Through the Auberive State Forest from Perrancey-les-Vieux-Moulins

No signposting

(S) At the Domaine de Montauban, turn left onto the D 286. Cross the Mouche stream and enter Vieux-Moulins.

Red and white markings

(1) At Place de la Fontaine, at the GR® 7 signpost “Noidant-le-Rocheux 4.5 km”, take the second street on the left (Rue de la Maladière). Turn right and continue along the Ruisseau de la Mouche via the muddy path.

(2) Leave the stream on your right. Take the path on the left, entering the woodland. Follow the valley of the Ruisseau de Sénance (reed beds, marshes). Walk along the foot of the wooded hillside, then the limestone cliff of the Roche du Duc. Reach the headwaters of the Sénance.

(3) At the T-junction, turn left and cross the valley. At the Fork in the road, take the right-hand path, then the path on the right (signpost for the GR® 7 “Noidant-le-Rocheux 2.1 km”). Climb the steep slope ahead to reach the summit of the Roche Saint-Jacques.

(4) At the T-junction, follow the path to the left. Walk along the edge of the plateau, leaving several paths and tracks to your left (one of them leads down to the Sénance cave, another follows the nature route). Turn right and reach a deep ditch.

(5) At the fork in the road, ignore the path that drops left into the ditch and continue right along the hillside path. Descend into the Combe Chatoillon via the stony path leading to Noidant-le-Rocheux.

(6) At the bend, before the houses, climb the path on the right. Turn left along the hillside, then continue the descent to the left. Head down the D287 to the left and enter Noidant-le-Rocheux (Rue de Saint Frou). At the crossroads (signpost for the GR® 7 “Perrogney-les-Fontaines 5.5 km”), turn right onto the D286 for 200 m (Rue des Chenevières).

(7) Take the path on the right. A sign warns:
Danger, live fire, hunting from June to February except on Wednesdays.
Enter the woodland and head up the Mouche valley (very wet section).

(8) Pass the Source de la Mouche (on the right), continue to the bottom of the valley for 1 km. Cut across a path. At a crossroads, continue straight ahead into plot 1329. You’ll come out onto a stony path; take this to the left and immediately climb up the grassy hollow to the right. You’ll come out onto a stony path again.

(9) At the GR® 7 signpost “Perrogney-les-Fontaines 2 km”, take the path to the right, passing under the A31. The Perrogney-les-Fontaines radio relay station is in sight. Continue along the edge of the woodland, letting a path branch off to the right into the forest and coming out onto a road.

(10) At the GR® 7 signpost “Perrogney-les-Fontaines 1 km”, take the D 6 to the right. Pass a road on the right. At the Fork in the road, continue straight ahead on the D 6 and enter Perrogney-les-Fontaines via Rue Claude Guérin. Pass the church and reach a Fork in the road.

(11) Take the D 143 to the left (Rue du Haut du Sec).

(12) At the Croix Romaine, head up the road to the left. Pass a farm and reach a Fork in the road. At the GR® 7 signpost “Auberive 15 km”, continue straight ahead along the stony track.

(13) Pass to the left of the summit of Haut du Sec, the highest point in Haute-Marne (Perrogney-les-Fontaines radio station). Head down the road straight ahead. At the GR® 7 signpost “Auberive 13 km”, take the D 428 to the right for 100 m, then head up the road to the left for 50 m. Enter the forest via the path on the right and reach a crossroads at La Lisière du Fays.

(14) Head down the gentle slope to the right at the boundary between the villages (lily of the valley). Walk alongside the D 428, follow it to the left for 30 m and cross it.

(15) At the GR® 7 signpost “Auberive 11.350 km”, turn right for 10 m and head left onto the grassy path. Cross the Montavoir forest road, go over the hill and reach a crossroads at the top of the Combe Venot.

(16) Head down to the left, initially on a gentle slope which becomes increasingly steep. At a crossroads, take the path on the left.

(17) Head down to the right to the bottom of this valley. The path climbs to the left, runs alongside a spring (wetland) before descending to the right. At the bottom of Combe Venot, go through a gate and emerge onto the Combe Maîtresse forest road.

(18) Follow it to the right. Pass through a gate and continue along the hillside at the bottom of the valley.

(19) Continue along the tarmac road. Go round a valley, climb a gentle slope and reach a Fork in the road.

(20) Continue the climb up the Combe de Chameroy along the stony path to the right (Ligne de Camelot). Reach a metal gate.

(21) Take the Route Forestière de Montavoir on the left. At a T-junction, go through a gate and continue straight ahead.

(22) Go round the Combe Valètrier. At a crossroads, continue straight ahead and pass a car park (signpost).

(23) At the Auberive wildlife park (GR® 7 signpost “Auberive 5.8 km”), take the track to the left for a few metres (shelter), then turn left again. Descend gently along the forest track that goes round a valley. At a junction in a bend, continue straight ahead.

(24) At the fork in the road in the Acquenove valley, head steeply down the path on the right. At the crossroads (GR® 7 signpost “Auberive 4.5 km”), take the Foute Forestière d’Allofroy.

(25) Cross the Dijon forest road and head down into the valley opposite. Leave the forest via the grassy path on the hillside, following the Combe Grand Claude on the left and the Tenoyon on the right. You’ll come out onto a road.

(26) Head down the Montavoir path to the left. Cross the Aube via the Pont Griselin and reach Auberive via the D 428 to the right.

No signposting

(27) At the town hall, turn right towards the Auberge de l'Abbatiale. Cross the River Aube and, opposite the abbey gate, reach the inn on the right (E).

Hike undertaken by the author on 12/06/2020.
This route follows the GR® 7. Its description appears in the TopoGuide ‘Les GR® de Lorraine’ published by the French Hiking Federation under reference 514.
(S) Domaine de Montauban: guest rooms.
(23) Shelter
(E) Auberive: guest rooms and table d’hôte, bakery and grocery shop.
Stalking: For wild boar and roe deer, the early opening date is¹ June and they may only be hunted by stalking or from a hide, following prefectural authorisation issued to the holder of the hunting rights.

From (2) National Forest Park.
Between (2) and (3) Sénance stream valley: one of the major natural sites and very typical of the Langres plateau, a Natural Area of Ecological, Floristic and Faunistic Interest.
Between (4) and (5) and off^{the GR®® trail}: Sénance Cave and Ecological Discovery Route.
Shortly before (11) and off^{the GR®®}: Perrogney-les-Fontaines: wash house with a horseshoe-shaped drinking trough.
(13) Le Haut du Sec: panoramic view of the town of Langres and the Vosges hills.
From (13) Auberive State Forest, in the heart of the National Forest Park. Off^{the GR®®}: source of the Aube.
(E) Auberive Abbey: of the Cistercian abbey founded by Saint Bernard in 1132, only the chevet of the original chapel remains. The 17th- and 18th-century buildings were used as a prison in the 19th century. It was here that Louise Michel, the ‘Red Virgin’, was imprisoned for two years before her deportation to New Caledonia following the fall of the Paris Commune in 1871.