Circuit around the Bois de Fagne

If the need for silence, tranquillity, and rolling pastoral landscapes takes hold of you, the Bois de Fagne circuit will fulfil your needs and leave you feeling rested and in the holiday spirit... It’s hard to believe you’re so far north, especially if the sun is out.

Technical sheet

206445
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 10.53 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 10 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Return to departure point: Yes
  • ↗
    Vertical gain: + 54 m
  • ↘
    Vertical drop: - 50 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 226 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 180 m

Photos

Description of the walk

The start and finish point is located in a car park beside the Aibes church. You can park there.

(S/F) Start your hike by taking the Rue de Quievelon towards the D963 road (east). Take this road to the left towards Colleret and Jeumont.

(1) At the chapel, turn right. You are on the Avesnois GRP (Yellow and Red markings). After the cemetery, turn left onto a small road. Cross the railway then veer left to continue alongside it.

(2) At the fork, turn right to Coulmie farm; now leave the GRP. Pass by the Motocross field.

(3) Pas by Coulmie farm keeping it to your left and follow a stone path to the right bordered by a beautiful hedge. Continue on this road to a paved road.

(4) Turn right, follow the road and cross the railway again.

(5) After a few hundred metres, head left on a grassy path, on Route de Grandireux, along the creek of the same name. Be aware that, in the rain, the road is muddy.

(6) At the next intersection, down the road, turn right on a small road.

(7) After passing the Castle of Boutigny (on the right), continue on the road to the Bérelles water tower on the D963 road.

(8) Cross the main road with caution and continue opposite on the road lined with willows and reeds that winds through the grove.

(9) At the crossroads called “Les Cinq Chemins” (the five paths), take the second road on the right that goes north-west and through the Bois du Mesnil (while remaining close to the edge).
‘’Take care at this junction'', the signs do not indicate the right direction: follow this description.

(10) At the junction with a minor road, bear right. At the fork that immediately follows, turn left. Pass the imposing farm on your left and go straight ahead (west) on a grassy path in a hilly landscape. At Thérouanne reach a road, follow it towards the right to the village of Quiévelon.
Take the main street to the cave with a rock with the statue of the Virgin Mary.

(11) Turn right onto Route d’Aibes. At the village entrance, take the first left (Rue Fleurot). At the end of this street, find Rue de Basse, turn right, continue for a few metres and turn left to reach the starting point (S/F).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 194 m - Aibes church car park
  2. 1 : km 0.2 - alt. 196 m - Oratory
  3. 2 : km 1.44 - alt. 202 m - Three-way junction, leaving the GRP
  4. 3 : km 2.22 - alt. 183 m - Coulmie Farm
  5. 4 : km 3.4 - alt. 199 m - Les Vingt Bonniers
  6. 5 : km 3.99 - alt. 195 m - Cross
  7. 6 : km 4.95 - alt. 215 m - T-crossing
  8. 7 : km 5.24 - alt. 220 m - Boutigny Castle
  9. 8 : km 6.04 - alt. 224 m - Route D963
  10. 9 : km 6.93 - alt. 221 m - Les Cinq Chemins
  11. 10 : km 7.65 - alt. 212 m - Intersection
  12. 11 : km 9.06 - alt. 184 m - Quiévelon
  13. S/E : km 10.52 - alt. 194 m - Aibes church car park

Practical information

‘’Bring waterproof footwear in wet weather.''

After passing the cave of the Virgin Mary, shortly after (11), follow the path to find, on your left, a picnic table in the woods, the ideal place to relax while listening to the small stream right behind you.

At the crossroads (9), take care when following the Yellow markings on a tree opposite because the direction indicated by the sign is not the right direction.

In the nearby area

(3) Coulmie Farm which, before 1789, belonged to the Abbey of Alders.

(7) Here you will find an electric pylon, but it looks odd: take a good look, what kind of bird could have done this?

Shortly after (11), find Cave of the Virgin Mary, built at the request of a priest from Colleret and three other parishioners. The inauguration took place 15 August 1958 in the presence of the Archbishop of Cambrai. Every year on 15 August an important Marian pilgrimage brings together the surrounding communities’ parishioners.

During your tour, in late winter, you can see snowdrops.

Reviews and comments

4.5 / 5
Based on 9 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.6 / 5
Clarity of route map
4.8 / 5
Route interest
4.2 / 5
gerendo
gerendo

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Jan 31, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

Lovely, quiet country walk and a very pretty village to walk through.

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Hulklefou
Hulklefou
• Last modified:

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Apr 03, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Busy trail : No

Too many tarmac roads for my liking (3/4 of the time).
However, it was a quiet walk in the middle of nature with some nice views.

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isabelleseny
isabelleseny

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Aug 01, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

A very pleasant, easy walk that allows you to discover the hedged farmland.
The only downside was that, as we were walking in boots rather than on stilts, the untrimmed hedges were an obstacle to our view.
Openings in the hedges bordering the roads would make the walk even more pleasant.

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gs
gs

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Mar 23, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Quiet countryside walk.
No worries, well described.
The sun was missing to brighten things up, but it was pleasant.

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Buzzrando
Buzzrando

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Sep 12, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Cool

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josettelimont
josettelimont

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of walk : Aug 21, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

pleasant walk in a green and calm setting.

a little hesitation at the start as to which direction to take....

there are several ways of shortening the route without any problems (we walked 8 km).

Keep up the great walks...

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zoe.demeure
zoe.demeure
• Last modified:

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Jun 27, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A pleasant walk in the sunshine. Between hedged farmland and pretty panoramas typical of the Avesnois, many small oratories dot the path. A peaceful and pleasant trail.

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maxetnewton
maxetnewton

Hello,
At the beginning, the direction to take is not well indicated, we left in the opposite direction.we noticed it after one km but we decided to continue in this direction because finally it comes to the same thing.apart from that no worries of orientation, the description is reliable.
Best regards

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bibi
bibi ★

Thank you for your feedback. Have you had any orientation problems because of the description? If so, how can they be resolved?
Sincerely

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maxetnewton
maxetnewton

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of walk : Jun 29, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

There are too many tarmac roads with a few cars passing through but dogs have to be kept on a lead.there are some beautiful country landscapes and a few (too rare) paths but nothing extraordinary to see.we drove 160km round trip to do this walk and we were rather disappointed.

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lecatesien59
lecatesien59

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Feb 06, 2016
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

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