Loops of Feucherolles and the western part of the Marly Forest

Departure from the Feucherolles town hall car park. Park in one of the two car parks on the left-hand side of the street when coming from the D307 road.

Red and white markings

(S/E) Leave the car park on the west side (from the back car park, as shown on the map, go under a porch). Turn right into a street that soon climbs steeply.

No markings (for the most part)

(1) On the flat, at the crossroads, turn right. Cross a residential area via its main street and ignore all side streets. At the crossroads, continue straight ahead on Rue de la Chapelle towards Sainte-Gemme. At the stop sign, turn left. Cross another residential area, ignoring two turn-offs on the right. At the next junction, continue straight ahead into Rue Tricherie, which soon turns right.

Red and white markings (intermittent)

(2) At the T-junction, turn left onto Rue de la Mare à Jeanne and rejoin the^GR®1. At the fork after about 50 metres, make a zigzag left-right turn to follow a path at the foot of an electricity pole, leaving a small white house on your right. At the corner of the buildings of a riding centre, turn right (markers) and head towards a crossroads in the forest.

(3) At the crossroads, do not go through the forest barrier and follow the^GR® immediately to the left on a path. Wind your way downhill through a recently cleared area. Near a wall on the left (plot no. 50), turn right and go back up (ignore an old red and white cross). N.B. The^GR® route has been changed here due to overgrowth in the valley, and the purple line on the IGN map has not been updated. At the top, at a fork, turn left (there is no arrow to indicate this, but there is a marker further on). The path is poorly marked and the markings are lost: stay on the edge of the plateau, in a beech forest with the valley below on your left. At the next junction, descend to the left along a wide path (not shown on the map). At the bottom, turn right, return to the bottom of the valley and the markings, and follow a stream on your left.

(4) At the next junction, turn right and climb again (no markings here). At the top, just before you reach a tarmac forest road, turn left onto a good path that winds through the forest. After a very large oak tree on the left, at a T-junction, turn left and descend. At the bottom, at a fork, take the path on the right and follow the remains of a wall on your left. Further on, veer right, away from the wall, and climb again through fern undergrowth.

No markings

(5) At the top of the slope, at a T-junction, turn left, leaving the^GR®1trail to your right, and note the view on your left. Just after a majestic oak tree on your right, at a three-way junction (not shown on the 1:25,000 map), turn right and leave another large oak tree on your right. At an ONF sign on the left, cross a faint perpendicular path and continue straight ahead south-southeast (the path marked in purple on the map does not exist; the^GR® follows the forest road). At the end of the path, follow a tarmac forest road to the left (apart from bicycles, only ONF vehicles are allowed on this road). Ignore a wide path on the right and continue to a crossroads (bench).

(6) Take the second path on the right (signposted "Vestiges du Château de Retz") and leave the bench on your right. Ignore a bridle path (horseshoe) immediately on your left and, after a few metres, before a stump and a large beech tree on the left, take a narrow path on the left that climbs up the edge of the moat of the former Château de Retz.

Then turn left and take a faint path around this former fortified castle, overlooking its square-shaped moat on your right, which is still clearly visible (but whose outline on the map is approximate). At the first corner, turn right and continue parallel to the A13 motorway in the distance (not far enough to avoid some noise pollution). At the next corner, turn right again: the path becomes more overgrown but it's passable... Note a kind of bridge on the right giving access to the site of the old castle (return trip possible).

At the next corner, continue straight ahead, leaving the ditch on your right and heading towards a grassy path (horseshoe on the left). Follow this path to the right, north-north-west, then ignore a path on the right that is not shown on the map (plot no. 34).

(7) At the next crossroads (plots nos. 34 and 37; old sign "Chemin d'Hardouin"), turn left onto Route de Poix. After about 100 metres, at another crossroads, turn left (south-east). At the Étoile du Chêne des Clairets, take the second path on the left, which is wide and closed to horse riders (sign).

(8) At the crossroads (signpost), cross the tarmac forest road and turn right onto the bridle path towards Val Martin (plots nos. 25 and 28). At the next fork, turn left and stay on the bridle path. At the next crossroads (Étoile de Noailles), take the second path on the right (west-northwest). At the next junction, continue straight ahead and cross three narrow forest tracks.

