Between Oize and Sandron, the Moulin des Prés from Saint-Julien-du-Serre

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This is a short, easy hike with a wide variety of landscapes: meadows at the bottom of the Oize valley, more austere wooded slopes of the Sandron valley, pine forests and sandstone rocks towards Champestève or Fromenteyrol.

Details

n°480330
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 7.78 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 45 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 170 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 163 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 440 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 300 m
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Photos

ferruginous water...!
Moulin des Prés
Oize Valley
Oize

Description of the walk

Parking is available at the eastern entrance to the village, on the right-hand side of the D256, in front of a children's playground.

(S/E) Turn left onto the D256, then immediately left onto a small road. A sign indicates the direction of Champestève-Moulin des Prés.
Continue for 2.5 km, passing the two roads leading to Champestève on your left. Although this is a tarmac road, the lack of traffic and the pine forest surroundings make for a very pleasant drive.

(1) At the junction, leave the road to Moulin des Prés on your right and continue straight ahead.

(2) After about 600 metres, leave the track and take a path on the left. After heading south at first, this path climbs up a small valley to the west and leads to the road to the Boudon house.

(3) Take this road on the right, cross the D218 and take the path opposite.
Continue along this path overlooking the Sandron valley. Pass a path on your left that joins the road, then two paths on your right. The path temporarily crosses back over the ridge to the Oize valley side.
Join the D218 by taking a wide path on the right. Continue along the road for 150m.

(4) Leave the road and take a path on the right. Continue until you reach a wider path on the right.

(5) After leaving the woods, turn left at a Y-junction. Immediately afterwards, ignore a path on the left that leads back to the road (not shown on the map).
After passing a house, the path becomes a road. Follow this road to the hamlet of Fromenteyrol.

(6) At the crossroads, take the leftmost road. 60 metres further on, turn right onto a road leading towards the rocks, then immediately left onto a path that descends.
Pass a dead-end path on your right and a private path on your left to reach the D218.
Cross the road, keeping slightly to the right, to rejoin the path.

(7) When you reach the first houses, cross the road and immediately turn right onto a path that descends towards the D256. Take this road on the left, pass the first junction and continue to the next one. Follow the road on the right to return to the starting point (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 333 m - Car park at the eastern entrance to the village
  2. 1 : km 2.56 - alt. 304 m - Moulin des Prés. Close to the Oize, also known as - Luol (cours d'eau) - Affluent de l'Ardèche
  3. 2 : km 3.11 - alt. 326 m - Path on the left
  4. 3 : km 4.15 - alt. 389 m - Boudon, road on the right
  5. 4 : km 5.66 - alt. 402 m - Path on the right
  6. 5 : km 6.17 - alt. 412 m - On the left, but not too far
  7. 6 : km 6.91 - alt. 409 m - Fromenteyrol, road on the left
  8. 7 : km 7.49 - alt. 347 m - Road on the left then path on the right
  9. S/E : km 7.78 - alt. 333 m - Car park at the eastern entrance to the village

Worth a visit

The Romanesque church of Saint-Julien-du-Serre dates from the 12th century. It has been listed as a Historic Monument since 1906.

Reviews and comments

4.4 / 5
Based on 24 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.5 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.4 / 5
Route interest
4.3 / 5
lupi001
lupi001
• Edited:

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 05, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

This route is very pleasant and varied, and with GPS, it's easy to follow. The asphalt at the start of the route is on a very quiet road, with no cars on that day, which was also pleasant. There were no dogs that day, and we went as far as the bridge

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Thierryb26
Thierryb26
• Edited:

When we passed by on 6 November, this aggressive dog was also there, but it stayed near the building. However, it deterred us from going to the bridge over the Oize.
At wpt 6, it is indeed a road and not a path.

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DARTINET Lise
DARTINET Lise

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 09, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Points 4 and 6 were not marked.
At point 6, take a path, not a road.
Big problem at the Moulin des Prés, where an aggressive dog without a leash followed me for 200-300 metres, barking and growling less than 2 metres away from me!
I reported the problem to someone from the town hall I met along the way, and tomorrow I will call the town hall.
Other than that, it was a beautiful, easy hike, made even easier by your app. Thank you!

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jpcendron
jpcendron

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 07, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant hike with no real difficulties. We did it in summer and weren't bothered by the heat because there were lots of wooded areas.

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Thierryb26
Thierryb26
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.5 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 06, 2024
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Thank you for this lovely little walk through meadows, pine trees and chestnut trees.
It was a long stretch on a small road at the start, but the atmosphere was calm and bucolic, and we didn't see a single vehicle.
Don't forget to take a detour to the Romanesque church.
We had coffee and dessert when we arrived at the friendly village inn/café.

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jpcendron
jpcendron

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 29, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

An excellent, peaceful walk with some very pleasant sections through the woods.

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Fchristian
Fchristian

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 16, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Pleasant

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ocattoir
ocattoir

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 07, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hike undertaken early in the morning due to heatwave, fairly shaded, no difficulty, undertaken with people of average hiking fitness without difficulty

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becan
becan

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 26, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

It was Sunday, we didn't see many hikers but the trail is very pleasant, mostly marked in yellow and white.

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Fanwin
Fanwin

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 14, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A brief video preview 😊
https://youtu.be/z2UXhlqWbtI

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psoso
psoso

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 22, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Interesting and varied route

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DENVERS
DENVERS

Overall rating : 2 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 26, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

We are new to the area and would like to explore it through hiking. As we are completely unfamiliar with the region, the signage is very poor, not marked often enough, and the text lacks sufficient detail and landmarks – often the places indicated do not have signs. This is our second hike and we are encountering the same problems. Fortunately, the people we meet give us directions. As we are limited in time (curfew), this is not reassuring.

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The user account associated with this content has been deleted.

giom22
giom22
• Edited:

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 29, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Superb hike with four children aged 5 to 9 (who are used to walking)
The route presents no major difficulties.
We enjoyed the diversity of the flora and fauna, which made the hike even more enjoyable: boulders, river, pine trees, undergrowth, wild cherry trees (and strawberries), donkeys, horses, (ginger cat ), cuckoo, huge pine cones...
The views are splendid. It was warm and sunny. The lower part is well shaded.
In short, a real treat for everyone!
Thank you for the map and clear directions.

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JPC07
JPC07

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 07, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A lovely, peaceful family walk.

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