Country:
District:
Departure from the Jean Coulombel sports complex, clearly signposted in the village of Morigny-Champigny and equipped with a large car park.
No signposts
(S/E) At the car park exit, take the cycle path on the right, which runs parallel to Avenue du Général de Gaulle (D17). At the playground, step over the safety barrier and cross the road (with caution). On the other side, pass a sign for "Site géologique de l'Essonne" on your right and follow a field path. At the end, turn right and stay on the edge of the woods. Further on, walk along the garden fences on your right. At an intersection (sign for "Private Property" on the left), continue straight ahead and you will immediately find the Notre-Dame des Prés polisher on your right (information sign).
(1) Retrace your steps back to the sports complex car park.
Yellow markings +PR®37signposts
The markings are in both directions, but the signs are one-sided, in the direction of this description.
(S/E) Continue south on the cycle path (on the left as you leave the car park if you have not made the return trip to the polisher). At the entrance to Morigny-Champigny, cross the D17 at the pedestrian crossing to follow the cycle path on the right-hand side of the road (the left-hand side is very narrow).
(2) After about 100 metres, turn left onto Rue du Mississippi. To do this, cross the D17 again, with two options:
- at the intersection if there is no traffic, as shown on the map (be careful);
- a little further on at the pedestrian crossing, as indicated by the signs (in this second case, walk back a few metres).
Walk up Rue du Mississippi for about 200 metres.
(3) At the last house on the left, turn right. At the crossroads that immediately follows, take thesecond path on the left, pass a small house on your left and enter the woods. Pass under a power line and ignore a path on the right and then one on the left. Continue steadily uphill on the wide path, ignoring a few mountain bike tracks on either side. Just after crossing a path coming from the left, you will come to a crossroads at the edge of a field.
(4) Then turn left, stay in the woods for another 150 metres or so and continue north-east along the edge of the woods.
(5) At the crossroads at the edge of the woods, turn right onto the main path and head north-east between the fields.
(6) At the next crossroads, turn left towards a wood and walk north-east between the fields. At the edge of the wood, continue in the same direction along the edge and walk alongside a field on your right. Ignore the paths on the left (private property) and an access tothe GR®11on the right.
(7) At the corner of the field, enter the Bois de la Barre, where the wide path gives way to a trail. Wind your way through the undergrowth and ignore all the paths branching off to the sides (private property on the left). Then descend slightly between mounds of mossy sandstone paving stones (old quarries). At the bottom, ignore a path coming from the left, step over a low fence (to keep small game in the woods?) and immediately come out onto the D17 at a place called Les Croubis.
(8) Cross the road (take care) and continue straight ahead for less than 100 metres. In front of a metal barrier, turn left and follow a path between garden fences on the left and a ruined wall on the right. Further on, continue with a hedge on your right, then a wood.
(9) At the crossroads, continue south on a one-way street (Rue de Champigny, as indicated by a sign further on). Cross Rue Traversière (!) and continue straight on Rue de Villemartin, ignoring the dead ends on either side.
(10) At the end (gate with turrets), turn left onto Allée des Marronniers. At the stop sign, cross the D17, either immediately if there is no traffic, or at the pedestrian crossing to the right. Follow Chemin du Moutoir de Villemartin, slightly uphill, between a field on your left and the hedge of a housing estate on your right.
(11) At the foot of an electricity pylon, turn right, go through a forest gate and follow a path parallel to the power line. At the next pylon, turn left to enter a wood. Walk along with a fence on your left. Immediately after passing a forest gate, you will come to a crossroads.
(12) Turn right at an acute angle. Walk along the fence of an old quarry on your right. At the end of the fence, continue along a small gravel road and ignore all the side roads. Pass under the power line, turn right immediately and you will come to the intersection you took on the way there.
(3) Continue straight ahead on Rue du Mississippi. At the stop sign, cross the D17.
(2) Follow the cycle path to the right to the sports complex car park (S/E).
Visorando member
Easy 
