Bagnoles-de-l'Orne walks

A beautiful walk that runs alongside the Village du Cheval and then enters the forest via a path offering beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. It then crosses the Saint-Ortaire priory and returns to the centre of Bagnoles-de-l'Orne, passing by the lake and the casino on the way back to the car park.

A superb circular walk starting from the ‘Petite Cité de Caractère’ of Lassay-les-Châteaux, voted France’s third favourite village in 2023. 94 per cent dirt tracks and some wonderful heritage sites to discover along the way: Lassay Castle, Bois Thibault Castle and the ruins of Bois Frou.An interpretative trail based on the legend of Lancelot du Lac enhances this route with several stops featuring information panels on themes from Arthurian legend. The Château de Bois Thibault, open during the tourist season (weekends and public holidays only), features a magnificent round table and a comic strip depicting the legend of the famous knight Lancelot.

This is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful walks in the Lassay-les-Châteaux area. Lots of sunken paths, some woodland and a stream.

In the northern Mayenne countryside, Lassay-les-Châteaux is a small town that is well worth a visit. As you walk along the surrounding paths, a few signposts invite you to follow in the footsteps of Lancelot through meadows, forests and the remains of three castles. An easy walk on well-maintained paths and a few country roads.

The village of Saint-Aignan-de-Couptrain is the starting point for two circular walks that will take you through unspoilt hedgerow countryside. Both routes follow dirt tracks for 90 per cent of the way. Here is one of these circular walks. The second: The ‘Boucle des herbages’ circular walk from Saint-Aignan-de-Couptrain

During this hike, you will discover surprising mining remains: iron mine shafts, calcination furnaces from before and after 1938, and a mining town. The hike begins along a Way of the Cross that will take you to the Calvary of Mont Brûlé. The hike winds through the undergrowth and follows a few sections of road. During your journey, you will discover a castle and an old watermill nestled in a green setting.

A walk through the ages, surrounded by nature. You’ll discover reproductions of Impressionist works by Ludovic Piette and Camille Pissarro, as well as megaliths including the Menhir de la Pierre Robert and a dolmen. Finally, the beautiful Bignon manor house and its hamlet.

A picturesque circular route with no navigation difficulties, ideal for families. The route mainly follows the Flers-Domfront Greenway, passes by the Château de Varenne and its old forges, then climbs up a path towards the Manoir de la Nocherie. It rejoins the Greenway after crossing the Varenne at the Moulin de la Nocherie ford to return to the start.

A family walk in the largest wetland area in the Orne department. Located in the Houlme region, at the heart of the Normandy bocage, the Grand Hazé is a landscape of 200 hectares of ponds, peat bogs, reed beds and peaty woods.

The Chapelle de Bon Secours trail consists of no less than 89 per cent dirt tracks. It follows the ancient Roman road that linked Gué Saint-Léonard to Mayenne. A short detour is recommended to the Tourbière des Égoutelles, a regional nature reserve. This two-hectare site, situated in a former Armorican sandstone quarry, is home to over a hundred rare plant species, including carnivorous plants such as sundews, round-leaved sundews and the Portuguese butterwort.

A very lovely walk in the Buttes d’Hardanges, a Sensitive Natural Area, between the villages of Ribay and Hardanges. This former military zone is now a true haven of peace and offers a vast array of natural meadows, wet heathland, dry heathland, peat bogs and valley floors.

The organisations Familles Rurales Briouze, Environnement et Vie en Pays de Briouze and the municipality of Craménil have put together a family trail for you to discover the flora, fauna and typical landscapes of our bocage. Some sections are damp, so make sure you wear sturdy shoes!

The village of Crennes-sur-Fraubée, situated on the southern slope of the Corniche de Pail, offers magnificent views of the surrounding countryside. This route, 88% of which is on dirt tracks, is one of the most beautiful walks in the Mont des Avaloirs area.

The Lac de Haute Mayenne, artificially created by the Saint-Fraimbault dam, will charm you with its rich and varied flora and fauna. But this route will also allow you to discover the confluence of two rivers that feed into the Mayenne: the Varenne and the Colmont.

A hike starting from the iconic Mont des Avaloirs viewpoint, offering a beautiful route through the Multonne forest. Before or after the hike, be sure to climb the 108 steps of the building for an exceptional 360° view and, as you ascend, discover the brightly coloured street art by Seb Toussaint, a Franco-British graffiti artist. Route of the Mont des Avaloirs Community of Communes.

Immerse yourself in nature at the heart of the Mont des Avaloirs Regional Nature Reserve! At 416 metres high, Mont des Avaloirs, the highest point in western France, takes you to the summit of the Armorican Massif. You are in the heart of the Normandy-Maine Regional Nature Park and Geopark. On the poor soil of Armorican sandstone, the dominant habitats are heathland and deciduous woodland. In this gentle, low-lying landscape, you’ll also find meadows, peat bogs and scree slopes. Current inventories list over 2,000 species, several of which are heritage species such as the European Nightjar and the Montagu’s Harrier. Numerous routes set off from this particularly well-preserved natural environment, dotted with magnificent sites. This trail offers a total immersion in nature, with themed stops to trace the thread of history, discover the wildlife and flora, and understand how the landscapes have evolved. Along the way, new views unfold!

A very pretty trail in the Merdereau valley, through the forest and over the hills of Averton, with some panoramic views and good dirt tracks covering 73% of the route.

Fontaine-Daniel, with its picturesque village and beautiful lake, is one of the best-known places in the Mayenne area, but there is only one busy road to get there and the hiking opportunities around it are limited. This route, which can be done by bike or on foot in a day, connects the town to the village via a greenway through the town of Mayenne, then crosses the rolling countryside of Saint-Georges-Buttavent. It also covers a large part of the Salair forest near Fontaine-Daniel. To shorten the route, you can skip Mayenne and start elsewhere to make a loop around Fontaine-Daniel.

Circling Mont Secret with an off-centre start at the car park near L’Aufrairie, this more challenging route climbs towards Mont de Cerisy along the section belonging to the commune of Montsecret. Between two hills, will Mont Secret perhaps reveal itself?