Country:
District:
Starting point and access: La Ferté-Alais station.
- RER - Line D, on the section between Paris and Malesherbes.
Take the Rue Heren exit via the footbridge at the front of the train when arriving from Paris to Malesherbes (at the rear of the train in the opposite direction).
No signposts
(S) At the end of the footbridge, turn left onto a tarmac road (ignore the red and white and yellow arrows pointing to the right). At the end, after a right-hand bend, turn left into Rue Georges Heren. Cross a residential area.
(1) Cross Impasse de l'Ermitage on the right (incorrectly marked as Rue Georges Heren on the IGN map) and enter Baulne. Walk along the railway tracks on your left.
Yellow + blue markings
At the stop sign (view of Baulne church on the left), continue straight ahead along the railway tracks. At the next stop sign, turn left, cross the bridge over the railway tracks and immediately turn right towards Boigny (sign). Descend slightly and walk alongside a large farmhouse on your right. Cross Rue de Montpertuis and walk alongside a small car park on your right with a map of the walks.
Yellow markings
(2) At the fork, turn left onto Rue de la Tourbière and pass the school on your left. When the street turns left, turn right and cross a car park (P on the map) with a green shed on the right-hand side. Continue along a tarmac path, passing a pond lined with fishing huts on your left (ignore a path on the right). At the fork located on a small car park (elevation 51), turn right onto a stony path that winds between fishing huts and small gardens. At hut no. 277, ignore a path on the right and continue straight ahead.
(3) At another small parking area, just after a gate on the path, two circular loops ofthe PR®®05separate: follow loop no. 1 to the left (loop no. 2 continues straight ahead) and go through a small gate. At the fork that appears immediately, take the path on the right along a fence on the right-hand side (be careful, there is only a discreet marker on a post at this point). Take a wooden footbridge and walk along the Essonne on your left. After ignoring a first path on the right, turn right opposite no. 441. Take another footbridge and walk along a pond on your left. At the end of the path, continue straight ahead on a tarmac lane.
(4) At the T-junction, turn left (no arrow here) and walk along the left-hand side of a lawn by the pond. At the next fork, follow the sign for "Chemin de randonnée" (hiking trail) to the right. On a stony track, walk along the railway tracks on your right. At the corner of an old gatekeeper's house, turn right, cross the tracks at the level crossing and immediately turn left onto a small road. Enter the undergrowth and note the grounds of the Château de Saussay (statue) on your right.
Red and white markings
(5) Leave the road at a right-hand bend and take a path on the left blocked by two small rocks. Pass close to the ruins of the Chapelle Saint-Blaise (access possible on the left) and continue between the fields on a grassy path marked with yellow two-sided signs. You will come out onto the D74 road.
Red and white + yellow markings
(6) Follow the road to the left and cross the railway tracks at the level crossing. Ignore a dead end on the left, then turn right onto the D174 towards Vert-le-Petit. Cross a residential area.
Yellow markings
(7) After No. 47, turn left onto Allée des Pêcheurs. At the end, turn right, where the alleyway gives way to a tarmac path (wall on the right-hand side). Then turn left, followed by a right, and you will come out onto a wider alleyway. Turn left at the corner of No. 9 and head towards the right bank of the Essonne. Turn right and walk along the river on your left.
(8) At the crossroads, turn left, cross the bridge over the Essonne and enter Parc Christian Imbert. Just after the entrance gate, turn right, passing a forest barrier on your left and a ping-pong table on your right, and take a stabilised path. After passing a boules court on your right, let the path curve to the left and veer right to go around a small building on the right. Then cross a branch of the river (waterfall on the left). Next, make a right-left zigzag to cross a second branch of the river and then follow it on your left (path with railing).
Red and white + yellow markings
(9) At the end of the path, rejoin theGR®®11C, turn left onto Rue Eugène Péreire and pass a metal bridge (very rusty) on your left. At the next crossroads, continue straight ahead, slightly to the right, still on Rue Eugène Péreire.
