Grandfonds-Castelculier circular loop

Parking available at the sports ground car park (petanque, tennis and basketball).

(S/E) Walk along the edge of the tennis courts and turn left up Rue du Champ de Baze, then, after 50 m, turn right onto Rue de Lamarque.
After the bridge over the Ribassou stream, pass the site of the ancient Gallo-Roman villa of Villascopia on your left (self-guided tour with information boards).
Continue to a three-way junction. Turn right and continue to the bridge over the Ruisseau de Lautheronne on the outskirts of Grandfonds. Immediately after the bridge, turn left to follow the stream and continue northwards to a road.

(1) Follow the road to the right. Climb up to the junction with the Route du Pech de Mauzac.

(2) Continue climbing to the left. Pass through the hamlets of Noguère and then Mauzac to reach the hamlet of Palé.

(3) On leaving Palé, at the crossroads, leave the Chemin de Pagnou on your right and the road to the left towards Saint-Amans, and continue straight ahead towards Vieux Bourg, C4, Route du Bois Joly.

(4) At the crossroads, take the dead-end road on the left towards Vieux Bourg for 50 m, then turn left onto a grassy path. The path runs below the old castle of the village of Castelculier, the foundations of which can be seen. Continue for about 250 m until you reach a fork.

(5) Ignore the path leading down to the left and continue to the right until you reach a road. Take this road to the left until you reach the D269.

(6) At the junction with the D269, follow it carefully to the right for 50 m, then turn left onto a private but authorised track towards Laclotte; the monument and memorial stone are 1,000 m away.

(7) The monument commemorating those shot in 1945 is located below the ruins of Laclotte Castle.

(8) After passing the castle ruins (abandoned following the 1945 execution), continue straight ahead along a stony track for 20 m, then turn right onto a path leading into the woods.
Follow this path as it winds through the woods, ignoring a path to the left.
As you emerge from the woods, turn left and continue along the edge. Pass a private track leading into the woods on your left and continue along the grassy path.

(9) At the junction with a path coming from the left, turn right onto a path running alongside a hedge towards Saint-Amans (signpost). The path enters the forest and then emerges onto a tarmac road at a place called Buffeben

(10) At Buffeden, ignore the road on the left and continue straight ahead on the road running southwards between the houses until you reach a hairpin bend to the right and the end of the road.

(11) At the end of the road, at no. 1200, turn left onto the grassy path running alongside the woodland. Continue along the edge, then enter the woodland onto the blue-marked trail. The descent down the field to the right, running parallel to the trail, is less strenuous.
Walk past the cemetery and continue to the left-hand bend.

(12) At the end of the bend, before a house on the right, take the grassy path alongside the house and continue to the D269. Cross it carefully and carry on straight ahead on the C204 towards the Mauzac plateau, Route du Bergnet. After crossing the bridge, you’ll reach the circular junction.

(1) Turn right, following the Ruisseau de Lautheronne, to return to the starting point by following the reverse route of the outward journey (S/E).

Option to take a shortcut by avoiding the woods between (8) and (9) for a 9.4 km route.

Ancient Gallo-Roman villa at Lamarque near the start of the route.

(7) Memorial stone in memory of the resistance fighters shot here in 1944.