Discovering Bonnemare Castle

A short hike in the Andelle Valley to discover its rich heritage. Two castles, an abbey and the remains of a spinning mill with striking architecture punctuate this route.
Pretty wooded paths, particularly the one that runs along the walls of Bonnemare Castle, and the rolling countryside as you leave Douville-sur-Andelle, add to the charm of this walk.

Details

9018455
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 10.79 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 40 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 194 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 187 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 141 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 18 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Park in the Radepont Town Hall car park.

(S/E) With your back to the town hall, turn right, cross the Andelle river, then pass the Radepont Castle on your left. Continue along this road, turning right, then after 50 metres, climb the stairs on the left. You will arrive in front of the church. Turn left.

(1) Take the narrow path preceded by a wooden log passage, join a road, follow it to the right, with caution, for 1.5 km. You will see Fontaine-Guérard Abbey on your left.

(2) Pass the square tower on your right and continue straight ahead on a small road until you come to the ruins of the old Levavasseur spinning mill.

(3) Turn around, follow the Andelle river as it winds to the right and return to the intersection opposite the abbey.

(2) Turn right, cross the two bridges over the Andelle and reach the first intersection.

(4) Turn right onto Rue de Fontaine-Guérard, continue along it when it turns at a right angle, then continue between the houses until you reach the junction with the D321. Cross it carefully to find Rue Du Cimetière opposite.

(5) Take this road, then cross the railway line and arrive at the cemetery crossroads. Turn left and walk along the cemetery on your right. Continue along this small road, ignoring the paths that lead into the fields. When you reach a Y-junction, follow the left-hand road and, as it bends, ignore thefirst path on the left. Continue until you reach the path that leads into the Bois de Bonnemare.

(6) Go up this forest path on the left, ignoring the side paths, and join the castle's surrounding wall. Keep walking along it on your left, including at the crossroads.
Turn left, reach the Château de Bonnemare (you can go under the porch), then continue straight ahead on the road, keeping to the left of the wall. Follow the bend and then immediately leave this road.

(7) Turn left (no entry sign for all vehicles) onto a very narrow path. Walk between the surrounding wall on your left and the hedges of the houses on your right. You will reach a small road suitable for vehicles. At the crossroads, continue straight ahead along the path between the hedges and you will reach the road.

(8) Follow it to the left, then at the barrier, take the special pedestrian crossing on your left and start the descent into the woods without worrying about the side paths. You will reach a small clearing and a Y-shaped crossroads.

(9) Take the grassy path on the right, then cross a dry stream. You will come to several paths; follow the one that climbs to the right until you reach the next crossroads.

(10) Go straight ahead into the woods, then descend and pass between the houses. Cross the railway line, then cross the D321 road with caution. Continue straight ahead until you reach (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 24 m - Radepont Town Hall
  2. 1 : km 0.39 - alt. 43 m - Narrow path
  3. 2 : km 2.13 - alt. 24 m - Square tower
  4. 3 : km 2.73 - alt. 23 m - Road along the - Andelle (rivière) à finaliser
  5. 4 : km 3.51 - alt. 20 m - Rue de Fontaine-Guérard
  6. 5 : km 4.98 - alt. 25 m - Cemetery Street
  7. 6 : km 6.32 - alt. 59 m - Forest path
  8. 7 : km 8.35 - alt. 132 m - Small path
  9. 8 : km 8.84 - alt. 124 m - Road
  10. 9 : km 9.57 - alt. 51 m - Grassy path
  11. 10 : km 9.98 - alt. 73 m - Path through the woods
  12. S/E : km 10.79 - alt. 24 m - Radepont Town Hall

Worth a visit

Radepont Castle.
Fontaine-Guérard Abbey.
Levavaseur spinning mill.
Bonnemare Castle.

