Tour de Charminelle

Park in the car park at Pommiers la Placette church.

Follow the yellow-marked signposts ( No. 6).

(S/E) Walk past the church and take the road on the left. At the crossroads, continue straight on, first along a stretch of road and then along a path that climbs steeply and joins the road leading to the hamlet of Pallachère, which you take on the right.

(1) The road turns into a track; follow this, ignoring the path branches to the right. On the climb, you will reach a ruined barn to the left of the track, known as the “Maquis Palace” during the^Second World War.

(2) Continue on to reach a path junction.

(3) Ignore the path on the left and continue to a new junction.

(4) Take the path on the right, then quickly turn left onto the path that climbs steeply to reach the cliffs of the Pas de l’Aronde.

(5) Carefully follow the path along the cliff and its sheer drops to reach the edge of the Charminelle plateau. Avoid this area in wet or snowy weather, and especially when descending.

(6) Take a detour to the Charminelle viewpoint for a welcome break and admire the panoramic view over the Col de la Placette and the Grand Ratz plateau. Continue up a gentler slope, ignoring the forest paths you cross, to reach the Charminelle plateau.

(7) Turn left onto a grassy path that starts in the forest and then opens out onto the Charminelle meadow, leading to a crossroads of paths at the highest point of the hike.

(8) Take the path down to the right which leads to the Charminelle stream.

(9) Cross it to reach the left bank, where you’ll find a wide path to follow for about 150 m before leaving it to take a path on the right. The path will soon require you to cross the stream again, following it alongside, and then cross it once more at a beautiful waterfall to reach Les Gourhauts, the Roize Gorges.

(10) Cross the Roize and climb up along a cliff face equipped with cables, with the Roize below.
The path continues its ascent through a beautiful forest to reach the Roize forest shelter.

(11) Do not take the forest track, but turn right onto the path that leads into the forest at the boundary between the state-owned and communal woodlands and rejoins a forest track. Follow it to a junction, where you turn right to emerge near the Route de Chalais at the Lacordaire statue.

(12) Do not take the road, but take the path running alongside it to the right; cross the road further down to take the path opposite and cross it again. Follow the path that led to Chalais before the road was built in the 1950s. Reach the Bouzonnière junction.

(13) Turn right towards Gerboudière, then at the next junction turn right towards Fond de Roize.

(14) Ford the Roize to reach Préfanton. Follow the road through the hamlets of l’Ancienne Église and le Buissert, which leads back to the church car park (S/E).

(8) Spring 200 m below
(11) Roize shelter open, overnight accommodation
(12) Water, toilets, biscuits available at Chalais Monastery

You hike at your own risk.

Before setting off:

Check the weather forecast Do not hike in bad weather, nor the day after such conditions (wind, rain, snow);

bear in mind that higher up, some sections will be snow-covered, so do not go there.

Know when to turn back

Emergency services: 112

(2) Le Maquis Palace, a camp set up by André Demirleau which, in the spring of 1943, took in STO draft dodgers sent to him by Abbé Grouès (the future Abbé Pierre), who would later join resistance groups.
(7) The Charminelle meadow, formerly a grazing area, covered with flowers in season (aster, martagon lily, etc.)
(10) Les Gourhauts, gorges framed by the Cirque de la Roize, the torrent’s catchment area. This is an area of torrential erosion. Upstream, stone dams were built as early as the 19th century to mitigate erosion.
(12) Statue of Father Lacordaire, erected in 1939, a Dominican prior at the monastery of Chalais in the^mid-19th century.

Visit the Corepha association’s website to learn more about the heritage and history of the commune of Voreppe.