Cascade de la Pisse – Walk from Le Bourg-d’Oisans

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Start: Bourg-d'Oisans town hall - 700m altitude
Difference in altitude: 70 m
Round trip duration: 1h30 outward and 1h30 return
Return distance: 10.4 km
Hiking: very easy

MAP AND TOPO
Top 25 IGN 3335 ET Bourg-d'Oisans, Alpe d'Huez
OBP (l'Oisans au Bout des Pieds) Map no. 1, trail 657 (available from the tourist office)

ITINERARY
This walk through the valley is ideal for children. The waterfall is a perfect excuse for a cool picnic and to take advantage of the various watering holes during hot weather. An itinerary that reveals the hidden face of the Romanche plain and the banks of the Vénéon.

In Bourg d'Oisans, turn left past the post office towards the church. At the foot of the church, follow the road towards "Venosc" and "Villard-Notre-Dame". At the end of rue Humbert, follow the left-hand road "chemin de St-Claude", not the right-hand road which climbs up to the village of Villard-Notre-Dame (a must-see! but do get in your car... The balcony road is narrow and suspended, a typical Oisans journey).
For 2 km you'll follow a tarmac road, then for a more natural itinerary look out for a path on the right that joins the road a little further on. Once you've reached the sources de la Rive, the starting point for canoe and paddle trips on the peaceful Rive that runs through Bourg-d'Oisans, the itinerary is now pedestrianized... But not just that: you're on the voie verte (hence the tarmac) and so many non-motorized craft share the area with you. From here, you follow the cliff on your right as far as the waterfall. You then leave the voie verte to follow the "Cascade de la Pisse" sign up a path to the right.
Return along the same path, with a detour to Lac de Buclet and its luminous turquoise blue!

THINGS TO SEE ALONG THE WAY
- the Mairie park and its bucolic little pond
- the church and the Museum of Fauna and Minerals
- the blue lake and picnic area.
- Buclet lake
- the Pisse waterfall
- the vast bed of the Vénéon looks like Siberia