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Starts from the car park at Arthies church, about 7 km south of Magny-en-Vexin.
A hiking map is available in the car park: this route follows the ‘Circuit des Cinq Châteaux’, marked at intervals by the symbol B4.
Yellow markings
(S/E) From the car park, with the war memorial on your left, turn right towards the town hall. Leave the church and then the town hall on your left and head down the dead-end lane. At the end, continue along a wide grassy path between two fences.
(1) At a T-junction, turn left onto a hard-packed track, cross a stream and climb gently towards Maudétour-en-Vexin Castle, which is clearly visible. Walk along the castle wall on your left, come out onto a road and follow it to the left, still keeping to the wall. Walk past the castle’s main gate and you’ll arrive at Maudétour-en-Vexin Church.
Yellow + Red and White markings
(2) Then take the first street on the right, towards Genainville. At the first Fork in the road, turn left, still heading towards Genainville. At the next Fork in the road, turn left onto Chemin du Tertre. Ignore a narrow lane on the left leading to houses and, at the end of the tarmac road, continue straight on along a stony track, which soon reaches the edge of the woodland on your left.
(3) At the cross and the wash house by the side of the track, enter the Bois de la Brume. Pass a isolated house on the right-hand side, ignore a path branching off to the left, go through a forest gate and continue into the woods. Cross a stream via a small paved ford and head uphill through the woods (damp section). After another forest gate, continue on level ground.
Yellow markings
(4) At a junction, carry on straight ahead (let theGR®®11head off to the left and ignore the yellow marker for anotherPR®® path to the left). A very wet section can be avoided by following a well-marked path to the right of the main track. Ignore an entrance to private property on the right. Cross a small road and, at the next junction, continue straight on. At a T-junction, turn left and you will very quickly reach another junction.
N.B. The purple route on the IGN map leads to a T-junction where you should turn right, not left; however, this route is incorrect, as the corresponding path does not exist.
(5) At the junction, turn right and head slightly downhill, following the wall of a property on your right. When you reach a gate, carry on straight ahead along the tarmac road. At the corner of the property wall, leave the road and turn right onto a path that leads back into the woods. When you reach a gate on the right-hand side (with a view of the Château de Grand Saint-Léger), turn left, move away from the wall and head gently downhill.
(6) Leave the woods and take a grassy path between the fields, with Villers-en-Arthies Castle clearly in view. When a path joins from the right, turn left and continue downhill. At the next junction, carry on straight ahead and head back up a stony path. When you reach the houses, the path gives way to tarmac. At the next junction, follow the Route des Mares straight ahead towards Chérence.
No signposting
(7) At the junction with a fire hydrant on the right-hand side, temporarily leave the signposted route and turn right for a steep but short climb to the gate of Villers-en-Arthies Castle (a lovely close-up view of the building). Retrace your steps.
Yellow markings
(7) Take a tree-lined path opposite as you come down from the château, or on the left if you have chosen not to go up to the château. You’ll come out onto a street (with a view of the church on the left); follow it to the right and pass the town hall on the right-hand side.
(8) At the junction, turn left onto Route de Chérence, towards Villeneuve (note: two differentPR®® trails branch off in opposite directions from this junction). Walk down the tarmac road, cross a small lane on the left and continue uphill to a junction. Then turn right onto the D142 towards Aincourt.
After about a hundred metres, just as the road begins to curve to the left, leave the road and turn right onto a farm track. Pass a shed on the right-hand side, then walk alongside a fenced-off meadow on your left. At the corner of the fence, turn left onto a wide grassy path (be careful not to miss this turn-off). Walk uphill through meadows and woodland until you reach a large farmhouse.
(9) Return to the D142 and follow it to the right. After house number 30ter, turn left onto the Chemin de la Messe. After walking alongside garden fences, cross a copse. At the Fork in the road at the edge of the copse, turn right onto a grassy path which descends between the fields towards the hamlet of Le Tremblay, which is clearly visible. Walk through the hamlet, staying on Chemin de la Messe, which is now tarmac.
Yellow + Red and White markings
(10) At the end of the lane, turn left and rejoin theGR®®11. Immediately ignore a path branching off to the left and head up into a woodland. At the first Fork in the road, take the path furthest to the right. At the second fork in the road (not shown on the map), turn left. At the third fork in the road, turn right. Then ignore a path coming from the left (not shown on the map) and veer to the right. Further on, walk briefly alongside a boundary wall on your right, ignore a path on the right and veer to the left. You’ll come out onto a small road.
Yellow markings
(11) Follow the small road to the right for about 300 metres (let theGR®® head off to the left).
(12) As you emerge from the woods, near a very tall telecoms mast, leave the road (and the markings temporarily) and cross a small meadow on the right at the edge of the woods, keeping the mast on your left. Then take a well-marked path through the bushes. After a few metres, at a metal fence post, ignore the path coming from the left, carry on straight ahead (south) and rejoin the signposting in the woods.
As you emerge from the woods, turn right. Walk alongside the Maudétour golf course on your left, following a gentle curve to the left. Note a sign indicating ‘2 km of flooded sections’; carry on straight ahead and you will soon come to a very wet section that is easy to bypass.
(13) At a junction with anotherPR®® path coming from the right, carry on straight ahead. At a fork in the road (with a signpost on a tree in the middle), turn left. Further on, turn right with the path and you’ll see the golf course on your left again. Then head eastwards. Avoid a long flooded section of the path by taking a parallel path on the right.
At a fork in the road, turn left back towards the main track and follow it again (flooded) along a well-marked path. Return to the main track (dry) then avoid another flooded section by taking the path on the right.
(14) Leave the woodland and continue along the edge, with a fenced-off meadow on your right. Ignore a vague path on the left and head down into the woodland again.
(15) At the three-way junction at the bottom of the descent, turn left towards a large building which is none other than the Château d’Arthies. Pass the château and its dovecote on your right and continue downhill. When a path joins from the left, turn right. Note the church on your left and return to the starting car park (S/E).
Visorando Member
Easy 
Very difficult 
