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The start is on Rue du 8 mai 1945, near the Domaine des Hautannes. There are parking spaces along the street.
(S/E) Head towards the small roundabout at the end of the street and continue towards Chasselay via thethird exit from the roundabout (Route de Saint-Hilaire). Follow this road for about 1 km without going as far as the fork in the road.
(1) Take the dirt track on the left which runs alongside several orchards before entering a wood.
When you reach a junction in the woods, turn right. The path crosses a cleared section of woodland, offering a lovely view of Chasselay and the surrounding area, before joining, after a gentle descent, a wider path that runs alongside a meadow.
Turn right onto the path, then turn left at the next two crossroads to go round the meadow. Towards the top of the meadow, the path seems to reach a dead end; take the path on the right which climbs into the woods and joins a sunken track.
Take the path on the left for a few metres. At the junction, take the sunken path on the right and immediately take the track that climbs into the woods. Follow it for about a hundred metres, then turn right to join a path below. Continue by taking the track on the right.
Ignore a path on the right, then another on the left, and continue along the path for about 500 metres. At the fork, take the path on the right which descends slightly into the woods and continue straight on until you reach the Madonna, which should be visible if the vegetation allows.
(2) Leave the Madone de Chasselay by heading up the path that branches off to the right. Then take the gently descending path on the right and follow it to a fork. Turn right to reach a small stream. Cross it and follow the path which climbs through a pine forest to join a wider track after about 200 metres. Ignore the path which branches off to the right about ten metres from the track.
(3) Take the path leading down to the right and follow it to a fork in front of the ruins of a large house.
Take the wide path that passes to the left of the ruins and follow it to a junction with a small track.
Turn left onto the path. After about 80 metres, take the path branching off to the left and heading uphill into the woods, and follow it to a road.
Turn left onto the road and after about 250 metres, you will reach the Poleymieux lime kiln.
(4) Various information boards explain how the lime kiln works.
After visiting the lime kiln, continue along the road until you reach the path on the right at the end of the bend. Take the path to the hamlet of La Glande. When you reach the house, turn left onto the path that starts between large trees and follow it to a crossroads. Turn right onto the path that leads to a road and the entrance to the quarry complex.
(5) The site has been restored and is open to the public.
After visiting the site, take the road (D52) up towards the Col du Mont Verdun. Just before the pass, take the path that branches off to the left at a small concrete platform, from where you can enjoy a beautiful view.
The path leads into the woods to go round Fort du Mont Verdun.
At a fork with an octagonal marker, take the path on the left that leads downhill. The path then crosses a small clearing.
(6) Shortly afterwards, ignore the path coming in from the left and continue straight on until you reach a road. Follow it and pass the junction (car parks).
Shortly after the junction, take the path on the left which heads into the woods, gradually moving away from the road. Ignore the path on the left and continue to a junction where the road meets various paths (signpost: Mont Rouge).
(7) Turn left, heading due west, onto the Monts d'Or Geological Trail towards Chasselay (follow the signpost: Fond Grimaud).
(8) Shortly after a hairpin bend, ignore the path on the right which runs alongside a field (signpost: Fond Grimaud, follow signpost: En Borde).
Just after the path, pass the rocky area by the side of a stream (often dry) (signpost: En Borde).
Take the path on the right which leads into the woods (signpost: La Colas).
The start of this path is very stony and very slippery in wet weather. This tricky section isn’t very long and the path then becomes much more pleasant.
Ignore a path coming in from the left.
After a short descent, turn left onto the path that runs along the hillside before turning right and passing close to a ruined drystone shelter*.
(9) Continue straight on along the almost flat path, ignoring the path branching off to the left.
After about 800 metres, you’ll reach a stony path (signpost: La Colas).
Turn right (towards the signpost: Le Rebat) and reach the fork leading to the hermitage.
(10) Take the path on the left, which will lead you to the ruins of the Saint-Antoine Hermitage and, a little further on, to the remains of a tanning pit. There are information boards on site explaining the history of the area.
(11) After your visit, turn back to return to the fork.
(10) Turn left onto the path, which becomes tarmac (signpost: Le Rebat), and continue. Pass the signpost: Lavoir des cendres. Continue until you reach a small concrete road on the left.
Turn left onto the concrete road to reach a wash house located a few dozen metres away.
After visiting the wash house, turn back and return to the tarmac road, following it straight ahead to the junction with a dirt track (signpost: Le Bottet).
Turn left onto the dirt track and head towards the ruins of the Moulin d’Ampère (signpost: Moulin à Vent). If the weather is on your side, you’ll be able to see the Alps and Mont Blanc on your right.
(12) At the ruins of the Moulin d'Ampère, take the path leading off to the left and follow it for about fifty metres before taking the path leading off to the right into the woods. This path soon leads to the Croix Rampau.
(13) You can find your bearings using an old orientation table in the centre of the site.
On the north side, the open area serves as a launch site for paragliders and offers a beautiful view of the Saône valley.
Leave the site via the small path that slopes gently into the woods next to the paragliding launch site.
This path leads to an open area beneath a high-voltage power line at the edge of a cultivated field. The path winds a few metres from the edge of the field, and after leaving a fairly steep path on the left, reaches a corner of the field and dives back into the woods almost immediately.
Turn left at the next two junctions.
After a slight climb following thesecond junction, take the path furthest to the right, which slopes gently downwards.
After 250 to 300 metres, take the grassy path on the left, which leads to the edge of a small wood.
Take the small path leading off to the right into the woods. Turn left at the first junction, and, when you reach another junction at the bottom of a descent, turn left again to reach a field planted with American walnut trees and continue along the path that runs to the right of a hedge, ignoring a path on the right that crosses a meadow.
(14) You should be able to make out the entrance to a tunnel.
This tunnel, which has partially collapsed in the middle, dates from the era of the Saint Germain quarries.
2 options available: either go round the tunnel (recommended) or go through it.
Option 1: go round the tunnel
Take the path that branches off to the right a few metres before the tunnel entrance. The path crosses an area of fairly dense vegetation before reaching a clearing. Ignore the path that branches off to the left into the dense vegetation.
Once in the clearing, head towards a passage through a large hedge.
Option 2: go through the tunnel
To go through the tunnel, it is safer to have a torch.
At the tunnel exit, continue for about twenty metres, then, turning almost halfway round, take a poorly marked path on the right that leads into the vegetation to reach a clearing. Cross this clearing to reach a gap in a large hedge on the left.
(15) Go through the hedge and follow the path across a field towards a large tree at the edge of a concrete path (signpost: Les Fromentaux).
Once on the concrete path, take the grassy path almost directly opposite, which slopes gently downwards (signpost: Les Brosses).
When you reach this signpost, turn left onto the path (signposted: Combe - Charnay).
After a descent, at the crossroads turn left onto the path that goes down between two walls.
When you reach the signpost for Combe - Charnay, turn right onto Rue Jean Louis Renardon and follow it to the Saint Germain wash house.
(16) Then take Rue du Lavoir, walking downhill for about 40 metres, and turn left into Passage Font-Chalin, which follows a small stream and passes under a house before joining Rue du 8 Mai 1945 at a café-bar-PMU.
Turn left onto this street (D16A) to return to the starting point (S/E).
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