Forêt de Planoise (forest) and Etang du Martinet (pond)

Lovely walk along the water's edge and through the forest on easy paths.

Details

123695
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 7.64 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 30 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 104 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 104 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 553 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 462 m

Photos

Description of the walk

How to get there: coming from Autun on the D680 towards Le Creusot, take the small road on the right at "les Baumes", and then go as far as the pond car park, about 200m away.

(S) Reach the green metal fence that closes off the area at the entrance to the pond. Drive around it to reach the edge of the pond. You'll see a notice board on your right. Continue along the edge of the pond, heading south towards the dike. Be careful, at first the path is narrow at the water's edge.

(1) Take the dike on your left and continue on the track that runs uphill until you reach the bend in the road. Take the tarmac track on your right at Le Martinet and head south-south-west downhill. The tarmac gives way to a gravel path, which you follow until you come to a barrier. Go around it and continue on this path to the Haut Rançon reservoir.

(2) Continue along the track to the water crane (see right), then keep going and you'll see on your left the start of the tunnel through which the water pipe runs to Le Creusot.

(3) After the metal barrier, leave the trailheads on the right and left, and continue straight ahead on the parallel paths, taking the one on the left. Reach a masonry shelter with a metal door (water catchment).

(4) Turn right on the GR® (Red-White markings) and after about 50m, take the path on the left. Use the footbridge to cross the Rivière le Rançon and continue along the GR® to the right. At marker 75, keep to the left. Watch out for the holly bushes (milestone 72), where you'll find a right-hand turn which you need to take straight away, then a left-hand turn which you need to take a few metres further on.

After a steep climb and crossing a wooden footbridge, you come to a path which you should take to the left. After a steep ascent, you come to a gravelled forest road, which you follow until you reach the left-hand turn for the GR®.

(5) Continue left, on the GR®, to the stream. Cross it on the right over two stones, which are easy to climb over.

(6) Immediately take the path on your right (marked Red-White and Yellow).

At the top of the climb, you'll see two paired trees on your left.

After a wet passage, which you must avoid by turning left, you come to a forest house on a small tarmac road, which you turn right onto.

(7) At the star junction, continue on the gravel road (wooden barrier) to the pond (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 516 m - Parking de l' - Étang du Martinet
  2. 1 : km 0.64 - alt. 514 m - Pond dam
  3. 2 : km 2.38 - alt. 483 m - Réservoir du Haut Rançon
  4. 3 : km 2.8 - alt. 469 m - Metal barrier
  5. 4 : km 3.07 - alt. 465 m - Water catchment - Rançon (rivière)
  6. 5 : km 4.54 - alt. 540 m - The GR turns left
  7. 6 : km 5 - alt. 510 m - Boutiche stream
  8. 7 : km 6.12 - alt. 552 m - Crossroads of forest roads
  9. S/E : km 7.64 - alt. 516 m - Parking de l' - Étang du Martinet

Notes

Bring good hiking boots and a supply of water, as there's no drinking water on the trail.
Please note that during the hunting season (September-February), hunting days are Mondays and Thursdays.

Worth a visit

The two ponds are very beautiful in this forest setting.

Always be cautious and plan ahead when you're outdoors. Visorando and the author of this route cannot be held responsible for any accidents occurring on this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

Reviews and comments

4.4 / 5
Based on 32 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.4 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.4 / 5
Route interest
4.5 / 5
amattheur
amattheur

Overall rating : 5 / 5

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

A superb walk, in glorious winter sunshine, made all the more enjoyable by the fact that the Dheune valley from which we came was shrouded in fog.
The guidebook is very well written and easy to follow. It was only our carelessness that caused us to miss the bend in the GR at point 4 (which meant we had to turn back when we reached Maison Loye).
The scenery is more varied than we expected, and I'll be doing this walk again with the grandchildren in the summer with great pleasure.

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M.dejesus
M.dejesus

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 17, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Very sampa circuit, we met several people doing it ☺️

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LesGil
LesGil

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 12, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant walk, with varied forest and pond landscapes. No particular difficulty. The time indicated corresponds fairly well to the time required. Very well guided by the descriptions in the information sheet, with little chance of making a mistake, so the walk is stress-free.

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Les deux patoux
Les deux patoux

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 30, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Great hike, we'll do it again in another season for the change of colours in the forest.

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b.catherine
b.catherine

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 11, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant and easy route

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PierroRando
PierroRando

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 23, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very nice hike, done with my children aged 6 and 8. It took us 2? hours as indicated.
Very pleasant to do in autumn.

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Borosmoke
Borosmoke

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 22, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Taken in 1 hour 35 minutes, this very easy walk is very pleasant in hot weather, as most of it is shaded. The Haut Rançon dam is always pleasant, as is the Etang du Martinet, which was exceptionally busy today due to the angling competition.
A very pleasant walk!

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toquepaulette
toquepaulette

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 21, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful walk in a wilderness away from civilisation!
Bubbling streams, the harsh Haut Rançon reservoir and the more cheerful Martinet.
I did this walk in May 2020 using only the map, which made it a little difficult to find my way around.
This time (February 2021), I downloaded the route onto my smartphone: very easy to follow...
I really enjoyed the last part: a long forest road lined with magnificent deciduous trees.

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furt3
furt3

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : May 31, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Beautiful walk in the undergrowth. Be careful to follow the instructions in the description as there are no signs on this walk. At the end of the route you come to a crossroads, take the track opposite which is not tarmac but dirt.

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petillant71
petillant71

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 08, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

circuit to be followed with great care (beware of ticks ??)

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gauthy
gauthy

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 04, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A very nice, very easy walk, apart from one more difficult section, full of wonderful discoveries.

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Algerard1
Algerard1

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 11, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Very nice hike .
Thanks to the poster.

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lionvs
lionvs

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 29, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Nice walk in the woods, pleasant in warm weather, but should be done with a map as part of it was done last year (without a map) but a small bridge was not found. The map helps you find your way around

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jacky71
jacky71

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 07, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

very nice little walk in the undergrowth (appreciated by these 30° heatwaves). you have to be very careful to find the right-hand turn followed by the left-hand turn after marker 4: the marking of the path on the ground is barely marked because it's in the stones! great relaxing walk with lots of little discoveries along the way!

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Balade en moto
Balade en moto

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 23, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A very pleasant walk in very hot weather, a little less so on the last kilometre (forest road). It's a shame that this route doesn't have its own signposting on the non-GR section, the description on paper is ESSENTIAL if you don't want to get lost...
The water reservoirs, catchment chambers and streams give a very pleasant sensation of varied landscapes.

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