Combeau Valley

A remarkable family walk in the southern part of the Hauts Plateaux du Vercors Nature Reserve.
Vast lawns on the plateau and views of the Trièves and Mont Aiguille, the foothills of the Oisans and the Dévoluy.

Details

7833
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 7.03 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 45 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 257 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 257 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 1,710 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 1,456 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Car park near the Fontaine des Prêtres.

(S/E) From the car park (not very large), walk past the picnic table, head towards the stream and take a small path that climbs between grassy areas and woods.

(1) At the edge of the woods, join a track that leads to a stud farm, climbing to the right. This is where the track ends.

(2) Take a path that climbs up to the right along a fence and continue along a grassy path, which is not necessarily very well marked, and follow the cairns.

(3) Pass the Cabane de l'Essaure hut on your left, then continue across the rolling hills to the ridge (Pas de l'Essaure), passing a few water sources along the way.

(4) At Pas de l'Essaure, continue left on the well-marked path until you reach a hillock, which is the return point.
View of the Trieves and Mont Aiguille.

(5) Descend via the same route.

(6) If necessary, cross the meadows as indicated on the map and rejoin the track.

(1) Continue along the track to the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 1,459 m - Parking near the - Fontaine des Prêtres (Treschenu-Creyers)
  2. 1 : km 0.77 - alt. 1,555 m - Leaving the woods
  3. 2 : km 1.4 - alt. 1,606 m - Stud farm
  4. 3 : km 2.02 - alt. 1,651 m - Cabane de l'Essaure (1653m)
  5. 4 : km 2.79 - alt. 1,646 m - Pas de l'Essaure (1654m)
  6. 5 : km 3.47 - alt. 1,696 m - Return point
  7. 6 : km 3.86 - alt. 1,688 m - Meadows
  8. S/E : km 7.03 - alt. 1,456 m - Car park near the Fontaine des Prêtres

Notes

Access by car:
From Chatillon-en-Diois, take the Col de Menée road.
After Les Nonières, turn left at a hairpin bend with a large sign for 'Vallon de Combeau'. Continue along a narrow road to the end of the road, passing the Auberge de Combeau. Car park.
Despite warnings about the dangerous road, there is no particular cause for concern (don't be afraid of the dizzying views at Rocher de Combeau) - superb views.

As a reminder, the regulations of the Hauts-Plateaux du Vercors Nature Reserve impose the following main prohibitions:
- Dogs are not permitted, even on a leash.
- Flying is prohibited within 300 metres (i.e. drones and paragliders are prohibited).
- No fires.
- Deliberately disturbing wildlife is prohibited (be careful not to disturb marmots and ibex, among others!).
- Picking is prohibited.
- Camping is prohibited, but bivouacking is permitted from 5 p.m. to 9 a.m.
- Littering is prohibited (including in the shelters, which are open to all!).
These strict regulations are necessary to protect the species and environments that inhabit this wild and unspoilt territory!

This route passes through a protected area, which may be subject to special regulations:

Worth a visit

Archiane.

Reviews and comments

4.7 / 5
Based on 52 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.7 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.7 / 5
Route interest
4.9 / 5
SebPi
SebPi

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 02, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A lovely walk with children, accessible and interesting if you have the patience to watch for marmots 👍

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User 27421580

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 24, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Magnificent landscape, 360-degree panorama. Very pleasant parish-specific to Brittany family hike with marmot sightings

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Gay Paul
Gay Paul

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 16, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Lack of signage on the circuit or hidden signage

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Vero55
Vero55
• Edited:

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 09, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Magnificent valley with spectacular views of Mont Aiguille, Grand Veymont and Dévoluy
Marred yesterday by fog from incidents in Canada ☺️ marmots (when walkers don't make too much noise) exceptional flora at this time of year
Very frequent with VERY noisy groups...🤨 What a shame... The mountains deserve respect...

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Michel URBIN
Michel URBIN

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 05, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A very pleasant, easy walk in the mountain pastures with a view from the belvedere at the top of a pass.

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schnogeloch
schnogeloch

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 09, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Magnificent views at the finish, after an easy ride.
But... a lot of people, especially at the start.

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bruno92160
bruno92160

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 25, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A beautiful walk along the valley and in the mountain pastures, with exceptional views of the Vercors high plateaux and Mont Aiguille, and even the Trièves. An easy hike in the mountain pastures, suitable for a family. It's well-populated, but you can follow many of the paths in the mountain pastures, so it's easy to come across some beautiful marmots, which seem to thrive in this environment.

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Stéphanie01
Stéphanie01

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 19, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A magnificent walk that's easy enough for non-athletes, with superb views and guaranteed relaxation.

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B SANCHEZ
B SANCHEZ

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 03, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

a soothing place
the space that opens up before you as you leave the forest is immense and the view as you arrive on the ridges is fabulous!

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Domi95
Domi95

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 09, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Magnificent walk in the Combeau valley.
Out of season and setting off relatively early in the morning, we didn't meet many people.
The route is easy to follow, except at one point after the farm where there is a path that rises slightly to the right and a grassy plain to the left, which is the path to follow, but perhaps the 2 meet?
Once you reach the top, the panorama of Mont Aiguille is splendid.
There are no technical difficulties, and this trail is accessible to anyone in reasonable physical condition.

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Cath et Daniel
Cath et Daniel
• Edited:

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 08, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We didn't know the area, so we appreciated the detail in the description. It's impossible to make a mistake!
Thank you very much.

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jean luc hamonet
jean luc hamonet

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 02, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Walk made on Wednesday 27 July 2022.
To reach the Vallon de Combeau site, a narrow road with no embankments runs for about 6 km to the small Combeau inn. You can pass a car without too much trouble. After the inn, there is a car park with around 40 spaces, and that day there were around thirty cars parked there. My wife and I started the walk (at around 9.30am) by making a mistake: there are two picnic tables and from the first table we turned right onto a small path that climbs between grassy areas and woods. As the slope steepened, we realised that there had been a mistake, but we decided to finish the climb towards the ridge. After half an hour of slightly steep climbing, we reach the ridge (1620m) near the Tête de Praorzel. Here we have a breathtaking view of Mont Aiguille and are immediately flown over by three vultures. On the ridge we find a well-marked path that we take to the left towards the Pas de l'Essaure. We pass a couple of hikers returning from a bivouac who confirm that this path leads to the Pas de l'Essaure along the ridge. The path is marked by patches of pink paint (a little faded) on the stones. After an hour and a half we came across a marmot and reached the Pas de l'Essaure. After a picnic, we took the trail back down (we returned around 2pm). Thank you for a lovely hike.

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Fabol
Fabol

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 07, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : Not used / Not applicable
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Magnificent hike, with great views.

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JJ57
JJ57

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 23, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A very nice walk with no major difficulties.
The scenery was magnificent, with the occasional bit of snow.
The ibex were also present.

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clerbern
clerbern
• Edited:

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 10, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

The magnificent views of Mont Aiguille, Chichiliane and the snow-covered Alps in the distance were well worth the effort!
A lovely walk with no difficulties, suitable for all ages;

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