Reviews and comments

4.6 / 5
Based on 12 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.7 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.7 / 5
Route interest
4.4 / 5
User 16676816

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 17, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

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Samico
Samico

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 05, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Admittedly, there is a lot of tarmac, but very few cars. The views are lovely and the forest paths are very pleasant.

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Jeanvier
Jeanvier
• Edited:

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 19, 2038
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

It's a shame that the entire end of the route is on tarmac. Otherwise, the ride is really worth it.

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MARTDomi
MARTDomi

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 30, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely route with many points of interest
Some poorly maintained paths where brambles and nettles are trying to take over, but an enjoyable route overall

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Maryvonne Ponty
Maryvonne Ponty

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 09, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very nice hike, beautiful abbey and factory site (what's left of it). At the beginning, mostly road but not too busy, then lots of very pleasant trails. Bonnemare Castle is also worth seeing. The description is accurate.

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Eric Manné
Eric Manné

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 02, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

A short 2½-hour hike near the house. Although the scenery is beautiful, bear in mind that 7 km of the route is on tarmac, which is quite long... I wouldn't have done it if I'd known there was so much road. I should have read the reviews before setting off...

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Geraldine76
Geraldine76

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 26, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hike completed this Sunday in cold, dry and sunny weather.
A varied hike with some elevation changes. Points of interest: abbey, spinning mill and Bonnemare Castle.
Small, quiet tarmac roads to point 6, then trails and paths.
At the start, you can avoid going to the church by turning left at the round house of the castle. You rejoin the route after 50 metres.

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Tramp
Tramp

Dear friend
Hike to point 6 and we'll talk about it then.

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POULIN Gérard
POULIN Gérard ★

Hello Tramp,
Surprisingly, this hike has received good, even very good reviews to date. There is a lot of road, of course, but there are also quite a few paths and a nice section through the woods. Does this message refer to this hike?

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Tramp
Tramp

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 18, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

Hiking on foot? On the road, still on the road, nothing in the forest or on the path, or almost nothing. I discovered hiking for the car.
So disappointing that I cut it short. AVOID on foot.

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Danield
Danield

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 03, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Journey completed in 2 hours 35 minutes without any problems

Recommended

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mamy yoyo
mamy yoyo

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 27, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike with many points of interest.
Small problem in the description at point 9: Although I had read that I had to be careful, I made a mistake. If you see a yellow cross and a blue cross on a tree, it means you have gone too far. Go back about fifty metres
to find the right path. Thank you to the author for this beautiful hike.

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DominiqueSueur
DominiqueSueur

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 12, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A superb, very accessible hike, the ruins of the Levavasseur spinning mill are simply incredible; the term "industrial cathedral" is entirely appropriate. Bonnemare Castle is also remarkable.
Regarding the route, we had a slight hesitation at point 9. The description says, "Reach several paths, follow the one that goes up to the right until the next crossroads." We turned right too early; you have to go about 15 metres further to find a clearly visible path on the right.
I highly recommend this hike.

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Spartiate76
Spartiate76

Hello kelylamil,
Thank you for your reply.
Perhaps it is the concept of "woods" that needs to be better understood, on my part no doubt: let's say that shortly before (from memory, 100 metres max), the trees begin, and the path then continues slightly to the right, very slightly uphill, "into the woods" which are a little denser. However, just before this slight right turn, there is a fairly wide path, leading more to the left (hence my difficulty with the notion of "opposite", when you have to choose slightly to the right or slightly to the left!), allowing you to go straight back down, too soon.

But no worries, I'm glad I'm the only one who got it wrong!
And thank you again for all your efforts in describing the route.
Kind regards

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kelylamil
kelylamil

Hello Spartiate76,
I did this hike again today before correcting it as you suggested.
At point 10, you have to go straight ahead into the woods and there is no climb afterwards. So I'm not changing the description.
Perhaps you are referring to point 9, where you do indeed have to follow an uphill path on the right, but this is already indicated in the description. So I'm sorry, but I don't understand.
Kind regards

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