Barre des Dourbes

Walk with great views inspired by https://www.visorando.com/randonnee-la-barre-des-dourbes/ . You can park your car near the old forester's house which can be rented now for holidays ( https://www.dignelesbains-tourisme.com/hebergementcollectif/gite-forestier-des-dourbes-digne-les-bains/ ). The last part of the road to this house is unpaved. With a normal car, it's no problem if you drive carefully, but if you want to avoid this ride, you can park your car at the beginning of this unpaved road. This would add 1.2 km one-way and 80 m extra vertically.

You climb ± 600 m to get to a ridge where you have view in all directions. On a clear day you can look up to 100 km towards e.g. the snow peaks of Les Ecrins. On the ridge, the path and the waymarking are not always clear, but you can't get lost : depending on your appetite for heights, you can walk as close or far away from the steep edge as you want. You reach the ridge at Pas de la Faye. Here you follow the ridge to the South. After 1 km you see "Le trou Saint-Martin". This a hole in the rock through which the sunlight passes twice a year on Nov. 11th and Jan. 30th for one minute. On Nov. 11th it's the day of Saint Martin. You can find more info on http://dignois.fr/Dourbes/ and
http://www.gerardbenoit.com/2015/01/trou-de-saint-martin.html . You can start descending 600 m further to the South near Pas de Tartonne : this is the walk of Visorando. This would be a pity, so if you have time, I strongly recommend to stay another 1.3 km on the ridge to enjoy the panorama till you reach Pas de Labaud. Here a steep descent awaits you till you reach the flat unpaved road which is also the trajectory of the "Grande Traversée des Préalpes". If you have parked you car at the beginning of the unpaved road towards the old forester's house, you can also continue descending here instead of following of the unpaved road. This would shorten your route a little bit and you avoid overlap with the outbound route.