Circular north of Montagne via Les Moulins de Calon

A short circular, gently undulating loop through vineyards and woodland, passing by the magnificent, perfectly restored Calon mills.

Details

n°1583028

Creation:
25 Oct 2018

Last update:
31 Dec 2018

Last review:
14 Apr 2024

Activity: Walking
Distance: 6.92 km
Average duration: 2h 10
Difficulty: Easy
Back to start: Yes
Ascent: + 70 m
Descent: - 70 m
Highest point: 99 m
Lowest point: 35 m

Country: France
District: Montagne (33570)
Start/End: N 44.929945° / W 0.127608°
IGN map(s): Ref. 1636E
Hour-by-hour weather

Avalanche risk assessment bulletin

Discover Visorando Premium

Downloads

Open in the mobile app

Download GPX GPX

Download PDF PDF

Photos

Description of the walk

Park in the car park on the D 244 in the centre of Montagne, in front of the Les Marronniers restaurant.

(S/E) Take the main street, passing in front of the magnificent Romanesque church of Saint-Martin. Go around it on the left. Follow the D244E1 downhill. Reach the fork in the village of Arriail.

(1) Go up the road on the right. At the top, turn left onto the D122E5 departmental road. You will reach the crossroads in the hamlet of Calon.

(2) Make a left-right zigzag. Pass in front of the Moulins de Calon, then take the path on the right until you reach a road. Turn right, cross the D122E5 and continue on the path through the vineyards. Arrive at the crossroads at the place called Faizeau.

(3) Turn right, then immediately left. Pass Maison Neuve, then take the first path on the right through the vineyards.
Before reaching the woods, turn left to join the D121E2 road, turn right and continue for a few metres until you reach a crossroads opposite Corniaud.

(4) Turn right onto this path through the woods and walk to Mirande.

(5) Cross the village, then continue straight ahead on the D122. You will reach a crossroads with a house.

(6) Turn right onto the road leading to Guitard. Cross this small village to reach a new road.

(7) Turn right onto it, then take the first left. Walk alongside the Montagne cemetery before reaching the car park in front of the Les Marronniers restaurant (S/E).

Waypoints

S/E : km 0 - alt. 88 m - Les Marronniers restaurant car park, town centre
1 : km 0.59 - alt. 73 m - Arriail fork
2 : km 1.43 - alt. 90 m - Carrefour Moulins de Calon
3 : km 2.6 - alt. 59 m - Crossroads at Faizeau
4 : km 3.88 - alt. 37 m - Crossroads opposite Corniaud
5 : km 5.19 - alt. 68 m - Mirande
6 : km 5.83 - alt. 77 m - Crossroads towards Guitard
7 : km 6.3 - alt. 84 m - Crossroads after Guitard
S/E : km 6.92 - alt. 88 m - Les Marronniers restaurant car park, town centre

Notes

This hike may cross or follow other routes. It is tempting to follow the markers! Unless otherwise specified, do not stray from this route.
You are leaving the beaten track, and all the landmarks mentioned in the description (places, names of castles, but also high-voltage power lines, bridges, etc.) are shown on the corresponding IGN 1/25,000 map. However, they are not always shown on the reduced map.
We strongly recommend that you either purchase the map or use the app on a smartphone.
What's more, the app will allow you to be geolocated at all times, so you can track your movements with precision.
Please respect the "Visorando Charter" in every respect.
You will often be crossing private property, which is the only way to continue on such routes.
The use of walking sticks can be very useful and reassuring; in addition to providing stability, they improve the distribution of effort.

Worth a visit

Saint-Martin Church: the church has a Latin cross plan, typical of^{the 12th} century. The single nave, which was only covered with vaults in^{the 19th} century, continues to the east with a large, very prominent transept, which was vaulted in the Romanesque period. The north arm of the transept was added at a later date: it covers the buttresses that originally supported the central bell tower; the bases of the columns, which are flatter and have claws, date from a later period than the bases of the square. The two apsidioles and the apse grafted onto the transept form the chevet.
North arm of the transept. Crossing of the transept Apse.
This part of the church is unique in that it has four types of vaults:
All three apses have semi-circular vaults.
The north arm of the transept, covered with a pendentive dome, is exceptionally well constructed. There is a broken barrel vault on the south arm of the transept and a ribbed dome on the square of the transept. The pillars planted at the corners of the square are reinforced with engaged columns on which the framing arches rest; between these columns and at each corner of the square, there are two other columns that are more like rounded pilasters. Like the other columns, these two pseudo-columns have capitals, and between each capital there is a corbel table supporting a square rib, 59 cm wide and 33 cm thick, decorated on the intrados with a row of quatrefoils. This dome, unique in the Libourne region, truly heralds the Gothic ribbed vaults.
At the crossing of the transept stands a large square bell tower, which was crenellated during the Hundred Years' War. (Source: Wikipedia).

