The Clénay State Forest, starting from Saint-Julien

Head to Saint-Julien (21490) and park near the church entrance, in a large car park along the River Norges, near the Pont-Neuf.

(S/E) From the car park, cross the Norges via the Pont-Neuf.
Alternative route via the wash house immediately on the right.
Walk up the street of the same name, passing the town hall on your left, until you reach the junction with Rue du Centre or the D28a.

(1) Cross this road carefully, heading straight ahead to take Rue Comblanchet, which curves left then right before reaching a large crossroads. Turn right onto Rue de Boussy. At the end of the street, keep left past the Renault garage, then continue along Rue du Meix André until you reach the D28.

(2) Then turn left and follow this road carefully for just over a hundred metres before turning right onto Rue Hameau de la Tuilerie. Continue along this tarmac road, which curves to the right, to reach the hamlet and its guesthouses. Cross the hamlet of La Tuilerie and continue straight ahead, between the houses, along the woodland path. Shortly after passing a tall treehouse on the left, you’ll reach a crossroads of tracks and turn right. Further on, you’ll come to a stony path at the end.

(3) Turn left and continue along this path, which passes through meadows and fields, then enters the woods, follows the edge of the woods and fields before veering left and entering the undergrowth again. Reach the next crossroads.

(4) Turn right onto this path, which quickly leaves the woods and runs along the right-hand side of the fields at a place called La pièce des Essarts. At the T-junction in the middle of the fields, turn sharply left to re-enter the woodland and, at its far end, reach the railway line and a white gravel path.

(5) Keep to the right and follow this path which runs alongside the railway line, keeping to the left until the first level crossing on the D112e.

(6) Cross the tracks at the level crossing and immediately turn left to follow them; keep left until you reach the junction from the outward leg ((5)) on the other side of the track, then continue for about 300 m.

(7) Leave the path running alongside the railway line to follow the second, well-marked, straight path which, starting diagonally through the woods, leads onto a wide, white-gravel path of the sleeper-type. Turn right, thus turning your back on a “road” tunnel under the railway line. Continue straight ahead until you reach the D3b.

(8) Cross this road with care and continue straight ahead. Follow the same white-gravel path until it turns into a track that leads out of the woods, crosses a wasteland and joins a new cross-country gravel path running through fields.

(9) Turn left and follow this path continuously until it bends to the right. Then turn left to enter the undergrowth. Further on, it veers to the right. When you reach a fork (clearing), keep left. At the next three-way junction, turn right (clearing). The path crosses a stream bed and emerges at the edge of the woods, facing a field. Turn left onto this path to leave the woods and continue across the fields towards the houses visible in the distance.

(10) Turn right onto the first grassy field path. Follow it until it ends at a cross path. Turn left to follow a white-gravel path as far as the Bois des Louvières, visible on the left before Clénay.

(11) Then turn left to reach the Fontaine aux Lions, situated on the edge of the woods.

(12) A very pleasant spot to visit in fine weather. Picnic area provided. Retrace your steps back to the crossroads.

(11). Then turn left. Head towards Clénay until you reach the D3b.

(13) Turn right and, a few metres further on, carefully cross this road to turn left at the old Citroën garage onto Chemin de la Tuilerie, heading towards the imposing silos. Behind them, at their level, cross two railway sidings to take the footbridge spanning the main railway line.

(14) Follow the “Sortie” sign, passing alongside Saint-Julien-Clénay station. Take Rue de la Gare and, following the railway line to the right, join the D28a. Cross it carefully by turning right then left at the junction without using the level crossing.

(15) Continue along the railway line to the right. Cross the La Norges bridge, then pass in front of a small silo. At the next junction, turn left onto a grassy field path. This will take you to the roundabout at the finish in Saint-Julien.

(16) Carefully go round the roundabout to pass in front of the pharmacy and take Rue de La Petite Fin. At the end of this street, turn right onto Rue Virolot, then, at the next fork after a wayside cross, turn right again onto Rue des Alleux. Follow this road to the last set of junctions before leaving the built-up area. Then turn left towards the intergenerational centre and sports complex.

(17) As you turn left into the restricted access area, pass close to both sites. At the next junction, turn left onto Rue du Joncheroy. Follow this road straight on until you reach a roundabout. Take the right-hand exit to return to the starting car park, opposite the church (S/E).

Walking sticks are useful in wet weather on the sometimes soggy country lanes and in the woods.
(12) Picnic area with tables and benches at the Fontaine aux Lions, in the commune of Clénay.

- Take a stroll through the centre of Saint-Julien, known as Val-Julien during the revolutionary period of the National Convention (1792–1795). Long before that, however, it was called Comblanchier between 897 and 1038, before becoming Saint-Julien. The commune was incorporated into the Kingdom of France in 1477 following the death of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy.
- The present church was built within the walls of an ancient medieval motte. It was rebuilt in 1880 on the site of a 12th- and 13th-century church, which itself had replaced an 11th-century Romanesque church that had housed a relic of Saint Julian. Four tombstones in the church dating from the 1300s (Lords of Saint-Julien).
- Pont-Neuf bridge over the River Norges, dating from 1824, adjacent to one of Saint-Julien’s two wash houses. Dam with five water regulation mechanisms.
- Hops and watercress were once grown in Saint-Julien.

- Active railway line (freight and passenger) linking Dijon to the outskirts of Is-sur-Tille, then Chalindrey, Langres and Chaumont...

- The Clénay National Forest (approx. 2.87 km²) is crossed by a wide cart track and then by paths through the woods. In the Bois de la Grande Charrière, there is an oak tree known as the “four daughters”, nicknamed “the Three Musketeers”.

- The Fontaine aux Lions, in the commune of Clénay. This may be a corruption of “Fontaine aux Loups”, as wolves were once numerous in the area. A legend tells that a lion that had escaped from a circus took refuge there, but the cave collapsed on top of him, burying him.
Water gushes from a mysterious cavity. A beautiful hollow, a sort of crater where a spring gently bubbles.
A few metres away, a second spring flows timidly from a vaulted stone opening resembling the entrance to an underground passage. Legend has it that it led to Clénay Castle.