Le Villaret – Les Estables

(S) Leave Le Villaret via the small road heading south, then leave this road when it reaches the woods and follow a yellow-marked path which climbs to the left.
Follow the path as it climbs through the forest; it crosses a wide track and eventually levels out near Boussoulet.
Leave the forest and, through the meadows, reach the higher ground of Boussoulet.
The path turns into a small road that descends. Ignore the road on the left and continue to a stone cross.

(1) Turn left onto the narrow path running at right angles and join the D15.
Head up to the right towards the hotel and cross at the pedestrian crossing. Take the street opposite and keep to the right until you reach a sloping street coming from the church.
Walk down this street on the left to the bottom of the valley.
Here you’ll join the^GR®40, which you’ll follow for most of the route to Les Estables.
Head uphill to the right along the^GR® (marked in red and white) until you reach the D26. Cross it, take the small road opposite and leave it after a few metres, turning right.
This will take you to the hamlet of Monvert. Walk through the hamlet towards a small telecoms mast. Before reaching it, turn right onto the^GR®, following a grassy path that begins the crossing of the plateau.
At the first junction^, turn right onto the^GR®. You’ll reach the D26.

(2) Cross it again and immediately leave the wide track to the left to follow the edge of a woodland. Head downhill until you reach a junction.
Ignore the^GR® and take the track on the left, heading straight down (yellow markings) to reach Le Cros de Montroy.
Walk through the hamlet and climb up to the plateau opposite, then reach a crossroads.
Turn right (yellow markings). After a few bends, the path leads to the top of the hamlet of Couteaux.
Join a small road leading to the last house in the hamlet.

(3) Walk past the house on the left and take a lovely shaded path to reach the access road to Sioulac.
Turn right and walk through the hamlet of La Rochette.
The road turns into a track that crosses the meadows and descends towards the Gagne, a river which you cross via a stone bridge.
After the bridge, head back up towards the road, cross it and take a path leading off to the right (yellow markings).
After 50 metres, this path joins another.

(4) Take this path on the left, heading uphill to the village of Saint-Front.
Once in the square, ignore all signposting and turn right onto Rue du Fournil, then turn left towards the church, then the school.
From there, follow the road to the right, which joins the D39 and the^GR®40, which you’ll stay on all the way to Les Estables.

(5) Follow the road to the right for about a hundred metres and turn left onto the first road.
At the first three-way junction, follow the road to the left, then leave it at a bend to take a path along the edge of the woods.
The path rejoins the previous road at another bend. Take the road on the right and cross the D500. Turn right at a shed to reach the Chalet d’Aiglet, formerly a cross-country skiing centre.

(6) Head uphill along the^{GR® path} at the edge of the woodland, then cross through the woodland to reach the Draye de Soutrou, which climbs straight up towards the ridge of Mont Alambre.

(7) Follow this track, initially along the edge of the woods, then deeper into the forest. Cross a wide track (watchtower path).

(8) Complete the ascent to the pass, at the site of the Croix de la Plonge.

(9) Descend opposite along the^GR® and reach the forest warden’s house.
Join the access road, cross it, and turn right onto the^GR® towards Les Estables, which you’ll reach after passing the ski lifts (E).

Total walking time: 7 hours.
Hotels, campsites and restaurants in Boussoulet after (1).
Grocery shop and bar in Saint-Front between (4) and (5).
For tired walkers, at (8), you can take the circular path on the right, following the contour line, to go round Mont d’Alambre and reach Les Estables.
All shops are in Les Estables (E).