La Poinsetière circular loop via Moulin Bas Charbonneau

de fr

This circular walk takes you first through wooded countryside, then across a cultivated plateau before reaching the Sèvre Nantaise valley, which you’ll follow twice. The walk is mainly along footpaths, and the few roads you do take are very quiet. You’ll therefore be free from the noise of civilisation.

Details

n°458649
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 7.70 mi
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 50 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 361 ft
  • ↘
    Descent: - 377 ft
  • ▲
    Highest point: 318 ft
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 138 ft
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Photos

The Mill
The Mill
Arrival at La Poinsetière
Signposting

Description of the walk

Park in the village of La Poinsetière, which lies to the north-east of the commune of La Bruffière, not far from the River Sèvre.

(S/E) To start the walk, walk back along the road you took when arriving by car until you reach the crossroads with a large wayside cross.

(1) Turn right onto theGRP® Hucheloup variant, marked in red and yellow, and head west.

(2) When theGRP® turns right at a 90° angle, carry on straight ahead. When the path bends to the right, continue straight ahead to reach the green and yellow angled gate.

(3) Turn sharply left, then left again. Follow a path (not shown on the map) to join a path (shown on the map) leading to the hamlet of La Coindelière.

(4) On reaching the hamlet, take the road to the left, crossing the village until you come to the first pond, which you pass by; then turn right, leaving a second pond on your left. When you reach the road, turn right, with your back to Les Grandes Fontaines; walk past the wayside cross by about forty metres, then take the farm track on the left and follow it to Le Recredy, ignoring any turn-offs to the left. As you pass, note the curious almond-green building with a single-pitched tiled roof, which shelters a spring catchment.

(5) Cross Le Recredy, which lies directly in front of you. The route continues along a wide farm track which quickly turns at a right angle to the left and then veers to the right (south-east). Pass under a high-voltage power line.

(6) At the next fork, turn left (east) towards La Morinière. Walk through La Morinière, keeping roughly the same direction. Leave the road and take the path branching off to the left. There is a sign indicating that the Bas Charbonneau mill is 1.9 km away.

(7) Less than 200 m after leaving the road, leave the main track on your left and take the right-hand Fork in the road. You will then walk alongside a poultry farm (chickens, geese, guinea fowl and turkeys… on my visits, the only ones missing were the ducks). Reach a road, cross it and rejoin theGRP® Hucheloup here. Follow it down towards the Sèvre Nantaise.

(8) Leave theGRP®, go through the wooden archway and head left to walk alongside the Sèvre Nantaise. You’ll reach the Moulin du Bas Charbonneau (marked by an information sign).

(9) Join theGRP® again and continue along the path which follows the river for a short while. At La Penneraie, take the road directly in front of you (south-west). After a bend to the right, pass under the high-voltage power line once more. You will reach the hamlet of Le Plessis.

(10) Follow theGRP® as it descends to the right.

(11) Cross the D102 (leaving theGRP®) and take the path opposite (not shown on the map) which runs parallel to the road. At a junction of paths with a farm gate, head left. A little further on, there is a short climb before descending towards the Sèvre. Head up to the left to reach the hamlet of La Poinsetière (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : mi 0 - alt. 269 ft - The hamlet of La Poinsetière
  2. 1 : mi 0.14 - alt. 282 ft - Crossroads – Large wayside cross
  3. 2 : mi 0.81 - alt. 246 ft - Leave the GRP
  4. 3 : mi 1.16 - alt. 210 ft - Green and yellow angled barrier on the left
  5. 4 : mi 1.75 - alt. 197 ft - La Coindelière
  6. 5 : mi 2.95 - alt. 299 ft - Crossing the Recredy
  7. 6 : mi 4.02 - alt. 292 ft - Junction for La Morinière
  8. 7 : mi 4.73 - alt. 299 ft - Leave the main road and turn right
  9. 8 : mi 5.46 - alt. 161 ft - Walk along the River Sèvre to the left - La Sèvre nantaise
  10. 9 : mi 5.74 - alt. 144 ft - Information sign, then the path to the right
  11. 10 : mi 6.53 - alt. 292 ft - Leave Le Plessis via a path on the right
  12. 11 : mi 6.96 - alt. 197 ft - D102 road
  13. S/E : mi 7.7 - alt. 266 ft - The hamlet of La Poinsetière

Notes

To get to La Poinsetière:
From the church square in La Bruffière, head north-east along Rue des Trois Provinces, then turn left onto Rue des Salles. Leave the village and follow the signs to the right towards La Herse, then Les Grandes Fontaines, and finally La Poinsetière, where you can park in the centre of the hamlet.

Reviews and comments

3.7 / 5
Based on 4 reviews
Reliability of the description
3.3 / 5
Ease of following the route
3.5 / 5
Route interest
4.3 / 5
manuuher
manuuher

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 28, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant walk, partly along the banks of the Sèvre.
A small correction regarding point (3): if you follow the GPX track, you’ll go too far. You need to turn off 150 metres earlier onto a path that’s clearly marked on the map (if you zoom in as far as possible). A little further on, the path takes a ‘detour’, whilst the GPX track seems to suggest you should go straight on. It’s not a big deal, though – you won’t get lost.
Apart from that, I didn’t encounter any difficulties, but it’s best to set off with either the app or a map as there are (almost) no signposts.
I particularly liked the mill towards the end and the final stretch along the riverbank. Elsewhere, the view is often very unobstructed.

