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Start after the Col de Gaudissart, turning left onto a straight stretch of road before the viewpoint and the access to the road carved into the cliffs.
(S/E) Follow the road southwards along the cliff face, leaning out or not, to admire the 600-metre drop, depending on whether or not you suffer from vertigo: thrills guaranteed! The route ends with a passage through the Tunnel des Moines, which leads to the Col de La Machine.
(1) Continue along the D76 and, at the junction, take the road on the right for about fifty metres.
(2) Leave the road and turn right onto theGR®9(red and white markings), which climbs through the forest to some ruins on the left at Miroflée.
(3) At the ruins, follow the path to the left and you will come to a tarmac road.
(4) Follow this road to the left for just a few dozen metres, then turn right onto the Serre des Autarets forest track.
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(5) On a flat section of this track, take a narrow path on the left which descends and leads to a wide track known as the Eygazières.
(6) Take this descending path which, via a wide circular loop to the left, leads to the village of Lente. Note the forest houses, the view over the valley and, in the background, the Serre de Montué.
(7) Turn back along the same path. You will find yourself facing the descending path you came up on.
(6) This time, follow the path to the left. Join a track coming from the right and continue straight on. 350m further on, in a left-hand bend, join a track coming from the right, known as the Charbonnières, and take it to the left.
(8) About a kilometre further on, on a slight incline, turn right (north) onto the wider, ascending track marked in red and white (GR®9). Continue uphill towards the Serre de Pélandré until you reach a flatter area, then a slight descent where theGR®9marked path turns right.
(9) At this point, leave theGR® and head straight on, down a steep slope, along the small path which is not very well marked at first but which you will soon recognise. You will reach the Pélandré meadow on the left where, if you keep quiet, you can spot some ungulates. Pass in front of the Pélandré house and Emilie’s hut.
(10) After the house, cross the meadow to the left to view the Val Sainte-Marie and the village of Bouvante-le-Bas below from the cliff edge. You can also see the well-marked tracks of animals climbing the cliffs in all directions! Following the copses surrounding the meadow, return to the path and follow it to the left. The path curves to the right. Ignore a path coming from the left. Continue by cutting across a path. You’ll notice the power line nearby on the left. After a bend to the left, you’ll come to a junction with a path coming from the left.
(11) Ignore the path on the left and continue to the right along a very sharp bend to join the tarmac road at Col de L'Echarasson.
(12) Follow the road down to the left, then ignore the next road branching off to the right. Pass a farm and a memorial stone on the right and, after 250 m, leave the road and take the signposted path sharply to the left. Follow this path downhill towards the Pas de la Sère. Ignore a path on the left and then one on the right. It crosses many areas of boxwood and sparse meadows.
(13) At the junction with a larger track, at elevation 1003, turn right and pass a house on the right. After the house, the track becomes a tarmac road. Pass the next farm, Ferlin. Then ignore the road coming from the left and continue on the one to the right.
(14) At the sharp right-hand bend in the ascending road, follow the signposted path straight ahead, descending to the left. On the descent, ignore the path on the left and continue straight on towards the Combe Laval viewpoint. Reach the original road and follow it to the left to return to the starting point.
You can once again see the Cirque de Combe Laval in a different light (S/E).
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