Col du Joly grv

www.cycling-challenge.com/col-du-joly-unpaved/ 

Oulles hairpin climb to tiny village

www.cycling-challenge.com/alpe-dhuez-oulles-and-col-dornon/

Oulles is the commune with the lowest population (12!) in the Isère Department. 8 kilometres cut into the edge of a steep gorge up to a little perched village. It’s a well surfaced road, with hairpins galore. And quiet: I saw no cars on the ascent or the descent. It’s quite steep.

Col du Solude

www.cycling-challenge.com/col-du-solude/

Bring lights for tunnels on balcony road

A superb, near deserted, road with unbelievable views throughout. If you don't mind a few tunnels, this is a truly memorable loop. Remember only paved to the highest villages on each side.

Col du Souchet gravel/offroad

some steep downhills, probably hike-a-bike

At Lac du Chambon, we turned up towards Besse, briefly following the climb to Col de Sarenne. The road remains paved until a few kms past Besse and then becomes a good quality gravel road. After Besse, we leave civilization – and keep heading up into the mountains – the fun really starts here. At 1900 metres we passed Col Nazie – but the road just kept going up. Finally we crossed over the Col Saint Georges (2245m) into a “secret” plateau: Plateau d’Emparis.”

Our next goal was Col du Souchet – this required a little detour onto hiking trails due to a misplaced ranch with unfriendly “do not enter” signs. Boo.

The Col is an amazing place. The glacier-filled peaks of La Meije dominate (these are the same mountains one sees lower down from Col du Lautaret). Sadly for our photos, the clouds had rolled in.

The 6 km descent down to Le Chazelet is not easy – it’s more a steep hiking trail than a road. Talented cyclists can ride most of it, but I had to push the bike for much of it. But again, a beautiful place.

Col de La Sarenne, Auris, and Maronne

www.cycling-challenge.com/col-de-la-sarenne-auris-and-maronne/

Back way up to Alpe d’Huez. Including a balcony road 

While you could do this loop in either direction, going up Col de Sarenne is the better way to visit Alpe d'Huez.