From Bois-le-Roi to Boissise-le-Roi via the Mare aux Évées

Starting point and access: Bois-le-Roi station.
- Transilien - Line R, on the section between Paris-Lyon and Montereau or Montargis.
Take the exit on the side of track 2 (towards Melun and Paris). If arriving in the opposite direction, track 1, take the underground passage.

In the Fontainebleau National Forest, between (1) and (12), at almost every intersection, the paths are signposted and the forest plots are numbered.

Red and white + green and white markings + (at the start) "Forêt^GR®1" signposts

(S/E) Cross Place de la Gare, leaving the post office on your left. Cross Avenue Gallieni and enter the narrow Rue de la Paix. At the end, turn left. At the next junction, turn right and, after a few dozen metres, turn right onto Chemin des Coureurs.

(1) Cross a street and continue straight on Chemin de Chailly (incorrectly named on the IGN map). Walk between wooded gardens. Cross the D138 road (caution, busy road) and continue opposite on Route de la Perlure.

No markings

(2) At the next crossroads, continue straight ahead (leaving the^GR®1trail on your left). Cross the D606 road (caution, busy road), make a first turn left then right turn around a sign saying "Parking à 1000m" and follow Route du Lancer west-southwest. Go straight ahead, crossing several paths. Cross the Route Ronde (D142, caution) and continue on the small road to the Rocher Canon site. At the crossroads, turn left with the road and reach a car park.

Blue markings + yellow hiker silhouette signs
The blue markings for the Denecourt-Colinet trail no. 12 are extremely dense and can be found at all heights: on trees, on low rocks or even on the ground on exposed rocks. The yellow arrows are rare and discreet.

(3) Turn right and pass between an information panel on the left and a "circular Mare aux Évées" sign on the right. Immediately on the left, note a bonsai oak tree on a rock. Climb the wide wooden steps. Shortly before the top of the stairs (blue fork on the ground on a rock, signpost), take the right branch of trail no. 12. This trail winds and twists between the rocks, making it impossible to provide a detailed description of the route on this section: follow the blue markings carefully. Note an isolated rock marked with the letter H. At the next fork, take the right-hand path and pass rock G. Exit the maze of rocks and continue for one or two hundred metres through the forest.

Yellow silhouette signs of hikers ( rare and discreet)

(4) At the crossroads, turn right (ignore the blue markings continuing straight ahead) and you will soon come to a crossroads at the boundary between plots 854 and 859. Take the middle path, the Route de Dammarie, and continue straight ahead. Cross the Route du Lancer and continue on the Route de Dammarie, which begins to wind. At the following crossroads, continue straight ahead; cross a beautiful forest and then follow a plot of land undergoing regeneration on the left-hand side. Cross a stream and you will come to a crossroads.

(5) Ignore the two paths on the left and the two paths on the right, and continue straight ahead on Route de Dammarie, which immediately turns left (north-northwest). Pass an old oil well (information signs). At the next crossroads, turn right at an acute angle, ignore a path on the right and continue on a good, stable path.

(6) At the next intersection, turn left (due north) onto the stabilised path that runs alongside small drainage channels. A little further on, you will learn that this is the Allée des Peupliers du Lac Ontario. You will come out at the edge of Mare aux Évées and begin the tour in a counterclockwise direction, still on the paved path. Ignore three successive paths on the right, the second with red and white markings and the third with yellow arrows.

No markings

(7) Take the fourth path on the right (north-west), Allée des Saules, still surrounded by small canals. At the T-junction, follow Route de Faÿ à Bois-le-Roi (wide path) to the left. Continue straight ahead until you reach a large crossroads with the D115 road.

(8) Cross the road with caution. Then take the third path on the left (north-west), still on Route de Dammarie. Go slightly uphill, cross Route du Chêne aux Chiens and continue straight ahead on a path surrounded by perchis. At the next two crossroads (large oak tree at the second), continue straight ahead on Route de Dammarie.

(9) Cross a wide, stabilised path and continue straight ahead (north-northwest), still on Route de Dammarie (potentially wet sections). Cross the D142 road (caution, busy road), pass a forest barrier and continue straight ahead, ignoring Route des Aubépines immediately on your right.

(10) After about 50 metres, turn right onto Route des Charbonniers, a wide grassy path running alongside a stream on the right-hand side. At the end, turn right onto a stabilised path and continue to a crossroads (Calvaire de Sainte-Marie is clearly visible in the distance opposite). Take the second path on the left (north), still on Route des Charbonniers. Then turn right onto this path.

