The dog tower

Step by step

Tour des Chiens or Arvilliers estate
The fortified house of Arvilliers, known as the "Tour des Chiens", stands at the foot of Mont Saint-Eynard in the Chartreuse region, at an altitude of 530 m. The Tour des Chiens overlooks the town and the Grésivaudan valley, offering sweeping panoramic views of the Belledonne chain, Taillefer, Grand-Serre, Obiou and the Vercors cliffs. Perched on a promontory, the "Tour des Chiens" (Tower of the Dogs) fulfilled the goals sought by the builders of fortified houses in the Middle Ages: protection, observation and signaling. This watchtower enabled its occupants to communicate via optical signals. The estate was called "d'Arvilliers", after the powerful Arvillars family, allied to the Dauphins and the House of Savoy, who owned it in the late Middle Ages.
whose crowned eagle now appears on the coat of arms of the town of Corenc.

From Place Jules-Moch, take the D 512 up a few meters, then turn left onto a track to the sports field. Turn left onto the tarmac road leading to the privately-owned Tour des Chiens.
Continue along a gravel path through a wood, passing Batonnière (649 m). Follow the signs for Le Gorget on a good path along the edge of the wood, which joins a small road; turn left for about 150 m.
On the left, behind the guardrail, don't miss a small footpath with steps that cuts through a bend in the road. Take the small road into Chantemerle. At the end of the bend, turn right down a sunken track that leads to the hamlet of Gorget (380 m). Follow the Chemin de Maubec to the left, towards Corenc village.
In Maubec, turn left up a tarmac road which soon becomes a footpath and runs alongside vineyards. Pass a reservoir, then take a right to reach La Figette. Then descend
on the Chantourbe path, then left on the Cabassière path to return to Corenc village.

Corenc village, Soubertaud, Chemin de Soubertaud, Tour des chiens, Le Charmeyran, Batonnière, Chantemerle, Le Gorget, Maubec, La Figette, Corenc village