Departure from the church in Saint-Clair-sur-Epte (accessible via the D14 road between Pontoise and Rouen). There are three parking options:
- Rue Victor Hugo, at the foot of the church or on the small triangular square opposite (around 15 spaces).
- At the start of Rue de l'Ermitage, around 50 metres from the church, in a small car park (around 20 spaces) open from 8am to 8pm.
- At the end of Rue de l'Ermitage, 500 metres from the church, in the large car park (300 spaces) next to the community centre.
Yellow signposts
(S/E) With your back to the church, turn left onto the main street, which soon turns left. At the fork, turn right onto Rue Rouget de l'Isle (which is actually the street you have been following until now). Cross the Epte river and enter Les Bordeaux de Saint-Clair and the department of Eure.
(1) After the first houses, turn left onto Rue des Marais and stay on the tarmac road. After a series of brick houses on the right, at a place called La Papeterie, continue along a grassy path. Walk alongside a poplar grove on your left, then a fenced-in meadow on your right.
(2) At the corner of the meadow, turn right onto a farm track. Cross a small tarmac road (the platform of an old railway line), ignore a turn-off on the right and you will come out onto the D146. Cross the road and climb the steep slope on the path opposite. At the top of the hill, follow a small road on the left.
No signposts
TwoPR® trails marked in yellow pass at the foot of the castle: the one you have been following until now, which you leave momentarily, and one that starts a few metres further on. You will therefore come across a few yellow markers and crosses: ignore them and follow the map and the description of this section.
(3) At the fork that appears immediately, take the Côte de Guerlande on the right and continue until you reach a hiking sign. Then turn right at an acute angle and begin to circle the ruined castle (square tower on the left). At a fork, turn left and continue to the entrance of the castle with a view of the keep above. Continue and, at the fork, turn left again and descend. At the bottom, follow Rue des Lavandières to the right. After a few metres, you will rejoin thePR® trail that you followed at the start.
Yellow signposting
(4) Then turn right and, at the fork that immediately appears, follow the left-hand path (leaving the Chemin du Grand Repos on your right, which, as its name suggests, leads to the cemetery...). Leave Château-sur-Epte and continue south on a narrow road that slopes slightly downhill.
(5) At the corner of a small isolated house, leave the road and follow a grassy path roughly opposite, which runs alongside the house on your left and then a hedge. Climb gently between the fields (behind you on the right, you will see the cemetery chapel and the castle). Come out onto a road and follow it to the left.
(6) Leave the Saint-Ouen-Sainte-Beuve church in Berthenonville on your left (information sign) and then the town hall on your right, and descend steeply. At the bottom (war memorial), turn right. At number 16, follow Chemin du Miroir on the left. Climb up and enter a wood.
Yellow + blue signposting
(7) At the fork (signpost), take the path on the right uphill. Leave the woods and continue uphill between the fields (beautiful view of the Epte Valley behind you). At the top of the hill, continue along the edge of the woods on your left. Enter the woods and, at the fork that immediately appears, take the path on the right. Ignore a path coming from the left, leave the woods and go straight ahead along the edge of a field on your left.
Blue markings + "Allée couverte" sign
(8) At the corner of the field (signpost), turn right to enter the woods. Take the first path on the left. Go downhill, ignore the first path on the right and you will immediately come to a second intersection.
Signpost "Allée couverte"
Turn right and follow a good path that is mostly flat, leading to an information board and, on the right, to the Allée couverte d'Aveny.
(9) Retrace your steps.
Blue signpost
Back at the intersection, turn right and go downhill.
No signposts
(10) After about 100 metres, at a three-way junction, turn left onto a narrow path (ignore the blue signpost on the right). Head south-east on a slight downhill slope, alternating between narrow and wider sections, dense undergrowth and a few more open passages. The dotted line on the IGN map, which is supposed to cross our path, does not exist (or no longer exists). You will come out onto a farm track at the edge of a field.
Yellow markings
(11) Then turn right and follow the farm track downhill with a fenced meadow on your right. At the corner of the meadow and at the foot of an electricity pole, turn right onto a grassy path along the edge of a hedge. Turn left with the path and descend slightly. You will come out onto the D119 and follow it to the left. Cross the village on this road (beautiful houses) and come out onto the D146 at the corner of the Château d'Aveny.
(12) Then turn right and left to take a small road closed to vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. Cross the Epte river over an old paved bridge, then cross the greenway (old railway station on the right). Continue straight ahead (east) on the tarmac road and, before the first houses, turn left onto a gravel track with a fence on your right. At the end, turn right.
(13) At the T-junction, follow the road (D37) to the right, then take the first left, Rue des Fontaines. At the stop sign, turn right onto Chemin des Trois Marolles. Go up a steep paved road and pass a chicane. Continue uphill on a path, through the woods, then along the edge of the woods and finally between fields. Follow the woods on your left until you reach a crossroads.
Yellow + red and yellow markings
(14) At the crossroads, turn left (north-east) onto a farm track starting with a hedge on the left. At the end, follow a small road to the left for a few dozen metres and then turn right (north) onto another farm track at the edge of the woods. Shortly before a small road, leave the track and turn right onto a short passageway lined with stones. Cross the road and continue opposite (north-east) on a grassy path slightly downhill between the fields.
(15) At a fork, turn right onto level ground with a hedge on your left, then climb gently between the fields. At the T-junction (elevation 131), turn left (north) onto a slightly downhill farm track. Cross a small road and continue straight ahead on a slightly uphill farm track. Head north-northwest and ignore the paths branching off to the right. You will come out onto a road; follow it to the right for about 50 metres.
Yellow markings
(16) Before an electricity pole, turn left onto an agricultural track that climbs uphill. At the T-junction, turn left towards a reservoir.
(17) At the foot of the reservoir, turn right onto a stony track. Keep to the left, alongside a wood and then a fenced meadow. At the corner of a wood, ignore a path on the right and descend. Wind your way between fields and woods, leaving a second reservoir on your left and continuing between the fields. You will reach a road.
(18) Follow the road to the left, on the wide shoulder on the left-hand side. When the road turns right, leave it on the left and go down a one-way street (Rue Louis Pasteur). At the bottom, turn left (ignore the yellow arrow pointing to the right) and you will find the church of Clair-sur-Epte (S/E).