Calon Mills: Built in^{the 16th} century, five mills with canvas sails, two of which have been restored – picnic area – botanical trail and hiking path, magnificent view.
Two of the five mills on the Calon hill have been restored. These tower mills, with their slender cylindrical shafts, are built of well-cut stone and rubble. Inside is a staircase leading to the millstone chamber. The drive shaft, which supports the sails and the large wheel, sets the interior in motion, turning the sails. To function, the sails with bars and struts attached to the end of the drive shaft are covered with canvas. They are also tilted to catch the wind better. From the skylight at the rear of the conical roof, a long oak pole attached to the frame descends to the ground; this is the drawbar, which is used to turn the roof so that the sails face the wind. One of the restored mills grinds grain as it did in the past.

Reviews and comments

4.1 / 5

Based on 11 reviews

Reliability of the description
3.9 / 5

Ease of following the route
3.9 / 5

Route interest
4.6 / 5

ricoutitine

14 Apr 2024 at 06:50 7200

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 14, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Without GPS, we get lost in the vineyards.

Machine-translated

Tigram

08 Apr 2024 at 12:04 7200

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 17, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

The highlight of this hike is the mills in Calon, some of which have been beautifully restored and offer stunning views. The route is a little difficult to follow through the vineyards, so you'll need to keep your phone handy to navigate. The natural surroundings are beautiful, and we even came across a wild boar hiding under some brambles in the vineyard, near the forest. Fortunately, it was as scared as we were and ran away. ;-)

Machine-translated

micannie

27 Oct 2023 at 12:13 7200

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 22, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Lovely walk. Beautiful views. Charming village starting point. Interesting route. No difficulty.
Thank you, Bruno.

Machine-translated

etoileliott

31 Jul 2023 at 08:11 7200

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 31, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

This circular is very interesting, but there are not enough markings.
But with the app, it's very easy.

Machine-translated

Yves Pluv

15 May 2023 at 11:17 7200

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : May 13, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant route, but the directions are sometimes too vague, particularly in the vineyards where vineyard paths are confused with other paths, especially after the place known as "Maison Neuve".

Machine-translated

RP33

31 May 2021 at 07:28 7200

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : May 30, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk through the vineyards; the Calon mills site is truly unique. The pleasant coolness of the undergrowth is much appreciated in hot weather.

Machine-translated

EON Brigitte

14 Dec 2020 at 14:08 3600

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 09, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Pleasant hike, beautiful village in MIRANDE, warm welcome.

Machine-translated

delangeb

14 Dec 2020 at 09:22 3600

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 12, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very pleasant. The description is accurate, but it would be helpful to specify which side of the ditches to walk on when passing the vineyards in order to reach the road to Maisonneuve.

Machine-translated

Jacques Th

26 Oct 2020 at 11:30 3600

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 08, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

I chose to set off from Mirande (near Montagne on the road to Lussac) via the very pleasant and beautiful Chemin du Caillou to reach the mills of Calon, as I think it's better than setting off from Montagne.
There is only one difficult part of the route: crossing Maison Neuve to reach the very pretty path that leads back to Mirande. We chose to cut across the vineyards slightly before Maison Neuve to avoid the difficult-to-access woods.

Machine-translated

Closparadis

08 Jun 2020 at 09:00 7200

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 08, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

minor issues with some of the vineyard layouts, but we're getting there

Machine-translated

henri57

23 Jan 2019 at 17:15 3600

Hello,

Thank you for taking the time to give your opinion.

You rated:

Reliability of the route on the map: Average

"Map accuracy" refers to how accurately the route shown on the map corresponds to the actual terrain.

Did the route cause any problems?
Did you follow the route using a GPS or GPS application?
Did you deviate from the route of the hike?

A+

Machine-translated

granny

23 Jan 2019 at 13:29 3600

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 20, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A pleasant route, easy to do with the family.
Please note that for points 3 & 4, it is useful to refer to the IGN map if you have a mobile phone...

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.

Author

Bruno33500
66 Walks

Visorando member

Machine-translated walk - Original version

Walk map

Bigger map and chart