Yellow markings

(9) At the crossroads, continue straight ahead on a wider path (plot no. 30). Walk alongside a pond on your left and, at the next crossroads, continue straight ahead (plot no. 29A). On a wide path, walk alongside a sparse forest on your left (some beautiful oak trees) and a coppice on your right. At the Étoile d'Avignières (signpost), take the first path on the right (west-northwest; the path shown on the map heading northeast does not exist) towards the Étoile du Braconnier (plot no. 39).

Orange markings

(10) At Étoile du Braconnier, continue straight ahead (north-west) on the narrowest path (plot no. 41A). Ignore the path on the left, which is closed to horse riders. Cross a tarmac track and turn right at the foot of an information sign onto Route Ténébreuse between plots nos. 43 and 38.

No markings

(11) At the first crossroads, ignore the markings that continue straight ahead and turn left (plot no. 44). At a slightly marked junction, continue straight ahead (north-west). At the Rossignol crossroads (elevation 173), turn left onto a bridleway towards a clearly visible car park (the two paths shown on the map, south-south-west and south-south-east, do not exist).

Orange markings

(3) Turn left to cross the car park and then a tarmac road and take the bridle path opposite (south) between two wooden posts. Ignore a path coming from the right, walk along a wall on your right and you will arrive at the Étoile du Bout du Monde (sign).

Yellow + Orange Markings

(12) Turn right and leave the forest through a passageway in the wall. Turn right immediately between two fences. The path gives way to tarmac and, at the T-junction, turn left. Ignore a lane on the right and, at the roundabout (stone cross), leave a chapel on your right and follow Rue de la Vieille Fontaine (Rue de la Côte Saint-Cloud, which is also signposted here, starts further on).

Yellow markings

At the second sign for Rue de la Côte de Saint-Cloud, leave the street and turn right onto the path that descends steeply into a wood. At the bottom, at a fork, turn right and cross the Feucherolles golf course car park.

No markings

(13) Just before a left-hand bend in the road, turn right (due north) onto a grassy path that starts between a hedge on the left and a wire fence on the right. At the fork (spring on the right), take the leftmost path. Walk along a meadow on your left and then gardens on your right. At the tarmac road, continue straight ahead into a residential area. Ignore a dead end on the right and, at the next crossroads, turn right onto Rue des Coulons.

(14) At the T-junction (well on the right), follow the street to the left and, after a few metres, go around the church in either direction. Turn left onto Grande Rue.

(14) Back at the junction, continue straight ahead and, after the small car park on the right, you will find the town hall car park on the left (S/E).

Hiking boots are necessary, particularly due to potentially muddy sections in the Forest of Marly.

No drinking water points identified along the route. Bakery and bar-restaurant (closed on Mondays) near the town hall in Feucherolles (S/E).

A detailed map is essential (at least the one accompanying this description). The loop in the Forest of Marly, starting from (3), requires a good sense of direction; a compass may be useful.

The original route of this hike, starting from Chavenay, included crossing the D307 road at a particularly dangerous spot due to limited visibility. The route has been significantly modified to remove this risky passage and, at the same time, the forest loop has been extended.

Variations:
- As this is an 8-shaped hike, it is of course possible to doonly one of the two loops. To do so, park at the Étoile du Silence (3). For the loop in Feucherolles, passing through (S/E), allow for around 5.5km. For the loop in the Forest of Marly, via (6), allow for around 7.5km.
- If you wish to avoid the off-trail visit to the ruins of Château de Retz, at (6), take the first path on the right (horseshoe sign) leaving the bench on your left; ignore a path on the right and, at a fork, turn right to reach the crossroads (7).
- If you wish to shorten the forest loop, at Étoile du Braconnier (10), take the second path on the left heading due west, marked with yellow and orange signs. At the end, turn right and you will immediately reach Étoile du Bout du Monde (12). Then turn left to rejoin the main route. This shortens the route by about 1 km.

Hike completed three times by the author, the first on 18 December 2016, the last on 14 March 2017.

In the Forest of Marly:
- Beautiful forest cover, some remarkable trees.
- Remains of the Château de Retz (6). An ancient fortified castle built in the early 13th century, it was repeatedly ravaged and then restored during the Hundred Years' War. It was razed to the ground in the 17th century. Today, only the moat, which is still clearly visible, and the site of the castle remain. The site is interesting from a historical point of view but is not spectacular.
- Mare peu après (9).

In Feucherolles:
- Stone cross (12th century), after (12).
- Sainte-Gemme Chapel (20th century), after (12).
- Spring after (13).
- Sainte-Geneviève Church (12th-13th century) (14).