From the Grottes du Loup to the Troglodyte and the Gros Monts

Poligny Forest, at the southern end of the Fontainebleau Forest. A hike of less than 8 km, alternating between rocky and flat terrain. Discover a beautiful panorama of the Loing Valley. A very shaded circuit.

Details

129233
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 7.46 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 20 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 77 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 79 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 127 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 89 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Coming from Nemours, on the Poligny road, it is the first car park on the right.

(S/E) Take the Chemin des Grottes du Loup.

(1) Shortly after leaving the car park, turn right and take theGR®13 trailmarked in red and white, with additional yellow markings. There is a short climb over rocks. The markings are very clear but sometimes on the ground on the rocks or on trees. If in doubt in the pine forest, at a certain point you will see a concrete building (like a blockhouse), leave it on your right, but the markings are real even if you sometimes feel like you are going round in circles

(2) You will come to a flat intersection with a bench. The path on the right leads to Nemours, but you need to turn left. The path heads south and is fairly flat, allowing you to rest a little after the rocky section. The yellow markings are still visible. Follow these markings to Chemin des Grottes au Loup.

(3) Turn left, then right about 40 metres further on. Go down to thesecond path on the right: do not turn at the first yellow markings but continue along Chemin des Grottes.

(4) Turn right and follow the red and whiteGR®13markings through the rocks. At the first intersection, keep right, still on the marked trail. Then follow the path to the wide Chemin de Nemours à Poligny.

(5) Turn left (south-west), following the red and white markings.

(6) At another intersection, leave the red and white marked path and follow the yellow markings. There is a large signpost; turn right and head southwest, then west.

(7) Pass the Grotte du Troglodyte cave on your right and continue to follow the yellow markings. At a T-junction, turn left (west).

(8) Panorama of the Loing Valley. Turn right (northeast). The yellow markings are there, a little hidden but still visible. At a T-junction, turn left. Then turn right to climb the Pain de Sucre.

At the T-junction on the way down, turn left and follow the yellow markings to the Chemin des Grottes au Loup, which you will come across again.

(3) Turn right and follow the path down to the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 93 m - Car park
  2. 1 : km 0.07 - alt. 92 m - Junction with the GR13, on the right
  3. 2 : km 1.35 - alt. 113 m - Intersection, bench: turn left
  4. 3 : km 1.88 - alt. 91 m - Intersection with Chemin des Grottes du Loup, on the left
  5. 4 : km 2.26 - alt. 91 m - At the intersection, turn right
  6. 5 : km 3.58 - alt. 120 m - Path from Nemours to Poligny, on the left
  7. 6 : km 4.08 - alt. 120 m - At the crossroads, leave the GR and turn right
  8. 7 : km 4.66 - alt. 110 m - Troglodyte Cave
  9. 8 : km 5.47 - alt. 123 m - Panoramic view of the Loing Valley
  10. S/E : km 7.46 - alt. 93 m - Car park

Worth a visit

Before or after your walk, you can visit the Museum of Prehistory of Ile-de-France, located near the starting car park (on the map, just above the northernmost part of the route). Set in a forest environment and featuring modern architecture, this small, well-designed museum will appeal to young and old alike.

 Always be cautious and plan ahead when you're outdoors. Visorando and the author of this route cannot be held responsible for any accidents occurring on this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

Reviews and comments

4.3 / 5
Based on 23 reviews

Reliability of the description
4 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.2 / 5
Route interest
4.8 / 5
Poupot de Moussy
Poupot de Moussy

Good evening

Just two quick questions:

Why do we have to go through 3 and 4 twice? We could simply skip this part.

Is it possible to visit the Monastery of Our Lady of Bethlehem and then rejoin the route?

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Kind regards

Poupot

Machine-translated

likaro
likaro

Overall rating : 4.5 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 01, 2025
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant and varied hike. The paths remain clean despite the heavy rain in recent days. As the suggested route is a little short, we extended it at point 2 with a loop via the antenna and Mont d'Olivet. Beautiful view at point 8, but the Loing river is not visible. Between points 8 and 3, after the descent from Pain de Sucre, we turned right, crossed the outward route to reach the Rochers de Beauregard, and took the PR northwards to return to the car park (10 km in total). There were few people out and about, even on this sunny but cold Saturday morning, apart from a few dog walkers without leads, particularly on the Crottes au Loup trail. (Incidentally, I should point out that the name is Crottes au Loup and not Grottes du Loup ;-).

Machine-translated

Klem
Klem

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 23, 2024
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Great little hike.
Very parish specific to Brittany.
Well marked. Good route.

2 hours 20 minutes, but without breaks and without dawdling.

Machine-translated

Padou
Padou

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 26, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful route that can be done in either direction, with no difficulty. Halfway along the route, there is an orientation table where you can take a break to admire the view. Pay attention to the yellow markings and allow yourself plenty of time to find the next one, especially after the orientation table when doing the circuit in numerical order.

Machine-translated

MCFit
MCFit

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 20, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Outing done in trail mode as a group
Very interesting, the signposting and explanations were spot on.
Thank you very much for this hike!

Machine-translated

zuydcoote
zuydcoote

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 25, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant hike through the forest on terrain that remains passable in rainy weather. Pay attention to the markings, which are not always clear or very visible on this winding route.

Machine-translated

CASA61
CASA61

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 25, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We thoroughly enjoyed half of this hike, but from marker 8 onwards we were unable to follow the path... there were no markings and the description was unclear as to whether we should return via the same route or not, and the description did not really correspond to the terrain. After retracing part of the way we had come, we took some shortcuts...
It's a shame because the hike is interesting.

Machine-translated

jpb93
jpb93

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 04, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful forest hike with winding trails and imposing sandstone boulders of various shapes, reminiscent of Denecourt. I found the route a little short, so I extended it north to the outskirts of Nemours and south to the Pierre-le-Grand quarry (lovely sandy landscapes).

Machine-translated

jjbrando
jjbrando

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 18, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A stone's throw from Nemours, you can venture into a forest that is very pleasant to walk through, with rich and varied vegetation.
scots pines, oaks, chestnut trees, acacias... and if you look closely, you can even spot a few maritime pines and an Atlas cedar.
A little challenging, a little technical, sometimes between large boulders, sometimes on flat paths where you can catch your breath.
Depending on the pace you choose, this pleasant little hike can be either a challenging workout or a family outing on a spring afternoon.

Machine-translated

bernardthomazo
bernardthomazo

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 02, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

This hike was very pleasant and enjoyed by the entire group.

Machine-translated

sunbertrand
sunbertrand

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 20, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

We made a mistake between No. 4 and 5. To be redone.

Machine-translated

Timarto
Timarto

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 13, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A nice, enjoyable hike, but sometimes a little difficult to find your way. But with GPS on your phone, everything's fine!
Very varied landscapes. The elevation changes make you sweat if you walk at a good pace. We had a lovely time.

Machine-translated

valerie45
valerie45

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 20, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A very enjoyable hike. Given the title, we thought we would be visiting a wolf cave!
we found point 2 on the way back; we must have turned too early. We'll do it again soon to see what we missed.

Machine-translated

gégé77phenix
gégé77phenix

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 18, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Great hike, but following it in certain places is a bit complicated. The section near the museum is confusing because part of it is marked as a GR (long-distance trail). The scenery and rocks are worth the detour

Machine-translated

colombel
colombel

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : May 14, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A lovely route, with some elevation but no difficulty; varied landscapes on well-marked paths.
Beautiful view over the Loing valley.

Machine-translated

Other walks in the area

For more walks, use our search engine .

The GPS track and description are the property of this route's author. Please do not copy them without permission.