Circular route through the Levier Forest via Hyoche and the ‘Épicéas du Roi de Rome’

The start point is in the car park of the Maison Forestière du Rondé.

(S/E) Head towards the D72 and cross with care. Take the Route des Sapins directly opposite you.

(1) At the junction, turn right onto the Route Forestière des Laves and continue until you reach the junction with the Route du Brûlé. Turn left and carry on to the next junction.

(2) You’ll arrive at the Paysage d’Hyoche viewpoint. If you walk up about fifty metres, you’ll find a picnic table on the edge of the forest. Opposite the Route du Brûlé, take a lovely tarmac road. Carry on until you reach the junction with the Route forestière de Prés l’Épée.

(3) Carry on straight ahead and take a right-hand bend to reach another junction.

(4) Turn right onto the Route des Sapins and follow it for a few dozen metres. Pass the wooden hut on your right, below the embankment, and reach the junction with the grassy track that runs past the wooden shelter.

(5) Take the sharp right-hand bend to follow this path. Walk past the Hyoche railway halt, a relic of a bygone era. Shortly after the picnic table, head slightly downhill to the left and then left again after a few steps. If the vegetation isn’t too dense, you’ll be able to spot the Source de Brassecouche beneath the canopy.

(6) Retrace your steps to the junction with the Route forestière de Prés l’Épée, which you passed earlier.

(3) Turn right onto the Route forestière de Prés l’Épée. Continue along this very pleasant path and turn right at the junction with the Route forestière de la Louvetière. As you emerge from the forest, walk along the meadows until you reach the D72.

(7) Cross with great care, then continue to the right along the land consolidation track, which will branch off to the left. Walk past the pond and join a cross-road called the Voie du Moulin.

(8) Turn left onto it. Further into the forest, ignore the two side roads and carry on straight ahead until you reach the junction with the Route forestière du Rondé.

(9) Keep to the right, staying on the Voie du Moulin, and carry on until you reach the junction with the Route des Sapins. Follow this road, turning left, until you reach a larger crossroads.

(10) Look out for the grassy path on the left that leads into the forest between the Route des Sapins and the Route de Bellecombe: a sign reads “Épicéas du Roi de Rome”. Take this path, admire these gigantic trees and continue along the track.

(11) Take care and look out for a grassy track leading off to the right and uphill. Carry on, heading due west, through the vegetation until you reach a path running perpendicular to it.

(12) Turn left and walk a few dozen metres. Look out for a huge old stump covered in moss at the side of the path on the right and, at this point, turn right off the path between the fir trees. Walk for about forty metres until you reach a much better-marked path.

(13) Continue to the right, join the botanical discovery trail and follow it in the same direction. Carry on until you reach the Masson Forest Road and turn right for about fifty metres.

(14) Join the discovery trail on your left. Carry on along the most visible and best-marked track, which may not necessarily correspond to the map. You’ll reach a major junction with the Masson Forest Road.

(15) Turn right and carry on straight ahead to reach the car park (S/E).

Between (11) and (14), follow the route map. Finding your way is quite tricky due to forestry work and vegetation.

Rondé Wildlife Park.
Hyoche landscape.
Railway stop and Brassecouche Spring.
The King of Rome’s spruce trees.