Loop starting from Charnay

Charnay, a village in the Pierres Dorées region, is located in the Beaujolais area, 20 km from Lyon and 12 km from Villefranche-sur-Saône. Perched at an altitude of 450 m, the village is surrounded by the communes of Alix, Belmont, Saint-Jean des Vignes, Morancé and Marcy. A short hike along paths and little-used roads

Details

4651991
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 9.25 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 30 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 295 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 291 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 412 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 250 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Start from the car park in the centre of the village.

(S/E) Take the Morancé road to the left of the castle. Shortly after passing the school on your right, take Chemin de la Limandiere.

(1) At the fork, leave this path and turn onto the dirt track on the left. Continue along this track until you reach a tarmac road. Take a small dirt track on the left and continue along this small track, which descends slightly.

(2) Cross the D100, Route de Charnay, and continue along the path, crossing at the pedestrian crossing. Turn left at the fork until you reach a tarmac road.

(3) Turn right onto Chemin de la Ronze and follow the road through the hamlet of La Ronze. At the end of the bend, take Chemin de Fondlent on the left.

(4) Turn onto the dirt track on the right until you reach Chemin du Bois. Follow it to a crossroads.

(5) Take Chemin des Calles on the left and follow this path towards the north-west. When you reach Chemin du Crêt, at an elevation of 331 metres, turn right and continue straight ahead until you cross Route de Charnay. Continue along the path that descends opposite

(6) At Chemin de la Colline, turn right and continue along this path, staying on the Route des Combes. Cross Route d'Alix and continue along the dirt track opposite, which descends slightly towards Pont des Soupirs.

(7) At the yellow sign, take the path on the left towards the south. At the next two junctions, keep to the right (Route de Ronzay) and leave this locality on your right.

(8) Leave the Route du Ronzay by taking the dirt track on the right to rejoin the Sentier des Buis, then turn left onto the Chemin Neuf.

(9) Take the path that climbs back up to the village on the right at the large building and leads to the Coursive de Châtillon.

(10) Follow this road to the left, which will take you back to the village centre and the square (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 402 m - Car park in the village centre
  2. 1 : km 0.57 - alt. 357 m - Fouche
  3. 2 : km 1.18 - alt. 317 m - Cross the D100
  4. 3 : km 1.64 - alt. 299 m - Chemin de la Ronze
  5. 4 : km 2.25 - alt. 269 m - Chemin du Bois
  6. 5 : km 2.66 - alt. 287 m - Chemin des Calles
  7. 6 : km 3.92 - alt. 391 m - Chemin de la Colline
  8. 7 : km 6.32 - alt. 250 m - Pont des Soupirs
  9. 8 : km 7.74 - alt. 331 m - Route de Ronzay
  10. 9 : km 8.33 - alt. 348 m - Sentier des Buis
  11. 10 : km 8.63 - alt. 366 m - Coursive de Châtillon
  12. S/E : km 9.25 - alt. 403 m - Car park in the village centre

Reviews and comments

4.2 / 5
Based on 30 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.2 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.3 / 5
Route interest
4.3 / 5
yves.drapp
yves.drapp

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 11, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely route offering varied scenery, including forests, plains and vineyards. There are a few gentle climbs. And the pretty village of CHARNAY, where you can stop for a bite to eat.

Machine-translated

BJMC69
BJMC69

Overall rating : 2.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 06, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

An easy walk through the Beaujolais vineyards. Mostly over open terrain. Lots of roads, but very little traffic. The walk is pleasant nonetheless and offers some points of interest, with lovely unobstructed views and beautiful golden-stone houses along the way, particularly in the village of Charnay. But be warned: the route description is very brief, unclear and lacks detail. A GPS is essential.

Machine-translated

zonzon
zonzon

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 02, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hike completed on 29/02/26 with a few adjustments. Beautiful forest trails, pleasant paths, glorious sunshine, spring is on its way... Easy and quick access from Lyon. We will definitely do this circular hike again as we really enjoyed it...

Machine-translated

VINCENT Simone
VINCENT Simone

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 26, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Date of hike: 24/12/25
Description not very reliable. Fortunately, I had the GPS track.
An interesting winter hike with beautiful views. As the trails were muddy, we appreciated the small roads.
Rating: 4/5

Machine-translated

User 28020381

The paths are tarmaced. Not fun.
There's no point in reporting errors. They're still there four years later.

Machine-translated

Guysmoo
Guysmoo

A beautiful circular route around the villages of the golden stones.

Machine-translated

User 28020381

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 10, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

The paths are tarmaced. Not much fun.

Machine-translated

User 28020381

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 10, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

The roads are tarmaced.

Machine-translated

Guysmoo
Guysmoo

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 13, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

good hiking
varied terrain amidst the vineyards.

Machine-translated

User 16645838

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 04, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Beautiful views of the Monts du Lyonnais, Tararois and Azergues Valley. Very beautiful houses.
But a lot of driving

Machine-translated

seb732A
seb732A

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 21, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A good little walk to get back into shape, although it was advertised as taking 4 hours and 10 minutes, we completed it in 3 hours and 10 minutes without any effort.

Machine-translated

User 20922970

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 19, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant hike that is accessible to all. Many sections are shaded and there are varied views. No problems with the Viso app.

Machine-translated

Odetteb
Odetteb

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 04, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

marking problem: yellow, then red and yellow, then yellow!!!!!!! Needs reviewing

Machine-translated

Gogo46
Gogo46

Overall rating : 2 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 23, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

Hello,
Difficulty finding the start of the trail, paths that have often become roads due to urbanisation, and quite a few buildings!
In short, it's a shame

Machine-translated

COCO69
COCO69
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 19, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Very pretty views of the Beaujolais region, but the paths are not always well maintained (often not cleared)
Easy hike, not too long
Hike done in the opposite direction!!!

Machine-translated

Other walks in the area

For more walks, use our search engine .

The GPS track and description are the property of this route's author. Please do not copy them without permission.