Red and white + yellow + blue markings
(10) At the stop sign (station on the right), continue straight ahead on Rue de l'Essonne. At the next level crossing, turn left onto the D17 towards Vert-le-Petit (it is recommended to cross this road at this point and follow the wider right-hand side). Pass a car park and then a restaurant, both on the right-hand side.
(11) Pass a forest barrier on the right, then a footbridge. Take a stabilised path lined with trees on a narrow dyke in the middle of the Étang Fleuri. Turn right along the path, then immediately left. Take a footbridge, continue straight ahead on a small tarmac road and pass under the high-voltage power lines (ignore a turn-off on the right). Continue on the small tarmac road lined with wooden posts, with the pond on both sides. Turn right then left with this road and reach a crossroads just after a kiosk on the right-hand side.
(12) At the crossroads, continue straight ahead, passing a playground on your right, and walk along the pond on your left. Take a footbridge to cross a spillway of the pond, turn left and stay at the edge of the pond. At a three-way junction, continue left on the tarmac and cross the "cord" that connects the two parts of the pond. Go uphill and, just after ignoring a path on the left, turn right into a dead-end lane.
(13) At the end of the lane, go through a forest gate and enter the sensitive natural site of the Marais de Misery. Follow a shaded path with a hedge on your left and then a fence on your right.
Red and white + blue markings
At a crossroads (boundary marker on the right), ignore the yellow markings on the left, continue straight ahead and you will soon see the Observatoire de la petite prairie on your right. Continue along the path and cross three wooden footbridges in succession, which allow you to cross some very wet areas.
(14) At the next crossroads (gate on the right), ignore the first concrete footbridge on the left, take the second one opposite, pass an information board on your right (map of the marsh facing south) and reach the Grande Prairie Observatory. Then turn left and, at the T-junction, turn right and follow a path along the edge of the field, with a hedge on your right.
No markings
Just before entering the undergrowth again (marker on the right-hand side), go through the gate on the right and follow a path between two fences. You will soon reach the Étang de Gravelles bird observatory.
(15) Retrace your steps.
Red and white + blue markings
At the gate, turn right, enter the woods and follow the path with a fence on your right.
(16) Go through a forest gate, where the path gives way to a tarmac road. Continue straight ahead (east-north-east), with a pond on your right, and ignore the paths branching off to the sides. After passing the Domaine de l'Isle Rouge car park on your right, the road turns left and climbs along the wall of a property on your right. At the T-junction, turn right. Pass the school and then the Échancron town hall and walk alongside a large old building on your right. At a fork, turn right and you will come out onto Place Darblay with the Château d'Échancron on your right.
(17) Ignore the avenue that branches off to the left and go around the castle grounds on the left, Rue des Sablons. At the stop sign, turn right down Rue de la Montagne, with the park wall on your right. At the gate in this wall, leave the street and turn left to go through the gate of the Domaine de la Cave au Renard. After the gate, continue straight ahead (east-northeast) along the path through the woods. Pass a pond on your left and ignore a path branching off to the right. The path gives way to a cement track that makes a sharp U-turn to the right. At the end of this turn, turn left and go through the chicane that leads out of the park. Then turn left into a tarmac lane.
(18) At the crossroads, continue straight ahead into the cul-de-sac. At the end of the cul-de-sac, go through a forest gate and continue along a path with a hedge on your right. Enter a wood. At a crossroads, ignore the path on the left and continue along the path (on the right, you will see glimpses of wetlands and ponds). Finish with a straight line heading due east and go through a forest gate.
No markings
Shortly before the road, ignore the path on the right (south-west) leading to the Domaine du Grand Montauger and take the next path on the right (south) towards the Marais de la Grande Île, which immediately crosses a footbridge. Pass a pond on your right and walk parallel to the road. Cross a second footbridge, then a third, larger one (ignore the path on the right towards Grand Montauger). Cross the Essonne and ignore the path that goes up to the left towards the road. Quickly ignore a path coming from the right, walk along a pond on your right and take three footbridges in succession. After the third footbridge, turn left onto a path and reach the road at a three-way junction called La Patte d'Oie.
Follow the road to the right. At the roundabout, turn right towards the station. At the next roundabout, you will see the station (E) immediately on your left.
Visorando member
Difficult 
Easy 
