Circular route between the Yon and Riot valleys

Start at the Tourist Office, Place Napoléon.

(S/E) Ride past Saint-Louis Church on your left, then continue along Rue Sadi Carnot. At the end, turn left; at the roundabout, turn right onto the D760 (Rue George Pompidou) and head for the Pont Rouge bridge over the Yon.

(1) Immediately afterwards, turn left onto the cycle path and follow the River Yon as closely as possible, ignoring the turn-offs to the right. Cycle through Rivoli Park until you reach the footbridge over the river.

(2) Continue to the right, go under the road bridge and take the next footbridge. Enter Alluchon Park, turn left about a hundred metres further on and arrive at a three-way junction.

(3) Carry on to the left, ignore the next bridge and turn right. At the fork, facing the road bridge, take the hairpin bend to the left, follow the River Yon on your right, go under the motorway bridge and arrive at a road.

(4) Turn right and you’ll reach a four-way junction.

(5) Turn left onto Route de la Bretèche and take the first track on the right. Keep left at the following junctions and arrive at the hamlet of Les Bas Ajoncs.

(6) Continue to the right, then quickly to the left onto Impasse des Hauts Ajoncs, then go past the farm on your right and carry on straight ahead until you reach a crossroad.

(7) Turn right, walk past the Ajoncs Aerodrome and reach the hamlet of La Levraudière.

(8) Turn left towards the Bois des Girondins. Ignore the hamlet of La Pinière, and turn left then immediately right at the following junctions. A few metres further on, you’ll reach the entrance to the Bois des Girondins, with a wooden gate on your right.

(9) Continue along the path on the right which enters the forest, with the Riot stream running close by. After the footbridges, turn right, then left twice in succession, and reach the hamlet of Les Poudrières via the path climbing the embankment.

(10) When you reach the tarmac road, first turn right then left, following signs for Les Poudrières, 12 to 40, then Les Poudrières, 29 to 40. Leave the hamlet and you’ll come to a car park on your left as you emerge from the bend to the right of the road.

(11) Turn left, cross the car park and then the stream near a ruined mill. Continue to the right, and, at the road, first turn left then right and take the path that runs alongside the Riot stream and then the right-hand bank of Lac de Moulin-Papon. Join a road.

(12) Turn left (Route du Moulin Neuf), then take the first right onto Route des Thermelières. Carry on straight ahead until you reach the four-way junction in the hamlet of La Bretèche, which you passed on the way out.

(5) Carry on straight ahead along Route de la Bretèche, through the hamlet and over the level crossing. At the three-way junction ahead, keep right onto the dead-end road, cross the bridge over the motorway and, immediately afterwards, take the path on the right which leads into the woods until you rejoin the route you took earlier.

(3) Turn left and follow the route back in the opposite direction to the outward journey. After passing through Parc Alluchon and then Parc Rivoli, you will reach Place Napoléon (S/E).

Winding your way through the Yon valley.

Rivoli Park and Alluchon Park.

Near (4), the Moulin Papon Lake Dam. This lake supplies drinking water to the town of La Roche-sur-Yon and remains the largest artificial lake in the Vendée.