The gateway to Oisans

This almost 38 km circuit start in Bourg d'Oisans.

You can make your way to the gateway to Oisans, Rioupéroux, to discover the ↘Romanche Museum (Musée de la Romanche) that depicts the geological past of the valley but also the extraordinary industrial history that entirely reshaped it in the 19th and 20th centuries.
You can also stop off and visit two arts and crafts workshops, admiring the art of mosaics in ↘Laurence Chapelon-Chain’s studio and sculptures from wood, ↘stone and plaster in that of Pierre Gioria.

Once you have driven through Livet, you will probably recognise the ↘‘Pavillon Keller - Leleux’, a strange house on piles made famous by the film The Crimson River. It belonged to Mr Keller, the owner of the metal factory, giving him an unrestricted view of the industrialized valley.

Industry in Livet et Gavet remains unobtrusive, as, not far away, nature takes over again. Hidden behind the Rochetaillée forest live… ↘bison. Yes, your eyes are not playing tricks, bison! We are referring to the ton-heavy bovid, 70 million of
which lived on the North American plains before the arrival of Europeans. To visit the breeding centre, stop at the Auberge de la Libellule to report your visit and then continue on foot to the bison enclosure. Bison are wild animals, and this is
why the visits to the breeding centre are controlled. To get an even better view, take a pony ride on the lovely farm trail. For rumbling stomachs, the auberge offers grilled bison steaks, terrines and dried meat.

Close to the farm, you can discover an amazing part of a ↘Roman road dug into the rockface. The road was so high up because the valley used to be flooded by the Saint Laurent lake that suddenly emptied in the 13th century, devastating the town of Grenoble. Interpretation boards recount this episode of Oisans history. To get there, park at Rochetaillée next to the Hôtel les Touristes. Go past the hotel (on the road to Bourg-d'Oisans), and then follow the mountainbike trail markings for 500m to the rockface.