Around Chezenas

Head to the village of Saint-Pierre-de-Boeuf. Make your way to Rue du Bonnardeaux. There, you can park your car at the side of the road in a small car park. The walk starts here.

(S/E) With the main road through the village (RN86) behind you, set off along Rue du Bonnardeaux until you reach a junction where there is a cross. Take Route de la Chana on your left and walk for about 60 m.

(1) Take the stony path on the right, which is very narrow and steeply ascending. When you reach a junction, keep left and continue straight on until you reach a few houses. Just after passing the houses, turn right onto a path and walk for about 40 metres.

(2) Here, you’ll find a junction and a hiking signpost. Carry on straight ahead, ignoring the path on the left which climbs uphill and will be your return route. Continue along the path, which will gradually become narrower.

(3) At this point, don’t miss the fork; take the path on the left, which climbs through the woodland. The path will leave the woodland and run alongside vineyards. Continue straight on, climbing, ignoring the path that joins yours on the right. Carry on until you reach the junction with another path that crosses the one you’re on at a right angle.

(4) Take this path on the right. Pass close to a riding centre on your left and, at the next junction, turn left to quickly reach a tarmac road where there is a hiking signpost.

(5) Turn right. When the road begins to curve to the right, leave it and take the stony, uphill track opposite. At the top of the hill, ignore a path on the left and continue straight on along the edge of the field. The path will pass through woodland for a few hundred metres before continuing through fruit tree plantations.

(6) In the orchard, turn right onto the first path. Continue slightly downhill, staying on the main path. Ignore a path on the right and the road branching off to the left, and head straight on towards the houses of the hamlet of Brunarie Haute. Cross the hamlet and begin a descent to another cluster of houses at Brunerie Basse.

(7) At this point, turn left between the houses as the path descends. The tarmac road turns into a dirt track. Continue along this until you reach the bottom of the valley and a junction with another wide path. Take this path on the left to walk through the woodland alongside the Ruisseau du Batalon.

(8) Continue through the woodland, staying on the main path. Cross a series of small, submersible concrete weirs over the streams, ignoring the paths branching off to the right or left, often via small bridges. The path climbs gradually before taking a tight hairpin bend, still ascending.

After this hairpin bend, about a hundred metres further on, the path turns sharply right (90°) and then passes through the middle of a lagoon area before reaching a tarmac road. Take this road on your left until you reach a four-way junction where a cross stands.

(9) Continue straight on along the road. At the next junction, take the road on the left (Chemin du Calamet). Ignore the roads and paths branching off to the right and left and stay on this road until you reach the fork at a small pond.

(10) Leave Chemin du Calamet by turning left. Stay on the main track, continuing straight on until you reach the hamlet of Peyssonneau.

(11) Cross the hamlet by continuing straight ahead, then, at the last houses, turn left. Stay on the main path which winds through the countryside before heading north. At the four-way crossroads, go straight ahead to reach the hamlet of Lacour.

(12) Turn right, then about a hundred metres further on, turn left. Continue straight on along Route de Limony, which further on becomes Route de la Chapelle.

(13) Continue straight on past the small chapel on your right. Then ignore the turn-offs on the right until you reach a junction where you turn right for about 50 metres: be careful, as this is a busy road.

(14) At a wooden bus shelter, leave this road and take the street on the left. Continue along this road until you reach a crossroads with a cross. Turn right, then left about 50 metres further on to reach the hamlet of Bois Prieur.

(15) Turn right and walk alongside a tennis court on your left. The path runs downhill alongside vineyards and then enters the woodland, continuing downhill.

(2) Turn right then left and retrace your steps in the opposite direction to return to the car park and your starting point (S/E).