Circular route via the ponds and Huis Châtelain

Date of your route : Aug 03, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

The first part is charming, even if it was a bit muddy, but nothing impossible, even in trainers. The return trip along a small road is less memorable but very peaceful nonetheless.

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Date of your route : Jul 29, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

The section between km 1 and km 2 (where you have to walk through the stream) is rather difficult to navigate, particularly as the path is overgrown with brambles. Furthermore, the crossing at the confluence of the two streams is very tricky (due to the width of the crossing and deep water: your boots are likely to get wet if you’re not careful!)

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Date of your route : May 11, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hello – having completed this route on 11 May 2024, I’d like to thank Végounette for making it available… it’s really lovely, and the section along the stream is absolutely lovely… and as for the comments about the stones and mud… well, first of all, I’ve seen far worse and far more inaccessible terrain in this area, and with the stream and water everywhere, it’s hardly surprising and quite common around here – and frankly, apart from one spot (around point 2), the route is still very accessible... so once again, thanks to Végounette for this lovely route, which I really enjoyed.

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Végounette
Would you still like to keep this hike on the site?

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Sorry, the path going downhill isn’t really maintained anymore, except up to the third pond. Yes, the ponds are private. For me, the best bits are the sections along the edge of the forest and the little road that climbs up and passes through Les Chatelains.
I know lots of lovely paths in this area, but they’re no longer maintained these days...

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Date of your route : Jul 12, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

A disappointing hike. For the first half, you’re constantly having to watch your step in the mud, and the second half is on tarmac roads. The route description is inadequate; points 2 and 3 are barely visible, if at all, on the ground.

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Hello,

Thank you for your comment.

Following your comments, this information has been passed on to the author of the walk.

Kind regards

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Date of your route : Sep 20, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing

Personally, I’m very disappointed. In fact, you can’t see a thing! The ponds are fenced off. The paths are difficult. (We already knew that.) What we didn’t know is that you’d need to bring a pruning knife for this walk. A pruning knife to cut through all the brambles, ferns and branches growing all over the place. No nice views to capture the moment. Disappointed. Totally.

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Date of your route : Feb 11, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing

As the walk is called ‘The Ponds Circular Loop’, one naturally expects to see ponds, as one should, and assumes they are the main attraction of the walk. As for the ponds, they are half-hidden in the undergrowth (and even then, it’s February and you can still see a little through the bare branches), and are surrounded by fences and barbed wire along a very muddy path. In the end, the mud got the better of us and we turned back to take a circular route via the Chemin des Maréchaux.

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Date of your route : Jul 18, 2016
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

a lovely walk around the ponds
Thanks for suggesting it.
Jacques

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Date of your route : Sep 11, 2015
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A very pleasant walk, much of which takes place in the forest; it’s not that difficult, though it’s true that the first half of the descent can be quite treacherous in wet weather (N.B.: for a long stretch, the signposted path runs alongside a forest track that’s easier to walk on and less stony)

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