Starting point and access: Crouy-sur-Ourcq station.
- Transilien - Line P, on the section between Meaux and La Ferté-Milon.
Go to the end of the platform and take the Avenue de la Gare exit, at the back of the train when arriving on Track 1 (Paris-Meaux-La Ferté-Milon direction), at the front of the train when arriving on Track 2 (opposite direction).
Yellow markings
Unless we have made a mistake, this signage is missing for the first few hundred metres.
(S/E) At the end of the platform, go through a gate and turn left onto the road (cross the tracks at the level crossing if you have arrived on Track 1). Pass under the Donjon du Houssoy on your left. Just before the stop sign, turn left to cross the street called "Chemin de Notre-Dame du Chêne" and take the path opposite with a large wooden building on your right. Stay on this path, keeping the wall on your right. Admire the Château de Champivert and look for the first yellow marker on an electricity pole. After a right-hand bend, you will come out onto Avenue de Montigny.
(1) Ignore the markers that tell you to turn left and turn right into the avenue. Ignore the street on the right that leads to the train station (sign) and, at the next intersection, turn left onto Rue Dufresne towards the post office (sign). This street turns right very quickly and becomes Rue de Geoffroy. Pass the post office and then a small square on the right. At the end of the street, note the fountain on the Place du Marché on the right, but turn left onto Rue Trevez Brigot, towards the church.
(2) Pass the double red gates of the church. Then turn right and note the Croix de Raroi on the left of the street. Opposite the school, turn right and then immediately left onto the small square. After the "No Entry" sign, turn left. Just after number 11 on the street, turn left onto Rue Raphaël. At the first fork, turn right, staying on Rue Raphaël, which begins to climb. At the next intersection, turn left, continuing uphill. At another fork, turn right and drive alongside a football stadium.
(3) At the junction at the corner of the football stadium, turn left (yellow arrow "Moisy" on an electricity pole). Follow two agricultural sheds on your right and a field on your left. At a fork, at the corner of the field, turn right and head north-east. Cross a small road and continue opposite into the woods. A little further on, the path turns left into the undergrowth. When you leave the woods, continue north, ignoring a grassy lane on the right. When you start going downhill, leave the main path on your left and continue straight ahead on a path that descends between two hedges. When you reach a small road, follow it to the right. Ignore a street on your right and then a street on your left, pass the sign indicating the entrance to Montigny l'Allier and reach the bridge over the Clignon: the river is on your right and the canalised river is on your left.
No signposts
(4) Do not cross the bridge but turn left (information sign) to take the towpath with the canal on your right. Take the next bridge to cross the Clignon. Then take the grassy, shaded path opposite, which leads to the main street of the hamlet of Moisy (Rue de la Commanderie).
Red and yellow + yellow markings
(5) Turn left into the street. Pass the Pierre Plaideuse (ruined tower) on your left, then a well and a calvary on your right. You will reach the former Templar Commandery.
(6) Continue west, where the street has given way to a path. After a left turn, join the Clignon canal. Do not cross the bridge but turn right onto the towpath, with the canal on your left. You will come to the canal bridge over the Ourcq river.
(7) Cross the river over the canal bridge and continue along the towpath, which becomes narrower. Pass under the railway bridge and reach the Canal de l'Ourcq.
Red and white markings
(8) Turn left and head south-west along the canal on your right. Pass the village of Neufchelles on the opposite bank. At the first bridge, ignore a red and white arrow indicating a left turn onto theGR®11and continue straight ahead on the towpath, where you will find a marker of the same colour (GR® access route not shown on the IGN map).
No signposts
See an alternative route for wet weather or if the path leading into the marsh is damaged.
(9) At the second bridge, leave theGR® turning right, leave the towpath and turn left onto a path lined with poplar trees that crosses the Marais de Beauval (red and white cross). Ignore a path on the left. The path then turns left towards the south-east.
(10) Look for a path on the right and follow it (depending on the time of year, the path opposite may be overgrown or cut off). About 100 metres further on, at a T-junction, turn left at a right angle (the right-hand path may also be overgrown or not). Walk south-east under a tunnel of vegetation until you reach the banks of the Ourcq river.
(11) Turn right to follow the river (on your left) in the direction of the current. Stay as close to the river as possible. The vegetation is quite dense and you will pass small poplar groves here and there. After a sharp bend to the left, the path becomes clearer. Stay on the path parallel to the river and ignore two grassy paths on the right. You will come out onto a road; follow it to the left. Cross the bridge over the Ourcq and you will immediately see Crouy-sur-Ourcq station on your left (S/E).
To return to La Ferté Milon, you can access the platform immediately. To return to Meaux and Paris-Est, first cross the railway tracks at the level crossing.