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JJLH17354
JJLH17354

There is a feature on the Visorando app called ‘Go to starting point’. It takes you to Google Maps.
Regards
JJLH

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denis-joguet
denis-joguet

Hello again,
To use the car’s sat-nav, you need a specific address.
It’s very useful… especially if you’re not very familiar with the area.
No complaints about the rest of the information. Well done on your work.
Déji

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JJLH17354
JJLH17354

Hello again,
I’m not sure what happened, but there was a mistake with the map.
So, as regards the starting point, please disregard my previous reply. However, in the ‘Practical Information’ section, you’ll find precise directions on how to get to the starting point. Have you read them, and if so, are they unclear? I’ll try to improve them.
Kind regards
JJLH

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JJLH17354
JJLH17354

Hello,
Thank you for your comment on the appeal of the walk.
As for the accuracy of the starting point and its spelling, the village of La Bruffière is clearly visible on the walk map. However, I have taken your comment on board and have now clarified that the walk starts at the southern edge of the village of Boussay, but on the opposite bank. Is it clearer following this amendment?
I can confirm, however, that the correct spelling is indeed Poinsetière, which appears on IGN maps and therefore on the map used on the Visorando website.
Enjoy your future walks.
JJLH

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denis-joguet
denis-joguet

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 25, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very interesting walk.
The starting point isn’t specific enough (the town name is missing) and is incorrect:
the village is La Poinstière de La Bruffière, not La Poinsetière

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Jienhache
Jienhache

Thanks, JJLH, for your quick reply. We should now be able to add a TB for the description, and thanks also for the other walks described in the same area.

Happy New Year (it’s never certain that the worst is behind us).

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JJLH17354
JJLH17354

Hello, and thank you for your comments.
Point 4: I did indeed forget to update the description after the path described had been closed off by the farmers. I now take a different path which branches off to the right a little further on (description updated today).
Point 7: The description is correct, but I’ve amended it all the same, as I’ve realised that the path branching off to the right at the Fork in the road is much narrower than the main path and its entrance can be ‘difficult to spot’ if the grass hasn’t been mown.
Noted!
Finally, the estimated duration is that calculated by the Visorando website based on the distance and any elevation gain. As for me, I’d estimated it—allowing for a bit of leeway—at 3 hours, but I was 15 years younger than you at the time. So, well done to you, even though this isn’t a competition.
Here’s to some great hikes in 2021, if they let us get out and about…
Jean-Jacques

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Jienhache
Jienhache

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 08, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

We often go hiking in the area around Tiffauge. Thank you for putting together this guide, which allows us to explore the countryside on the heights of the Sèvre – an area often overlooked in favour of the paths running alongside the river. In fact, we do join the river on two short stretches, which adds some variety to the landscape.
We encountered two difficulties:
At point 4, the route round the Coindelière farm is well described, but at the point where the path finally heads straight on to join the road further on, we found a fixed fence blocking the entrance to the path and had to squeeze through the barbed wire.
At point 7, after turning left onto the path at the sign for the Moulin du Bas Charbonneau, we couldn’t find a clear Fork in the road but found ourselves in a field with a path continuing to the right and a faint track leading through the grass to the left. We headed downhill to the right, where we came across some barbed wire (removable this time) and rejoined the path shown on the map, which led down towards the Sèvre. The map wasn’t much help at this point, and whilst we didn’t pass any poultry farms, we did spot a few ducks.

The estimated time of 3 hours 45 minutes is a bit of a rough guide. We managed it in 3 hours 15 minutes without pushing ourselves (ages: 74 and 76… so that’s not bad)
Thank you.

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JJLH17354
JJLH17354

Hello Christine,
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy this walk. This is the first time I’ve come across comments like this, but they’re no doubt a true reflection of what you experienced or felt. That isn’t the case for the other walkers who’ve used my routes. So all you need to do is avoid any routes suggested by JJLH17354.I can’t offer you any better advice than that. And rest assured, I take no offence at your review – I respect it – as we simply don’t share the same interests when it comes to hiking, nor do we have the same approach to it.
Kind regards.
Jean-Jacques

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gazok54
gazok54 ★

Thank you, christineclenet
It’s important to note that with Visorando, you don’t follow the signposts but read the route descriptions and consult the IGN maps. In fact, the author of this walk doesn’t mention any signposts at all; he merely refers to the GRP.

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christineclenet
christineclenet

Overall rating : 2 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 16, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

Hello, we weren’t able to complete this route!
Even though we’re experienced walkers, the signposting was rather haphazard and the markings were mostly non-existent.
In short, a route of little interest. The paths used by mountain bikers lack the charm of the small footpaths reserved for walkers.
What a shame!

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