It is possible to almost entirely go uphill until the pass all the way from Nice. One could even continue up to the Cime de Bonette at 2802 metres (the loop is ca. 2 km extra). This makes it a 2800 metres climb and the longest climb in the Alps. This is the highest asphalted road in the western Alps (only the Austrian Ötztaler Gletscherstraße (2829m) goes a little higher). A little before St. Sauveur-sur-Tinée (504m) it really starts to go uphill, but first after St. Etienne-de-Tinée (1144m) (53km) it starts to get a little steep, but steepness is the lesser problem on this climb. The length and height is the problem. From the Ubaye valley to the north one starts the climb in Jausiers (1221m). From there it is a rather regular and a moderately steep pass road to the top.

If you come via Italy and Col de la Lombarde/Colle della Lombarda (2350m), you start the climb in Isola (861m). If you come via Col de la Couillole (1678m), you start at St. Sauveur-sur-Tinée (504m). If you come via Col St-Martin (1503m), you start at the height of 482m down the Tinée valley. If you happen to come over the road from Col de la Sinne (1438m) and Ilonse, you start at 430m. You could start at Pont de Clans (301m) and you could have visited Col d’Andrion (1681m) or travelled over the road passing by the Madone d’Utelle. In the later case you would have travelled via La Tour and started the climb at Pont de la Lune (233m). You could also start at the start of the Tinée valley (187m).

The pass itself is seldom talked about as the road goes higher in a loop road at the top that one could skip (if one wants to). At the highest point there is a monument and a path up to the real Cime de Bonette. The pass is like a little narrow opening in the mountain wall almost as if it had been cut out from the rock wall. Without that opening the pass might have been the same as the Col de la Moutière (2454m) far below the monument on the circle road (a pass you reach by turning off to St. Dalmas-le-Selvage 57.2 km from the start of the Tinée valley and after St. Etienne-de-Tinée (1144m)).

Before the new Bonette road was built, the pass road used to go over the Col de Restefond (2680m) instead. Here you can see an extract of the official IGN map of the area: Bonette IGN map at centcols.org. This pass is a classic. Fill up with water before the steeper climb begins as there is not much water to be found higher up on either side (there is one bar at Bousiéyas (1883m) on the south side that may be open). See also: Faux Col de Restefond (2639m) and Col des Granges Communes/Col du Raspaillon (2513m).