1. From Alpe du Grand Serre to Rif Bruyant
MediumGo back in time and immerse yourself in the private life of an unspoilt valley, as you go from the modern landscapes of the ski resort to a typical and secret mountain village, lined by the Rif Bruyant mountain stream.
Description
- Turn right into a path. This was once a road and is lined with twisted beech trees. It crosses the new road and leads to Chabotte.
- Follow the road down for 700 m as far as the "Les Louriers” bend.
- Leave the road and follow "Lavaldens", which is again the old road, but now closed to traffic. It gently runs downwards as far as Les Mazoirs, through a forest of beech trees, then the fields and the pastures.
- In Les Mazoirs, the route runs alongside the river after the bridge.
- At the Le Claudy crossroads, turn left towards Lavaldens.
- At the heart of the hamlet, take the tarmac road towards Le Pay, then turn right into the impasse de l'Espalier. At the end of the dead-end street (fountain), turn left along a path lined with low walls that leads up to Basse Gorge. Rejoin the road.
- After the hairpin bend, take a path on the right that leads up to Haute Gorge.
- Rejoin the road, and after the bend take a track on the right that leads to the bottom of the Espalier valley, which you cross on a footbridge. A track through a beech forest leads to the mountain pastures, which you cross almost level, heading south as far as the Choumeaux ridge (pass at 1446 m). From here, a steep descent through scree to the hamlet of Rif bruyant.
- Departure : Alpe du Grand Serre
- Arrival : Rif-Bruyant
- Towns crossed : La Morte and Lavaldens
2 points of interest
Know-howA hydraulic adventure in Lavaldens
At the end of the 19th century, industry began to overtake village windmills, which then disappeared one after the other. Paul Freynet, who lived in Lavaldens, decided to optimise his windmill by using hydraulic force in all its forms. The penstock drives several millstones, as well as a bolter and a sorter, and a saw for cutting wood lengthways, plus a circular saw for short logs. A major development was the introduction of a generator to produce electricity. Paul Freynet provided power to all the village long before the electricity network arrived in the valley, on the eve of the Great War.
Tulipa Sylvestris - Tulipe sauvage - © Parc national des Écrins - Mireille Coulon 
FloraTulipa Sylvestris
This magnificent plant has flowers that are often tilted at the side, which helps it stand out from its horticultural cousins. Its pointed petals are a fine gold colour. The leaves are very light green, straight and long. The species is protected throughout France, and cannot be found at the florist’s, but only in or around fields. The bulbs have suffered from the increasing use of tractors and the deeper ploughing that results. The flower has greatly fallen in numbers and only grows in land where farming practices are still gentle, without pesticides or deep ploughing.
Altimetric profile
Sensitive areas
Short-toed snake eagle
- Impacted practices:
- Aerial,
- Sensitivity periods:
- MarAprMayJunJulAugSep
- Contact:
- Parc National des Écrins
Julien Charron
julien.charron@ecrins-parcnational.fr
Recommandations
Information desks
Maison du Parc du Valbonnais
Place du Docteur Eyraud, 38740 Entraigues
Reception, information, temporary exhibition room, reading room and video-projection on demand. Shop: products and works of the Park. Free admission. All animations of the Park are free unless otherwise stated.
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