Discovering the Sec Iton

Parking is available in the car park at Gaudreville-la-Rivière town hall.

(S/E) With your back to Gaudreville-la-Rivière town hall on Rue de la Vigne, turn right and, after 50 m, take the dirt track (^GR®222) on the left, Route du Pont Saint Jean, marked in red and white.

(1) Cross the wooden bridge then turn right onto Chemin de la Chapelle. Follow the Iton, lined with poplars, to the brick bridge. Go past the bridge and continue straight on along Route de la Mairie/D60. Ignore Impasse de la Rivière and continue straight on.

(2) Leave the^GR®222and turn right onto Rue des Murets. Walk down the street then turn right onto Rue des Haisettes. If the road is flooded by the Iton, cross the wooden bridge on the left. Continue straight on, following the fields.

(3) At the next junction, turn left in front of the house onto Rue des Haisettes. Stay on the path then cross the wooden bridge on the left. Walk alongside the fields, continue along the path and enter the forest. Ignore all the paths on the left, leave the forest and head towards the houses. Cross the brick bridge and go up the hill on Rue du Val.

(4) At the STOP sign, turn left onto Rue des Boscherons. Pass Impasse des Graviers on your left and continue straight ahead. Pass Chemin du Sec Iton on your right and continue straight downhill.

(5) At the end of the bend, turn right onto Chemin du Sec Iton. At the Écuries du Cerf, turn left onto Rue du Cerf and enter the small wood. At the next junction, leave the path on your left and continue straight on.

(6) As you come out of the small wood, walk along the edge of the field, then at the fork, turn left. Follow the property fence, then take the first path on the right to enter the forest and continue straight ahead. Do not stray from the path. Then walk along the edge of a field and enter the forest again.

(7) At the entrance to the Bois de la Haie, continue straight ahead.
At the first junction, continue straight ahead. At the second junction, continue straight ahead, following a slight bend. At the third and fourth junctions, go straight ahead. At the fifth and final junction, go straight ahead, then follow the bend to the right and continue straight ahead, ignoring the side paths.

(8) On leaving the forest, cross the tarmac road, Route de Champ-Dolent, and head straight on. Pass to the right of the old hunting lodge with the conical roof, then go down the wooded path. On leaving the small wood, follow the path through the Conchettes fields towards Gaudreville-la-Rivière.

(9) At the junction with the tarmac road, Rue de la Vigne, turn left. At the next junction, ignore Rue des Ilôts on the right and continue straight on down to the town hall of Gaudreville-la-Rivière and the car park where you started (S/E).

Yellow markings.

Wear practical, suitable clothing and footwear, and boots in wet weather.

Take care during the hunting season.

The route change imposed by prefectural order has been lifted; the original route is accessible once again!!

(2) Beautiful half-timbered houses.

Between (3) and (4). Discover the Sec Iton. The river flows underground through ‘bétoires’ – small natural wells formed in limestone regions, either by dissolution or by the collapse of the roof of karst cavities. Numerous animal and plant species.

(8) Panorama: from the hunting lodge, view of Gaudreville-la-Rivière. In May, the rhododendrons are in bloom.

Les Pertes du Sec Iton
The river plunges into one of the faults in its bed and flows underground for several kilometres.
Legend has it that one day, the devil, who feared cold water, asked a miller to take him across the river in his boat, but the miller, having better things to do, begged the intruder to let him get on with his work. Irritated, Satan decided to take his revenge on the spot and made the river vanish into the depths of the earth so that he could cross on dry land. The unfortunate miller thus lost his means of livelihood, his business and his fortune.

Écuries du Cerf, owner-run stables in Gaudreville-la-Rivière, established with the horse’s welfare in mind.

Les Fraises de Glisolles, a strawberry and raspberry grower in Glisolles (2.5 km from Gaudreville-la-Rivière).

Les Tonnelles, a bar-brasserie-restaurant in Glisolles (2.5 km from Gaudreville-la-Rivière).