From Saint-Étienne-de-Chigny to Mazières and back

Date of your route : Sep 10, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Walk completed in September 2023. There were few signposts along the route, either on trees or on signs. At point no. 5, it was impossible to follow the path shown on the map (due to barriers and beehives in the way), so you have to take the white stony path straight ahead and then join the road on the right to continue towards no. 6. A very pleasant walk. Completed in 2 hours 56 minutes early in the morning at a brisk pace. Not too much elevation gain.

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Date of your route : Oct 07, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Very busy route : No

There is far too much tarmac on this route, which is an extension of an 8.5 km route proposed by the local council.

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Hello,

@nature and heritage

Henri has changed the route so that it now takes the road which I find dangerous. (My usual route is Chaslet, Brosserie)

For your information, I have never altered the route of this walk.

Kind regards

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Thank you for all these details.

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I’ll reply point by point
In the Parc des Grillet, the path used to go through Le Vau, but apparently this winter it’s been blocked off (tree trunks etc.) and you have to take the mountain bike trail a little further up, though I only discovered this last week. You can also walk the whole of the Parc des Grillet, but that’s almost a walk in its own right
Between points 6 and 7, the path runs alongside the woodland and you need to turn as shown on the map; there’s a gate to open and close – the path is narrow between the field and the woodland.
Following the issue with the owner of Chaslet, whose property straddles the local footpath (he’d like to ban all access through the woods anyway, even though the paths are public), Henri has altered the route so that it now goes along the road, which I find dangerous. (My usual route is Chaslet, Brosserie.)
Should we allow overbearing landowners to take over public footpaths?
As for dogs between 12 and 13, that’s not a place where we usually come across any.
14 I’ve just checked the map; I can’t see where the error might be (have you downloaded the GPX file onto your phone?)
It’s true that the walk is lovely, which is why I’m keeping it.
See you one of these days out on the trails.

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Hello,

Thank you for your feedback.

Some information has been sent via private message to the author of the walk.

See you soon

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Date of your route : May 07, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

There were some lovely stretches on this walk, but a few difficulties worth mentioning:
- at point 1, there are several paths in the Parc des Grillets; we took the wrong one. The map helped us get back on the right route a little further on, but we weren’t able to enjoy the park – a shame
- between points 6 and 7, part of the path no longer exists, so we had to walk through the cultivated field
- We had an unpleasant encounter with some very aggressive dogs running loose on the road between points 12 and 13
- The instructions at point 14 are unclear and prone to causing confusion

To avoid the road between points 7 and 8, we cut across the woods along ‘Le Chaslet’ and reached point 9 at a place called La Brosserie, but I’m not sure if it’s a local footpath…

No snow in May, but there were still wild boar tracks in the mud on the forest paths – a promise kept!

So there are a few points to clarify regarding this walk, but nothing to discourage keen walkers.

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I’d completely overlooked the comments, sorry.
Point 5 opposite La Quintalle is a wide path which then runs through the middle of fields, but there are no fields to cross and no landowners to disturb.
Between points 8 and 9, the local path runs alongside a property; the kennels and a shed are on the other side of the path. The owner would prefer the path to be private, which it isn’t.
Bibi’s suggested change is a nice idea, but the road is quite dangerous: it’s a straight stretch with vehicles travelling at high speed. The route only used it for about 150 metres.
I shouldn’t have mentioned the wild boar tracks, which were perfectly visible in the … snow … back in 2012.
As for point 11, the route planner indicates a left turn onto the track leading to the D48.
It’s a walk we do quite regularly.
Have a good evening.

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Date of your route : Aug 25, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

Good evening,
It’s great that you’ve sorted things out so quickly. By the way, well done and thank you.
Have a lovely evening.

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I’ve just amended the route and the description so that it no longer passes through the property between 8 and 9.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
Kind regards

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Good evening, everyone,
I went on this walk today without checking this section of the forum.
I can confirm what Pekah said about points 8 and 9. The landowner, although a decent sort, is fed up with the frequent passage of walkers crossing his property (nice of them) for about 150 metres. Which is perfectly understandable.
I’d also like to point out the difficulty we encountered at point 5; we did indeed cut across a field, so we were on a landowner’s property, and he gave us another dirty look.
Finally, point 11 is unclear; we ended up on a dead end after heading straight towards Tortecol. The compass is a brilliant invention!!!
Well, I sound like a grumbler, but this is the first time I’ve come across so many negative points on a walk. Apart from the fact that it isn’t particularly exciting, apart from points 1, 2 & 3 (the section through the forest)
Have a good evening.

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Ouch, ouch, but thank you, Pekah, for bringing this to our attention – it’s something we take very seriously. The walk in question is quite old, and things may well have changed since 2012.
Let’s wait for the author of this walk to see this exchange and tell us what they think.
However, I’m keeping this walk on the back burner in case we need to remove it from the list if we don’t receive any further information.

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Date of your route : Jul 23, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Route interest : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing

It’s very disappointing – the route runs through private property between points 8 and 9, which causes inconvenience for everyone...

What’s more, all the woodland is privately owned, so it’s of course forbidden to leave the path, making it impossible to spot any wild boar tracks as advertised...

I do not recommend this route....

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