Gare de Ponthierry-Pringy walks

This last stage of the journey along the Essonne offers many opportunities to play leapfrog with the river. It is obviously the stage with the most urban sections. The town of Corbeil-Essonnes reveals its rich religious, civil and industrial heritage.

Named after Acionna, the Gallo-Roman goddess of rivers, the Essonne flows through the north of the Loiret department and the south of the Île-de-France region. The first five stages follow its course downstream, while the last four follow it upstream. These nine stages are accessible by train. One stage, which is not accessible by train, forms a circular route upstream. The route alternates between paths along the river, passages through woods and those across cultivated plateaus.

This stage of the GR®1 connects Bois-le-Roi to Le Vaudoué. It is the only stage that does not end at a train station. This hike is unique in that it crosses the Forest of Fontainebleau and its many beautiful rocks. There are several points of interest along this section, which is entirely forested: the tree at Carrefour des Longues Vallées, the rocks at Cuvier Chatillon, the viewpoint at Gorges d'Apremont and Gorges de Franchard (worth visiting if you don't mind walking a little further), as well as the Chapel of Prieuré Notre-Dame de Franchard and the church at Vaudoué.

From Bois-le-Roi to Fontainebleau, walk between forest and rocks far from the beaten track

The Fontainebleau Forest is one of the most beautiful forests in France thanks to its varied landscapes and, above all, its sandstone blocks. This hike, which passes through the Cuvier-Châtillon rocks, the Apremont gorges and the rocks of Mont Ussy, will allow you to appreciate all its beauty but also its fragility, due to both natural erosion and that caused by heavy human traffic, given its proximity to the Paris region.

A hike from station to station, the first half of which takes place entirely in the northern part of the Forest of Fontainebleau, with a passage through the rocky chaos of Rocher Canon and then to the mysterious Mare aux Évées. The route then becomes much more urban, passing through several residential areas. It finally ends on the Seine towpath.

Twenty-ninth stage of the Grand Tour of Île-de-France via the GR®11, linking Ballancourt-sur-Essonne to La Ferté-Alais. Although both towns are located in the Essonne valley, the proposed route passes through the plateau overlooking the valley on the east side, in the Gâtinais Français Regional Nature Park, to the charming village of Mondeville. The GR® then winds its way between valleys, forests dotted with sandstone boulders and agricultural plateaus. This stage is shorter than the previous ones but is not without its difficulties as it still covers steep sections of terrain similar to the Fontainebleau forest, particularly around Mondeville. The route also allows you to discover some unusual sights, such as the Roches du Père La Musique in Ballancourt.

This is an unusual route, as the outward journey is by train from Montgeron station to Combs la Ville-Quincy-sous-Sénart station, and the return journey is on foot along a path that largely follows the banks of the Yerres.

This long hike takes you on a fairly comprehensive tour of the magnificent Coquibus massif: heather-covered plateaus and water holes, deciduous woods, rocks, viewpoints, the Vanne aqueduct (sandstone steps), etc.

This hike is certainly the most "aquatic" of those that can be undertaken along the Essonne. Indeed, numerous ponds punctuate the route: ponds for fishing or other forms of leisure; ponds and marshes that make up a protected natural area, a source of biodiversity and a place to observe wildlife.