Between Ayen and Saint-Robert

Ayen, Saint-Robert, Perpezac-le-Blanc and Segonzac are among the hilltop towns of the Yssandonnais region. Located in the foothills of the Massif Central, they all share a unique geological feature: they are isolated hills with very distinctive flora and fauna that are well worth observing or photographing. Since 2011, these towns have been part of the Vézère-Ardoise region of art and history.

Details

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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 13.96 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 4h 55 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 327 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 330 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 357 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 187 m
  • ⚐ Country: France
  • ⚐ District: Ayen (19310)
  • ⚑
    Start/End: N 45.246325° / E 1.326519°
  • ❏
    IGN map(s): Ref. 2034E
  • Hour-by-hour weather

Description of the walk

(S/E) With your back to the media library, take Ruelle du Pissol opposite, then take the first left to the wash house.

(1) At the wash house, go down the steps. At the road, turn left. At the next fork, turn right and leave the village via the D95 (towards Louignac).

(2) At the "Les Prades" sign, turn right onto the pretty path along the hedge.

(3) At the junction with a path coming from the left, continue straight ahead. Stay on the main path, heading north-west, and ignore the side paths.

(4) At the fork, go left and walk along the castle grounds on your left. After the cross, first turn left then right and head north-west towards the two cemeteries. Pass between the two cemeteries and, at the crossroads, continue in the same direction and descend towards Le Désert.

(5) Turn left with the road and descend steeply. At the end, continue along a wide grassy path. Then turn left and then right and cross the Elle stream. At the road, turn right until you reach the crossroads.

(6) At the crossroads, turn right towards Bories de Rasat. Follow the small road and leave the basins of a water treatment plant on your left.

(7) At the crossroads with the fire hydrant, before the D5 road, follow a small road on the left to the "miraculous fountain". Then follow the path. At the fork that appears very quickly, go left at the edge of the woods.

(8) At the road, turn right and then immediately left. Follow the road, which curves sharply to the left, until you reach the hamlet of Pinsac.

(9) When you reach Pinsac, turn left and cross the hamlet. Follow the road and, when you reach an isolated house on the right, turn left onto a path in the woods.

(10) At the three-way junction, turn right onto the road that descends and crosses the river. At the junction with the D95, go right for 30 metres and turn left onto the path that leads into the woods. Climb up to a house and follow the road to the left.

(11) After the large mansion on the left (La Tuilerie), take the path on the right towards La Charnie. At the fork, follow the path on the right to Graschamp.

(12) In the hamlet, turn left onto the small road that climbs steeply. Continue along the path that curves to the right and then heads south-east. At the road, follow it to the right. At the next junction, turn left into La Charnie.

(13) On leaving the village of La Charnie, take the path on the left, then turn right and continue straight on until you reach the road (D2). Follow the road to the left for about 100 metres, then take the path on the left.

(14) Pass in front of a shed. At the road, turn left, then immediately right onto a wide path which you follow straight ahead for 100 metres. When a path comes from the left, veer slightly to the right. At the wash house, take the path opposite, then straight ahead (north), ignoring the paths on either side.

(15) At the road, turn right, continue for 200 metres, then take the path on the left that climbs up through the meadows.

(3) At the crossroads you took on the way there, turn right.

(2) Follow the road on the left and enter the village. Go up the steps of the wash house.

(1) Turn right and immediately left onto Rue des Remparts until you reach the starting point (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 308 m
  2. 1 : km 0.13 - alt. 301 m - Wash house steps
  3. 2 : km 0.34 - alt. 282 m - Les Prades
  4. 3 : km 0.62 - alt. 275 m - Crossroads
  5. 4 : km 0.95 - alt. 255 m - Fork before Ayen-Bas
  6. 5 : km 1.49 - alt. 242 m - Le Désert
  7. 6 : km 2.76 - alt. 197 m - Crossroads before Les Drystone Shelters de Rasat
  8. 7 : km 4.12 - alt. 282 m - Saint-Maurice
  9. 8 : km 4.66 - alt. 291 m - Small road
  10. 9 : km 6.06 - alt. 281 m - Pinsac
  11. 10 : km 7.24 - alt. 197 m - Three-way junction
  12. 11 : km 8.51 - alt. 242 m - Crossroads
  13. 12 : km 9.12 - alt. 282 m - Graschamp
  14. 13 : km 10.86 - alt. 347 m - Exit the village of La Charnie
  15. 14 : km 11.89 - alt. 331 m - Hangar
  16. 15 : km 13.06 - alt. 238 m - Route D95
  17. S/E : km 13.96 - alt. 308 m

Reviews and comments

4.6 / 5
Based on 20 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.6 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.6 / 5
Route interest
4.7 / 5
Miva
Miva

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 27, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Interesting heritage in both villages and rural landscape. Beautiful panoramic views. Little shade. A bit too much tarmac, especially in hot weather. However, these are very small roads where I didn't meet anyone. The passage through the "meadow" at the end of the circuit, which was supposed to connect point 15 to point 3, does not exist: there are two large orchards on a grassy slope, which are closed! There is a red sign at the bottom that you must follow to return to the village via a detour along the route you took at the start, or you must continue along the shortest route by going up the road.

