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Parking in Chassagne-Saint-Denis in the centre of the village on the small square to the left of the church, next to the old weighbridge.
Yellow-blue markings.
(S/E) Walk past the old weighbridge and the calvary, with your back to the church. At the corner of Grande Rue and Rue du Castel, turn left (towards Château Saint-Denis). At the last house, the road becomes stony and crosses sunny pastures for a long stretch.
No markings
(1) Enter the woods and immediately turn left at the sign for the nature reserve, entering the small clearing via a wooden step. Cross it in a straight line to find the entrance to a path. You will be overlooking beautiful cornices. Follow the fence on your right to cross it via a chicane. Descend via a flight of steps carved into the rock. At the bottom, there is a fork in the path. Take the right-hand path towards the rocky cirque. In the middle, with your back to the rock, a path with wooden steps (covered with dead leaves) allows you to descend into the hollow of this charming little valley. At the bottom, at a post bearing the "Pic Noir" sign, continue straight ahead at the fork to reach a wooden barrier, which you will cross via a step.
(2) A hundred metres further down, climb the hillside via the small path on the right, keeping your eyes on a dry stone wall that you will see at the edge of the woods. This is a pretty mule track that winds through the tall grass. Don't forget to turn around to enjoy the superb view of the ledges and the bottom of the valley. You will soon reach a stony path which you will follow downhill to the left
Yellow-blue markings.
(3) You will arrive at a hiking crossroads; climb towards the castle on the right. At the next X-shaped crossroads, continue climbing to the right. You will arrive at the ruins via the gate known as Porte aux Ânes. Head towards the keep via the stairs. Turn your back on the tower and head towards the rest of the ruins. Head towards the barriers on the right to discover a magnificent view of the wild Valbois ravine, a nature reserve, and the village of Cléron, with Mont Poupet in the distance. Visit the rest of the ruins and leave the castle by passing under the high-voltage power lines, which unfortunately detract somewhat from the site.
(4) At the exit, take the stone path. This path joins another in a clearing with a new viewpoint over the Valbois valley. Look for signs and markings at the end of the path. We will come back to this later, but for now, continue straight ahead on the stone path until you see the back of a signpost.
(5) About ten steps before it, carefully turn right onto the path that leads you to the unprotected ledges, offering a superb view of the Ravin de Valbois Nature Reserve and Castel Saint-Denis. Leave the viewpoints via the path that runs along the cliffs. You will come back to the gravel road and, just opposite you, on a tree, you will see the signs you spotted earlier. Head towards Belvédère de Barmaud - La Facle, leaving the road and walking a few metres into the field to find a beautiful forest path on the right.
(6) Further on, you will come to a meadow and another gravel road, but continue on the path on the left in the same direction.
(7) When you reach La Facle, a small canyon descending to the left into the valley, go down it to explore it for a hundred or so steps and then climb back up to the entrance to this small rocky gorge. Turn left, quickly locating forest signpost no. 9 at a fork in the path, and turn left towards Barmaud - Ornans, following the markings and, above all, the crosses that indicate which paths are closed. Be careful, as the path is rocky and runs alongside unprotected cliffs. The path runs close to the ledges. Between the trees, there are views of the Notre-Dame du Chêne hermitage. You will arrive at the viewpoint over the Loue valley.
(8) Set off again along the path on the left (with your back to the viewpoint) to find another viewpoint over the Brême valley and the old viaduct. Turn your back on the cliffs again and find the signposts and a path that leads back into the woods. It quickly joins a stony road, which you take on the left. Join the D241 road, walk down it for about 30 metres and then climb up the small tarmac path on the right, which leads to the Barmaud viewpoint overlooking the old town of Ornans. On the horizon: the Roche de Hautepierre.
(9) Turn your back on the viewpoint and continue straight ahead. Soon, at a fork in the road, take the left-hand path. About 30 metres after a small clearing, you will come to a gravel road which you follow downhill to the left.
(10) Please note! 200 metres further down, at the signposts on the right and left, look for the path on the right that climbs up the hillside (MTB circuit 28). A little further up, when you see a sign to turn right and a mountain bike sign, don't miss the path that descends to the left for a few metres towards the (unprotected) Monts d'Ornans viewpoint for a view of the rocky spur of the Château and the Roche du Mont.
(11) Cross a meadow, where the path becomes stony, and soon you will be guided by the Chassagne bell tower to the car park (S/E).
The route includes cliff-top paths and unsecured viewpoints. The paths are rocky and slippery in places. Sturdy footwear is essential and walking sticks are recommended.
Visorando member
Easy 
