Chassagne-Saint-Denis walks

There are four viewpoints on this woodland hike. The first is in the Ravin de Valbois Nature Reserve, a typical Jura wilderness area, under the protection of the proud thousand-year-old keep of Castel Saint-Denis. Then you will return, overlooking the peaceful Loue valley, discovering the heights, Notre-Dame du Chêne and the old town of Ornans.

Three viewpoints allow you to discover the Ornans mountains from the left bank of the Loue, Mont d'Ornans, Roche Thiébaut and Grand Barmaud, before returning to the valley by winding your way through La Facle, a narrow and picturesque fault that cuts into the cliff, and ending at the erratic boulders, geological curiosities, masses of stone weighing over 130 tonnes, transported by glaciers 600,000 years ago.

At the end of a wild valley, you will discover the Saut de Bonneille, located less than a kilometre from Courbet's father's farm in Flagey. This exceptional site caught the painter's eye in 1875. The tufa, a deposit of limestone, forms a conical mass surrounded by a plume of foam during periods of high water. Return via the Chassagne plateau and the Monts d'Ornans viewpoint.

You will discover the superb white rock cornices at the start of the upper Loue Valley, balconies overlooking the wild nature of the Valbois ravine, climbing boldly at the foot of the cliffs and crossing them via a narrow rocky pass, La Facle, which will lead you to the Barmaud viewpoint over the Brème valley and Notre-Dame du Chêne and the thousand-year-old keep of Castel Saint-Denis, still proudly perched on its rocky spur.

This route will allow you to discover the setting of our small Franche-Comté town from three viewpoints: Roche Fournièche, Rocher d'Ully and Châtelet.

Discover Ornans, a small town in Franche-Comté with plenty of character, via three viewpoints (Roche Fournièche, Rocher d'Ully and Rocher du Châtelet). Nicknamed "the little Venice of Franche-Comté", it will charm you with its houses on the Loue river and its bridges, which were a source of inspiration for the great Gustave Courbet.

You will climb from the small Franche-Comté town to the Fontaine aux Vipères, a major site on the Courbet Trail thanks to the famous 1855 painting "Le Château d'Ornans", where the gossips of Courbet's time used to gather. Then, from the castle overlooking Ornans, you will return along the cornices with their many viewpoints, via the charming little valley of La Roche des Pins.

This circuit will allow you to discover the setting of our small Franche-Comté town from three viewpoints: the Belvédère de Notre Dame du Mont, the Château d'Ornans and the Château du Grand, offering sweeping views of the Loue valley. This is a major site on the Courbet Trail, thanks to the famous 1855 painting Le Château d'Ornans, an oil on canvas kept at the Minneapolis Museum. You will discover the Fontaine aux Vipères (Viper Fountain), which still echoes with the gossip of our cancouaines (local women).

From Cléron, through a beautiful, cool forest alternating between fir and deciduous trees, ideal for a hot summer's day, you will visit the gentle monk Toum Tatre, a monolith resembling a tonsured Capuchin monk, watching piously over the Norvaux valley from the top of his cliff. You will return through the Plain Mont forest to two unsecured viewpoints, one overlooking Castel Saint-Denis and the other overlooking Cléron and its castle.

Six petits kilomètres pour quatre points de vue sur le Val de Cléron, la reculée de Norvaux et le capucin de pierre Tountâtrou où nos anciens Comtois célébraient leurs dieux au sein même de la nature, au pied de ce colosse de pierre.

Hike north of Ornans with many points of interest and viewpoints. On the programme: the Château viewpoint, the Puits de la Brême, the Gouille aux Chèvres, the Grotte du Plaisir Fontaine, the Rocher du Tourbillon, the Saut du Chevalier, Notre-Dame du Mont. The hike can end with a visit to the town centre (§ Practical information). This is a very difficult hike due to its length and elevation gain. You need to be in good physical condition, as some sections are reserved for experienced hikers (ladders, passages requiring the use of your hands, etc.) with areas that are more or less wet and rocky. However, the route is varied and the views are magnificent. In autumn, this route offers a festival of colours.

Set off to explore the mountains of Franche-Comté, accompanied by the murmur of our cool streams which, if you know how to listen, will tell you many forgotten stories. Discover the vegetation petrified by our limestone waters and the coolness of secret caves nestled in the wild greenery.

Hike in the woods with a visit to the Peusse waterfalls in Ornans.

Following in the footsteps of Gustave Courbet, the Ravin du Puits Noir was one of the painter's favourite places. You will follow the course of the Brême, walk peacefully along the old Tacot road, climb the Roche du Tourbillon for superb views of the picturesque and steep-sided Brême valley, and finally end at the Prieuré de Bonnevaux, of which only a charming chapel and its 12th-century bell tower remain.

From a beautiful pine forest, sheltered by beautiful rocks and crossing large boulders detached from the cliffs, you will arrive at the Belvédère de la Roche du Grand viewpoint at the head of the valley, overlooking Ornans and the Val de Scey. Continuing towards the Fontaine aux Vipères, where Courbet's cancan dancers once performed, then to the castle overlooking the town, you will return through meadows overlooking the upper Loue valley, finally descending into the Brême valley through a beautiful, light-filled rocky forest.