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Ardechois33
Ardechois33

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 02, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Although there was a food festival in Ayen with three hikes on offer, we didn't see many people on the trail. But we set off from St Robert to avoid parking problems, as there were seven cars in our hiking group. Despite a little rain, my group enjoyed the hike. I would add, however, that the stop in Saint Robert is worth mentioning, as we enjoyed visiting the church and village and the view from the square overlooking the valley. Thanks once again to the hiker who suggested this beautiful hike
Of course, we stopped for lunch in Ayen and took advantage of the local produce on sale
It should be noted that some parts of the route were challenging between points 10 and 12 (the path is more like a muddy stream than a path - you just need to be well equipped) and also between points 5 and 6 (but this is easier because it is flat)

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Ardechois33
Ardechois33

No, it was just to warn hikers who want to leave from Ayen on 2 April that there will be a lot of people there

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Ardechois33
Ardechois33
• Edited:

Please note that on 2 April, there will be a foodie hike starting at 7:30 a.m. from Ayen, with hikes of 10, 14 and 20 km

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feixou
feixou

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 20, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Beautiful landscapes, beautiful heritage, easy hiking although the paths were very wet for us. Between points 7 and 8, you really must make a detour and climb up to the village of St Robert, which is truly beautiful (don't hesitate to go around the church to reach the promontory overlooking the entire valley with a splendid view, not to be missed!!!).

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Ardechois33
Ardechois33

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 30, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful route with few roads
Be careful at point 7: continue to the miraculous fountain before taking the path
Between point 7 and point 8, several fallen trees on the path make the passage a little challenging
After point 15, a town hall sign indicates a temporary path, i.e. to go straight ahead on the road and not turn right onto the D95. We ignored this sign and took the D95 to turn into the meadows (no clearly marked path) and you have to go quite a long way to find the path you took on the way there

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Jean-Pierre TUGORES
Jean-Pierre TUGORES

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 05, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Sunshine and October warmth. Ideal for walking. Route often offering sweeping panoramic views. Ayen-Bas, with its castle, its well-restored inhabited and therefore private abbey, and its square with fountain, invites you to rest. Saint Robert is a must-see. You can't take your eyes off it during the walk because it is perched on a hill. Up there, you can also rest at the foot of the church in a park with extensive views of the region. Note the charming hamlet of La Charnie and finally the walnut groves. It was walnut harvesting time. And the walnut growers were hard at work. But there are still enough walnuts on the ground for you to stock up! I only met two walkers during the half-day and in Saint Robert, everything was closed. A real calm... beneficial!

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anne19
anne19

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 21, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk; we visited the listed village of St Robert, which is not described in this guide.
Red signposts from Ayen

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La
La

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 28, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant trail that takes you through lots of pretty villages and hamlets. The signposting is very good and the explanations are very clear (you just need to finish on the road, as other hikers have pointed out).

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Celineetfrederic
Celineetfrederic

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 28, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A magnificent hike, we highly recommend it.
However, be careful at point 15, as the path "up through the meadows" no longer exists. We found (and followed) its old route using GPS, but it is better to take the detour via the road, as it is now likely to be on private property

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georgette.francon
georgette.francon

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 28, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

superb, well-marked hike

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RAND19
RAND19

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : May 14, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant hike along small paths that takes us past beautiful panoramic views, lovely fountains and crosses.
Please note that we followed red signs that appeared to be for this route, but this is not the case as the return route does not pass through Ayen Bas. Follow the directions in the description carefully and turn right at point 15 instead of continuing straight on towards Ayen Bas. However, point 15 of the description mentions a path on the left that goes up into the meadows. We did not see this path and continued on the road, which took us almost to point 3.
We overestimated the time required; 3 hours and 15 minutes was enough for us.
Thank you for this hike

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caraguma1955
caraguma1955

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 22, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Great hike. Very well marked...

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St-Amand-Rando-Passion
St-Amand-Rando-Passion

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 21, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A very beautiful walk, lovely views, very pretty heritage: fountains, wash houses, village.
Ayen Bas is very pretty.
I recommend this hike

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DESENDER ALAIN
DESENDER ALAIN

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 28, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A very beautiful hike. Varied landscapes, nature and heritage.
Highly recommended.

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