west) for 100 m.
(3) Take a path on the left that descends, then turn right (774 m) to climb back up and rejoin theGR® 7, which you follow to the left for 800 m (road) or, to shorten the route, continue straight ahead.
(4) Leave theGR® 7 and turn left onto a ridge path (PR®) until you reach thefirst crossroads.
(5) Turn right and take the path opposite that crosses theGR®, heading first north-west then due north, crossing a small road then the D97, passing close to Crêt Malherbe and descending again.
(6) Turn right onto the small road that crosses Les Loives and continue straight ahead on the path that joins L'Aubépin, which you cross.
(7) At the exit, turn right and pass the cemetery, where you turn left and then right about 150 metres further on.
(8) Take the small road that climbs to the left (north-west) and quickly turn right onto a path that climbs to the Chapelle Saint-Pierre and then descends.
(9) At a cross, turn right onto a small road, which you leave at a hairpin bend.
(10) Turn right onto a path that leads to the farms of La Combe. Cross the road and then leave it to descend to the right (south-east) via a path that leads to the D63. Take this road to the left for 100 metres.
(11) Turn right onto the road that crosses the Coise at Moulin Bénière, then climb for 500 m.
(12) Turn left onto a path that climbs eastwards, then turns right at a 90° angle and crosses Le Sapin to join another path.
(13) Take it on the left to descend straight down to Sainte-Catherine and the car park (S/E).
. Apart from a few passages through the woods, which were rather dreary at this time of year, we often had generous views. There were no other hikers at this time of year. The countryside must be more bucolic in spring. In fact, the interest of the hike lay in using a map and compass to find our way and not get lost among all the changes in the trails. Be careful at point 10, I was tempted by a pleasant path that went downhill (of course) and it wasn't the right one, but luckily it ended after 200 metres. The route is also quite strenuous, there are some gradients that I wouldn't like to do in strong sunshine. Views of Pilat, views of the Alps, views of the Lyon hinterland... All in all, a rather nice hike, even if I prefer less populated areas.
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Visorando member
Moderate 
Easy 
