Moderator's addition on 23/08/2021: Private property at the start of this route. See the comments at the bottom of this page for an alternative starting point.
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Park at the entrance to Chemin des Bègues, near the recycling bins, heading towards Benon, after the Courçon exit on the Route de Niort.
(S/E) Follow this road to the end and turn left into the Relais de la Forêt park to join the D116 (Benon - Courçon).
(1) Take this road on the right, pass under the 4-lane motorway (La Rochelle - Niort) and take the first small road on the right into the forest.
(2) Take the first forest path on the left, just before the bend. Continue north until you reach the edge of the woods, ignoring the other paths.
Just before the edge of the woods, on the right, you will see the Champ Châlon burial mounds; on the left is the water treatment plant.
(3) At the edge of the forest, leave the tarmac road to the west and north. Follow the stony track on the right towards the east, along the woods, towards the D114 (La Laigne - Courçon).
Shortly after leaving the edge of the woods, you will arrive at a place called "Pas du Gros Chêne", about 80 metres before the D114.
(4) Take a small path on the right, along a field, which veers left then right to join a forest track.
(5) Take the track on the right, heading south-west. It crosses the forest from one side to the other. Continue along the path in the same direction, ignoring all the paths on either side, until you reach a small tarmac road that runs alongside the four-lane road (Niort - La Rochelle) towards the west. Turn right and follow this road until you reach a crossroads that you passed on the way there.
(2) At the right-hand bend, you will rejoin the route you took on the way there, which you will follow to the car park (S/E)
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