Between Étang de Brandon and Tour de Champitaux

Head to the Étang de Brandon car park.

(S/E) Facing the road that runs along the dyke, turn left and walk along the right bank of the pond. This leads to the Ruisseau de Brandon, which flows into the Mesvrin, a tributary of the Arroux, itself a tributary of the Loire. Pass La Queue de l’Étang and reach a fork at the top of the climb.

(1) Leave the pond and turn left. Enter the Bois des Niolets, ignore a path branching off to the right and continue to the end of the track.

(2) Turn right, leaving the houses of Rinchis on your left, and continue straight on until you reach the road (D43).

(3) Cross it and continue straight ahead along Chemin des Ripards towards the hamlet of Les Ripards, with a small landscaped pond on your left. At the edge of the woods, take the dirt track that climbs straight up and reach a road (if it is too muddy, you can continue along the road via Les Ripards).

(4) Continue straight ahead along the path that runs along the edge of the Bois de l’Étang and then the Bois de la Tour. About a hundred metres past the house marked No. 1, take the path on the left, at an acute angle, which descends towards the Étang de la Tour. You’ll come to a farm with a gate blocking the path. Open it, making sure to close it behind you, pass the farm and follow the road (the farmer has confirmed that this is a public right of way).

(5) At the junction, turn right then immediately left and walk alongside the Étang de la Tour. Note the ruined tower of Champitaux on the opposite bank. It formed part of a fiefdom belonging, from the 12th century onwards, to the lords of Antully and Montjeu. You will reach the road (D43)

(6) Cross it carefully and take the path opposite. This leads to a meadow which you cross to reach the small wood, then follow it to the right. Pass over the Étang Bortay on your right, then come to a large old elm tree just before the hamlet of Les Macottins.

(7) Pass through the hamlet and continue along the path leading to the hamlet of Champitaux. On the grounds of a farm on the right, note a granite slab, the Grande Borne de Champital, near which the local lord administered justice in the Middle Ages. You will reach a multi-way junction, with a central traffic island, in the hamlet of Champitaux.

(8) Turn left onto Chemin des Champiteaux, pass the hamlet of L’Allée and continue straight on until you reach a crossroads. On your left is Brandon Castle, the construction of which began in the 12th century. Legend has it that the room above the chapel was occupied by Abbé Delniau, who was sentenced to be hanged and burned at the stake in Autun in 1624 for witchcraft. Access to the castle is prohibited.

(9) Turn right onto the Allée de Brandon, which runs alongside the Étang de la Moutelle, and continue to the next crossroads.

(10) Take the road on the left, which is also the GR®137, and head to the Étang de Brandon car park (S/E).

(S/E) The Étang de Brandon car park has a picnic table.