(11) After about 100 metres, at the boundary between plots 805 and 802, turn left onto Route des Hautes Plaines. Continue straight ahead on this good path, ignoring any more or less distinct paths branching off to the sides. At the T-junction, turn right and you will come out onto the D132 road at the edge of the forest.

(12) Cross the road at the pedestrian crossing and follow it to the left for about 200 metres. Take the first right, Rue du Sergent Raymond Leboeuf. At the stop sign, turn right onto Avenue Gabriel Péri and follow it for about 400 metres.

(13) Then take Rue du Chêne on the left at an acute angle. Ignore a street coming from the right and continue down the cul-de-sac. At the end, go around a "no dumping" sign on the right and take a narrow path that enters the woods (the "no entry" sign refers to the land on the left). At the junction with another path (not very clearly marked), continue straight ahead. At the T-junction that follows, turn right onto a path between two streams. Go through a forest gate, walk along a wall on your right and continue along Rue Danielle Casanova.

(14) At the roundabout (water tower), take the second left onto Allée des Mésanges. At the next roundabout, continue straight ahead on the same road. Ignore Allée des Pinsons on your left and continue downhill. At the stop sign, cross Avenue Charles Prieur at the pedestrian crossing and follow it to the left. After the bus stop, turn right onto Chemin de la Messe (dead end). At the end of the street, go through a chicane (even if an inconsiderate motorist has parked in the middle) and continue along a wide grassy path between two hedges. At the end, first turn right then left to cross Avenue Francis de Pressence.

(15) Then turn sharply left onto Rue des Vives Eaux (leaving a metal cross on your left). Ignore a cul-de-sac on the left and walk along the wall of a large property on your right (be careful, as some sections have a narrow shoulder). Further on, walk along a field on your left (wide shoulder). Continue on good pavements and cross a residential area. At the stop sign, turn right down Rue Fernand Léger. At the next roundabout, turn right again onto Rue de la Gare. Ignore a street on the left and note a wash house on the left. Ignore a dead end on the right and walk downhill with a wall on your left. At the bottom, turn left and cross the railway line at the level crossing.

(16) Turn left immediately and follow the towpath between the railway line on your left and the Seine on your right. Pass under the high-voltage power lines and continue along a tarmac quay. Continue along a gravel path and walk alongside the locks of the Vives Eaux dam.

Yellow markings

(17) Pass the dam and return to the tarmac road for a short while. After the "Rue des Vives Eaux" sign, turn right to follow the river as closely as possible on a grassy path. Pass a small car park on the left, an information panel for "Prairie Malécot" and a forest barrier. Continue along the Seine with woods on your left, then fenced-in meadows.

No markings

(18) At the "Berges dangereuses" (Dangerous Banks) sign, leave the towpath and take a small bridge on the left. Cross a car park, then first turn left then right to go up Rue du Château. You will find the Boissise-le-Roi station on your right (E).

To return home:
- RER - Line D, towards Melun (direct access to platform 1 before the level crossing) or Corbeil-Essonnes and Paris (cross at the level crossing, turn into the first street on the right and you will soon find the entrance to platform 2 on the right).

Train timetables: consult the Transilien website.

For motorists:
The two stations are on different lines. There are two possible options:
- With at least two vehicles: leave one vehicle in the car park at each station.
- With only one vehicle: take the train one way or both ways, changing at Melun.
N.B. The car park at Boissise-le-Roi station has limited capacity: if it is full, try the nearby town hall car park (open from 7.45am to 9pm every day except Sunday) or the adjacent streets.

Hiking boots are required. There are potentially wet sections between (8) and (11) and between (16) and (18). The latter section may be flooded in the event of high water levels in the Seine (check for information in the event of prolonged heavy rainfall). Hikers should be aware that between points (12) and (16), the route includes a significant proportion of tarmac sections.

No water points identified along the route. Bar-tabac Place de la Gare in Bois-le-Roi (S).

A 1:25,000 map is essential (at least the one accompanying this description).

Hike completed by the author on 13 January 2018.

- Pleasant crossing of the northern part of the Forest of Fontainebleau, between (1) and (12).
- Rocky chaos at the Rocher Canon site, between (3) and (4).
- Old small oil well between (5) and (6). The Chailly-en-Bière oil field was discovered in 1958 and was exploited until 1986.
- Mare aux Évées and the drainage canals surrounding it (7).
- Path along the Seine, between (16) and (18).
- Locks and dam at Vives Eaux (17).
- Prairie Malécot nature reserve, between (17) and (18).