Walking along the banks of the emerald-green Brême, you will enter a dense forest until you reach the Ravin du Puits Noir, a dark, hidden, impenetrable and wild place where Gustave Courbet set up his easel more than fifty times. You will emerge at La Gouille, where goats once drank, and return peacefully via the old Tacot road and its viaduct, passing by the Puits de la Brême, the entrance to the underworld or the crystal palace of the fairies.

From the site of the former castle of Ornans, which overlooks the old town, the route climbs towards the pastures offering beautiful views of the upper Loue valley and Mont Poupet. The return journey takes you along cool, pleasant forest paths to La Roche du Grand, a viewpoint overlooking the lower Loue valley, then to the Fontaine aux Vipères, where you can still hear the gossip of our Franche-Comté "cancouaines" (local women).

Starting from Ornans Castle overlooking the old town, after a detour to the Fontaine des Vipères, a meeting place for gossips in Courbet's time, you will walk along the superb line of cornices indented with small recesses and dotted with numerous viewpoints overlooking the upper and lower Loue valley. A round trip that will not exhaust all the attractions of this walk.

You will climb a picturesque path overlooking the Loue to the Roche Lahier viewpoint above the Upper Loue Valley. Then on to the vineyards of Loray and its remains of terraced crops, before descending through the fir forests of Onchaud to the Roche Bottine viewpoint on the cliffs of Ornans.

The Loue Valley, an inexhaustible source of hiking opportunities, offers the rugged, wild charm of its rocks, ending more peacefully at the Saut du Chevalier waterfall in the cool Brême Valley, so often painted by Courbet.

There is a short climb to the Roche Bottine, immortalised by Courbet in his painting "La Vallée de la Loue par temps d'orage" (The Loue Valley in Stormy Weather). Its unusual shape, reminiscent of an old boot standing on the edge of a precipice, gave it its name. This viewpoint offers a 180° panorama of Ornans, the Vierge de la Roche du Mont, and the upper and lower reaches of the Loue Valley. Along the way, you will discover the Roche Lahier viewpoint, a natural viewpoint overlooking the upper reaches of the Loue Valley towards Montgesoye.

You will take the old Tacot railway line, a small, narrow-gauge railway that climbed up to Pontarlier, to discover the Val de Cléron and its castle, surrounded by the white cliffs at the start of the Haute Vallée de la Loue.

From Cléron Castle, through a beautiful, cool forest alternating between fir and deciduous trees, ideal for a hot summer's day, you will visit the gentle monk Toum Tatre, a monolith resembling a tonsured Capuchin monk, watching piously over the Norvaux valley from the top of his cliff. Walking along the ledges of the twin valley of Valbois, you will return via Castel Saint-Denis, overlooking the valley from its rocky spur.

Descend towards the corniches of Scey-en-Varais via the aptly named Chemin de Bellevue, a pretty balcony overlooking the Loue Valley. Then climb back up to the Vierge de Malbrans, which offers a magnificent panorama of the Roche de Hautepierre and Mont Poupet and, lost in the greenery, the Castel Saint-Denis and perhaps the summit of Mont Blanc on a clear day. There are tables where you can picnic while enjoying the breathtaking view. Return through a cool and peaceful forest.

This is a country walk whose great merit is that it is... in the countryside. However, it will take you along beautiful forest paths to the Virgin of Malbrans, offering a magnificent 360° panorama: to the south over the Loue Valley, from Roche de Hautepierre to Mont Poupet, and, lost in the greenery, Castel Saint-Denis and perhaps the summit of Mont Blanc on a clear day. After this short walk, tables await you for a picnic while you enjoy the breathtaking view.

"In these moments of terrible solitude, between life and death, one involuntarily thinks back to one's youth, one's parents, one's friends. I saw again in the mirror of my mind the meadows of Flagey where I used to go with my mother to gather hazelnuts," wrote Gustave Courbet, imprisoned after the Commune. From the family farm, follow in his footsteps and discover the little valley of Bonneille, the old oak tree of Sillet and the beautiful fountain-wash house of Chantrans.

Discover one of the unique features of the Jura mountains: the reculées, narrow, deep valleys lined with high, steep walls, formed at the end of the ice ages by a gradual retreat of the valley floor into the plateau, ending in wild cirques. The Norvaux reculée ends in three cul-de-sacs carved out by the Pomme Gaude, Fontaine des Cassards and Fontaine de Fer streams.

Starting from the bell tower of the old medieval priory, you will cross the cool Brême valley, so often painted by Courbet. You will climb up to the Saut du Chevalier viewpoint to reach the Vierge de la Roche du Mont, continuing along the cornices towards the Roche des Pins and its views over the Loue valley. You will climb up to the Septfontaine plateau and its views of the Jura mountains, before finally descending towards the Brême via a picturesque mule track.

Starting from the bell tower of the former medieval priory, you will cross the cool Brème valley, so often painted by Courbet. Then, climbing back up to the Saut du Chevalier viewpoint, you will descend into the valley via a picturesque mule track.

Starting from the bell tower of the old medieval priory, you will cross the cool Brême valley so often painted by Courbet. Then you will climb through a beautiful fir forest sheltered by stunning rocks, passing large boulders detached from the cliffs, towards the Grand viewpoint overlooking the upper Loue valley, Ornans and the Val de Scey. Continuing towards the Fontaine aux Vipères and then the castle overlooking the town, you will descend into the valley via a picturesque mule track.