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Start from the Laboule stopover lodge next to the church.
(S/E) Behind the church, you will see a cube-shaped glass house above you to the north. The trail starts just below this cube. You can also take the stairs from the community hall and continue along the road. Cross the road above and then, at the Granges trail junction, take the trail 10 metres before the glass cube and follow the yellow and white marked mule track. The climb is steady.
(1) After the Granges trail junction, take the trail that descends steeply to join the road at the bridge, descend and cross the hamlet of Les Abriges, continue to the hamlet of Le Serre on the main road until you reach the bridge over the Coucouru stream.
Leave the D124 road on the right after the bridge and take the Champ Blanc forest track (DFCI) towards Valgorge.
(2) At the first fork, take the left branch, do not go up to Coucouru. At the next fork 200 metres further on, turn right to reach the hamlet of L'Estrade.
(3) In the hamlet car park, take the small road uphill at the corner of the garage, then turn left and follow the road to Fraysse. Continue straight ahead, pass Mazel, ignore the first road on the right and then the second on the left, and you will arrive at a three-way junction. From Fraysse, the Valgorge sports facilities will guide you to the next hamlet. Follow the white and yellow markers.
(4) Concrete ford on the Rieu Pourchier stream and wooden ford on the Tanarguier stream (beehives).
Go slightly downhill, following the path to an intersection marked by an FDRP signpost, then take the Chalas-Loubaresse road.
Walk 50 metres along the tarmac road or cross the small road and follow the path between the houses.
(5) Turn right, cross the paved slanting street lined with large chestnut trees and rejoin the trail marked Sentier des Ferjasses (yellow and white markings).
(6) Leave the road, turn left and then right at the fork immediately after. The pace of the walk now becomes steady on this pleasant path used by herds to climb up to their summer pastures.
(7) Cross a renovated plank walkway and continue along the trail.
(8) Cross another renovated plank walkway and continue along the trail, which winds gently upwards in large, almost flat switchbacks.
After crossing a plank that serves as a footbridge, you will reach the highest point of Les Ferjasses.
(9) Leave the path leading to the Sommet de Méjan on your left (see Practical Information).
(10) At the track, turn right to reach an old yellow and white signpost marking the start of the descent of the Granges trail. This is not very easy to find, especially as there are many removable sheep fences along the trail.
(11) From here, begin the long descent down the Sentier des Granges to Laboule.
It takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes to reach the village. Don't forget to look up from time to time, as the view is unbeatable all along the way.
The descent alternates between passages through "fayards" (beech forests), ancient white oak forests, hazel woods and stream crossings. Every quarter of an hour, you will pass a barn in varying states of ruin, leaving you wondering what life was like for the farmers who once lived here.
Return to the fork at the start of the hike, where the path approaches the D124. Continue straight ahead and follow the path to Laboule (S/E).
Visorando member
Moderate 
Easy 
Very difficult 
