From Poteau d'Ermenonville to Butte aux Gens d'Armes circular route

Departure from the South car park of Poteau d'Ermenonville located on the D922 between Ermenonville and Loisy. For access by train, see the Practical Information section.

(S/E) Head south on Route Longue. Turn right at Carrefour des Marronniers.

(1) Follow the^GR®1trail marked in red and white on the right. Cross the D922. At the end of the path, follow Chemin des Ermites on the right. Cross a footpath and then Route du Carreau further on.

(2) First turn left then right, then take Route Longue again on the left. At the crossroads, Le Petit Carrefour, take the second left, Route du Bosquet Rond. Cross Chemin de Loisy.

(3) Cross the D126 and go straight ahead at Carrefour Saint-Barthélemy, then pass Carrefour du Cognassier.

(4) At Carrefour du Grisard, continue straight ahead on Route du Bosquet Rond. Cross a path and leave a small trail on your right. At Carrefour du Bosquet Rond, take the third left. At Carrefour de l'Ebène, follow Route Sainte-Marguerite, the fourth right.

(5) At Poteau Sainte-Marguerite, continue straight ahead to Poteau du Merisier.

(6) Take the fourth right. Ignore the paths on the left and cross Chemin des Néfliers. At Carrefour du Sycomore, cross Route de la Victoire and take the first left, Route des Bruyères. Ignore a path on the left.

(7) Turn left onto Route de Borest. At the Charlet crossroads, take the second right and follow the^GR®1on the right.

(8) At the crossroads near the forest house, turn into the second left. Cross the bridge over the A1 motorway. Go down to the right and follow the path along the motorway.

(9) After a cement marker in the middle of the path, turn left. Ignore a path on the left and cross Route Tortue. At the next crossroads, first turn right then left. At the end, climb up to the left onto Butte aux Gens d'Armes.

(10) Pass to the left of the cement marker indicating the top of the hill, then descend to the left to Route Vieille. Turn left, leaving the^GR®1trail to your right. Route Vieille passes under the motorway and leads to Carrefour des Gens d'Armes.

(11) Continue straight ahead on Route Vieille. At the Poteau de la Croix des Gens d'Armes, do the same. Cross a path.

(12) At the next crossroads, cross another path and keep left at the fork. Cross three paths and then, at the next crossroads, follow the^GR®11marked in red and white straight ahead.

(13) Leave the^GR®11by turning right onto Route Longue. Continue straight ahead at the Carrefour des Châtaigniers and then at the Carrefour de la Place Notre-Dame. At the Baraque de Chaalis, take the third road on the right, Route de Dammartin. Continue straight ahead until you reach the Bosquet de Dammartin signpost.

(14) Go straight ahead, then turn left towards the memorial to the air disaster of 3 March 1974 (Turkish Airlines flight 981).

(15) Turn around and immediately turn right to return to the previous crossroads.

(14) Take the second path on the right. Do the same at Carrefour Paré. Cross a path to climb up to the Sainte-Lucie signpost.

(16) Take the second left, Route d'Ermenonville. Cross the D126 carefully. At the Croix Neuve post, continue along Route d'Ermenonville.

(17) At the Ermenonville crossroads, continue in the same direction and on the same road. Pass a path on the right, then at the crossroads, turn right onto Vieux Chemin de Meaux. Ignore a path coming from the right. Continue in the same direction at the two crossroads you come to.

(18) Follow Chemin de la Mare des Eaux to the left. Continue eastwards until you reach the traffic lights. Press the button and cross the N 330 to continue straight ahead.

(19) At the stop sign, turn right. The street passes over the Launette and between the castle and Parc Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

(20) Ignore the car park, Ruelle de l'Étang and Rue Souville. In front of the sculpture of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, go up to the left. Turn left and walk along the right-hand side of the town hall square.

(21) Behind the town hall, find and go down Ruelle Petite Galère on the left. At the end, turn left.

(20) At the end of Rue Souville, turn right. Once again, walk past the castle and cross La Launette.

(19) Turn left into the dead-end street. Climb the few steps on the left and walk carefully along the N 330. Keeping to the right at the roundabout, cross the N 330 carefully to find the start of a small path. At the six-way crossroads, continue straight ahead.

(22) At the end, turn right onto Route de Saint-Sulpice. Continue straight ahead to Poteau d'Ermenonville to finish the hike (S/E).

Access to the hike:
- By car: park south or north of Poteau d'Ermenonville on the edge of Route Longue.
- By train and bus: Nanteuil le Haudouin station: Transilien line K (Paris-Nord station network). For timetables, visit the Transilien website. From the station, bus line 636 runs on certain days to the Centre Ermenonville bus stop (20). For timetables, visit theOise Mobilité website.

(1) Hiking: The circular route from Dammartin-en-Goële to Loisy takes you along the^GR®1from Dammartin-en-Goële to this point.

(10) Hiking: The circular route from the Château de la Reine Blanche to the Butte aux Gens d'Armes allows you to walk the^GR®1from the Étangs de Comelles to this point.

(15) The accident killed all 346 people on board, making it the deadliest plane crash in history at the time.

(17) The Mer de Sable and the nearby Royal Abbey of Chaalis.

(19) Jean-Jacques Rousseau Park (free admission).

(20) Jean-Jacques Rousseau died in a pavilion at the Château d'Ermenonville.

(21) Nearby, Saint-Martin Church