Malleval-en-Vercors – Rencurel (Les Rimets)

If you arrive in Malleval by car, you can park opposite the church.

(S/E) The route begins along the cemetery wall towards “L’Evèque” (there is a signpost). There, you join a small tarmac road which you quickly leave on the left (1).

(1) After a good kilometre, you arrive at the ruins at Chez Rochas.

(2) We continue along the red and yellow marked trail and return to the small tarmac road we left earlier. We take it to the left (north-west) to reach Les Bachieux.

(3) After Les Bachieux, we turn right to climb up to the Col de Neurre.

(4) Halfway up the pass, we turn right at a 90° angle towards the south. We follow the mountain to the east and, about 400 m further on, we reach the “Souffle Bise” junction. The signpost has been removed.

(5). Take the path on the left, which has been widened considerably by logging operations. Follow this path to climb the steepest section of the entire Tour des Coulmes (it’s still quite manageable!)
Signposting is fairly sparse but there is no ambiguity, until we reach a fork (more or less the only one), where the sign indicating to take the left-hand branch is situated after the fork, which can be a little disorienting.

We arrive at the “Pas du Follet”, 1,351m, the highest point of the Tour des Coulmes (or almost… in reality, it’s just a little further on at 1,361m).

(6) We turn left onto the red and yellow marked path, ignoring the path opposite marked green and yellow. Very soon, we begin a steady descent through the woodland, still following the red and yellow markings, until we reach a small tarmac road.

(7) This is “La Cantine”. Please note! For those following the 1:25,000 IGN map, it indicates that for the Tour des Coulmes, you should take the road on the left. However, you should now take the path opposite, as indicated by the markings (this is better, as it avoids walking along the bend amidst the traffic).
Continue along this path following the red and yellow markings (watch out for the green and yellow markings you’ll find at a junction).

A little further on, a shepherd, exasperated by the gates left open, forces us to go round his meadow (Grotte des Fromages, where there is a cheese dairy). A little further on, you must leave the small road to take a path on the right. There are no obvious markings.

You will return to the small road at the 1056m altitude, which will take you to the hamlet of “Les Rimets”, the end point of this stage (S/E).

For those wishing to go to the Rimets Lodge, continue a little further along the road. It is 300 metres further on.

The route is signposted in yellow and red, just like the three stages of the Tour des Coulmes.
There are numerous signs at the junctions.
At the time of writing, a sign has clearly been removed after the Col de Neurre at a place called "Souffle Bise". There, you must turn left, towards the mountain.

The village of Malleval-en-Vercors
The fossilised valley and its discovery trail at Les Rimets.
The magnificent Coulmes Forest.