Ballast pits at Fort des Ayvelles

Departure from the car park of the Ayvelles football ground, Rue du Stade.

(S/E) With your back to the football pitch, turn left and head towards the town hall gardens. When you reach the D764, turn left and stay on the pavement until you reach the Ayvelles exit.

(1) Cross the small bridge and take the path on the left that runs alongside the main road. After a few metres, turn left onto a path that crosses the fields. Then turn right to reach the Meuse.

(2) Follow it, turning left, cross a wooden bridge and reach the Plain Perche gravel pit.

(3) Enter the woods on the left, walking alongside the gravel pit.
Please note: ignore the "no entry" signs; the fishing association that owns the gravel pits allows all hikers to enjoy the area. The path leaves the woods and crosses a meadow, skirting the gravel pit. Continue to the end of the field.

(4) Head right towards the Meuse, continue left to the north, between the Meuse and the gravel pit, and go around it. Pass under two stork nests.
Reach the edge of the gravel pit.

(5) Turn left south onto a large path that runs between two gravel pits. Continue to the crossroads where the path separating these two gravel pits ends.

(6) Turn right. Reach the Quoirelles neighbourhood, where there is a pylon.

(7) Go around a new gravel pit on the right, which is home to many species of birds (cormorants, grebes, gulls, great egrets, various ducks) as well as a windsurfing club. Head towards the village of Les Ayvelles.

(8) Cross the Rue Principale, taking care. Head towards the church, then turn left, walk along the church and cross to the left through an orchard that leads to a housing estate. Continue along the small paths, heading west to the top of the housing estate. (Several routes are possible). Reach the top of the housing estate, near the woods.

(9) Enter the woods via a small path and continue along the meadow to the funerary monument.

(10) Continue along the balcony to the fort, walk around it clockwise, taking the path closest to the fence, to admire the architectural work. When you reach the entrance to the fort, take the wide central path, parallel to the path you took on the way there. Turn right onto the small path you took on the way there and return to the top of the housing estate.

(9) Turn right onto the path that runs alongside the housing estate gardens on the left and a meadow on the right. At the bottom of the descent, take the road on the left to return to the crossroads of the main street in Les Ayvelles, which you passed on the way there.

(1) Turn left again and head towards the town hall, cross the small garden of the town hall once more and head towards the car park of the football pitch (S/E).

Les Ayvelles: bakery near the town hall.
Villers-Semeuse: large shopping centre.
Picnics can be enjoyed in the shelter of the woods near the fort.
There is a children's playground nearby.

(10) This funerary monument was erected by the German army in honour of the fort's last governor (Georges Levi Alvares in 1914).
(After 10) Fort des Ayvelles can be visited from late May to late September.
Fishing permits can be obtained from the departmental ballastières fishing association, which manages the 130-hectare site and 13 ballastières.
Visits to Fort des Ayvelles are available from late May to late September, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (03 24 33 48 97).
Traces of beavers can be seen in many places along the hike (cut trees, paths leading from the Meuse to the gravel pits).
Observation of numerous birds.