Circular Courlis and Rhône-Rhine Canal

Car park at the Montreux-Château river stop.

(S/E) Follow the cycle path north-east towards Montreux-Château below the D11. It crosses the Saint-Nicolas river via a beautiful wooden footbridge.
The route is marked with a blue disc.

(1) At the crossroads, turn left onto Rue Maréchal Leclerc, opposite the town hall. Look out for the pretty wash house next to the town hall.
(Note: to see the Motte castrale, you have to walk 200 metres back and forth on Rue de l'Ancienne Église next to the wash house).
Continue west along Rue du Maréchal Leclerc. Cross Rue de la Courte Aice and walk along the right-hand side of the cemetery. The road becomes a path.
100 metres after the cemetery, leave a path on the right, cross the stream and pass in front of the hunters' shelter.
You will arrive at the Courte Aige viewpoint sign. There is a lovely view of the Swiss Jura and Lomont.

(2) At the fork, turn right as indicated by the signposts. Turn right again 400 metres further on.
Cross the ditch that feeds the Rhône-Rhine canal and follow it to the right. After 150 metres, turn left.

(3) Go over the railway line. Continue straight ahead and cross the housing estate via Rue du Coudra.

(4) At the D28, turn left onto the main street before turning left down Rue de la Barrière, which leads to Novillard. Pass by the church, cross the railway line and then the La Madeleine river.

(5) Turn right onto Rue du Moulin just after the Novillard sign. The route winds through the village, but the signposts are helpful. At the end, turn left onto Rue de la Fontaine. Turn right onto the D29 Grande Rue. Follow it for 100 metres.

(6) Note the old boundary stones bearing coats of arms in front of the town hall. Turn left onto Rue de l'Église. Turn right onto Rue des Vergers and return to Grande Rue. Immediately afterwards, turn left onto Rue Bel Air, which continues along a path leading to Autrage.

(7) Cross the village of Autrage. Admire the half-timbered houses and, on leaving the village, look out for the storks' nest.

(8) 200 metres after the last house, turn left onto Chemin du Gros Chêne, where you will find a picnic area on the site of the former Autrage oak tree, known as 'the unrivalled'.
Continue along the road.

(9) At the intersection with the D13, turn left onto the footpath that runs alongside the road. Admire the beautiful decorations in the green spaces along the footpath. Continue through Autrechêne until you reach the Bourbeuse river.

::10: Cross the Bourbeuse, then the canal.

(11) Just after the canal, turn left onto the Eurovelo6 cycle path. Follow the canal towards Montreux-Château and return to the car park where you started. (S/E)

The route starts at the Montreux-Château community of municipalities car park on the D11 at the river stop 1 km after the village exit, just before the bridge that crosses the Rhône-Rhine Canal.
On your GPS, you can enter: Montreux-Château river stop.

At the river stop: toilets, water supply and motorhome area.
The route is marked with a blue disc.

Visorando was informed by Mr Chevalley, a volunteer member of Balisage90.
This hike was created by the Bourbeuse basin community of municipalities, which is now part of Greater Belfort.

The Rhône-Rhine Canal was designed to connect the seaports of northern Europe with those of the Mediterranean.
The cycle path follows EuroVelo6: a 3,653 km route linking Saint-Brévin-les-Pins in France to Constanța in Romania.

Courllis Circular
The Eurasian curlew is the bird with the largest range. Its name comes from its call, 'courli-i'. It is 50 cm long with a wingspan of 1 m. Its plumage is greyish brown with a white rear. It is a migratory species. It breeds in Western Europe and winters in Africa. It nests in grasslands with fairly low vegetation or peat bogs, such as the wetlands along the Rhône-Rhine Canal. The young are often raised by the male. It eats insects, small molluscs, berries and seeds.

Montreux-Château: The castle mound
Montreux is an ancient village (Münsterol) mentioned in a document from 962.
Located a short distance from the village, the motte-and-bailey castle was situated on a marshy point of land bordered to the south by the Suarcine and to the north-west by the Saint-Nicolas.
The motte consists of a circular mound of earth. Most of the time, the top was occupied by a wooden palisade. These can be found in all regions of Europe.
The castle is mentioned as early as 1260.
For more information, visit the medieval website:
St Catherine's Chapel
It was built in 1610 by the Reinach family, lords of the manor. (The Reinachs can also be found in Foussemagne). The chapel is the only remaining vestige in the centre of the old cemetery.

Small Cross
The bell tower of the Church of the Nativity of Our Lady, dating from the 19th century, has no roof. It was too dilapidated and was dismantled in 1918. The spire is supported by four concrete beams.

Pégoud Monument
On 31 August 1915, flying ace Adolphe Pégoud (1889-1915), assigned to the MS49 squadron based in Fontaine, was shot down in the skies above Petit-Croix by a German opponent and his Nieuport crashed in a field. A monument has been erected in the centre of the village to commemorate this tragic end.
A very detailed information board recounts the information given here.

La Rigole
The Belfort Rigole takes water from the Champagney basin via the Haute Saône canal. Part of it runs underground and emerges near Meroux to feed the Rhône-Rhine canal at the leat in Montreux-Château.
For more details, click on the VNF link (Voies Navigables de France: http://www.vnf.fr/vnf/img/cms/Transport_fluvialhidden/Fiche_UT_CRRBS_20161014105016.pdf[]

Autrage
The former site of the Autrage oak tree, whose fame and gigantic size earned it the nickname Sans Pareil (Unrivalled). In 1858, the mayor at the time decided to cut it down and the oak tree was sold at auction. The trunk weighed over 20 tonnes. Its purchaser considered transporting it to the Natural History Museum in Paris, but no means of transport was capable of doing so. In 1905, the carcass was still there, but it has now disappeared.