La Noue via the Chemin des Dames

Park by the communal pond at La Ferté Beauharnais.

(S/E) Leave the car park via the northern exit, cross the D923 road with care and follow it along the left-hand verge towards Chaumont-sur-Tharonne (north).
Continue for 150 metres until you reach a small road on the left-hand side.

(1) Turn left and follow the CR signposting for Chemin Bas No. 9, Sologne à Vélo, marked with red and white signs.
Continue along this road for about 150 metres.
Follow the path on the right, CR de la Pérelle No. 11, Sologne à Vélo, marked with white and red signs, ignoring all side paths.
Pass the Étang de la Pérelle and carry on until you reach the junction with the CR de Chaumont No. 7.

(2) Continue straight on along the grassy Chemin de la Pérelle No. 11, marked with white and red signs for^{the GR®31}. Carry on, ignoring all side paths.
Cross a track and, at the highest point, leave the Grand Peu hillock on your right. Begin the descent and reach an X-shaped junction where the right-hand track is blocked.
Carry on straight ahead along the CR de la Marolle No. 10. Reach the Gué de Villemalet and cross the Tharonne via the wooden footbridge.
Pass an aviary and a blocked path on your right, then take the grassy path sloping off to the left.
Continue until you reach an X-shaped junction.
First turn left then right and follow the signposted CR de la Marolle No. 10 path due north-west, marked with red and white markings. Reach the D207.

(3) Cross it with care. Turn right and carefully follow the D207 along its left-hand verge for about 500m, passing the Étang du Châtelier on your left and the Ferme des Étangs on your right. Go round a bend and join a path on the left.

(4) Take the CR de la Chapronière path no. 12. Walk past an aviary on your left, following this grassy, slightly uphill path until you reach a junction with a wide path at the edge of the forest.

(5) Continue straight on along the wide track, passing a pond on the left and, a little further on, another on the right.
Join the 207A and cross it with care.

(6) Follow the grassy path opposite (signposted^GR®31, marked with white and red markings), ignoring all side paths.
Pass a few small ponds on the left, continue along the slightly uphill path, passing a pond on your right, then the entrance to Saint-Hubert on your left.
Continue for a further 80m to reach a Y-junction; do not go through the gap between the two posts (private road).

(7) Turn right onto the grassy path (no markings) and rejoin the white/red markings a little further on.
Ignore all minor paths and continue until you reach a T-junction; turn left here, following the white/red markings.
Cross a wide track and continue straight on, following the white/red markings of^{the GR®31}.
Walk past a shed, then leave the Chavant on your left.
Veer slightly to the right, then walk for about 50m before taking the first grassy path on the left. There are no markings here, but you’ll find them a little further on. Follow this path, ignoring all side paths.
When you reach a green gate, turn right and join the D104. Turn left and follow the road carefully for 200m, passing a small pond on your left.

(8) Cross the road carefully and follow the first path on the right, which goes round a pond not visible from the path.
Pass Le Plessis on your left, then at the next Y-junction, let the^GR®31branch off to the left. Continue straight ahead; there are no signposts. Pass a pond on your right and carry on, ignoring all minor paths, skirting a meadow. You’ll reach a wide white track.

(9) Turn right, passing La Garenne on your right followed by two ponds, and join the D104. Cross with care. At the entrance to the Chavants private track, turn left to follow a grassy path diagonally across the field.
A sign from the Loir-et-Cher General Council marks the entrance; the yellow markings are not seen again after this point.
Continue along this long, winding track, leaving the pond at the Mesnil farm on your left. Ignore all side tracks and head towards a junction of several tracks; turn slightly left then right to go round La Noue on the left. Leave the wide track on the left.

(10) Pass to the left of Château de la Noue, then leave two paths on your right marked ‘Le Tertre’ and, a little further on, the hamlet known as Le Tertre.
Take the first bend to the right, leaving a grassy path signposted ‘Route 1’ to continue straight ahead.
At the next bend, ignore two paths on the right.
Begin a descent, ignoring the paths to the right and left, and pass Le Corbeignant. From this point, the path climbs slightly and reaches an inverted Y-junction.

(11) Follow the^GRP® de Sologne to the right, reaching a junction at the hamlet known as la Petite Brosse. Pass a path on the left signposted ‘Yvoy le Marron 15, Route 1’.
Carry on straight ahead, passing the hamlet of La Brosse on your left. Continue, ignoring all side paths.
Pass the Coulardière farm. The path becomes tarmac; carry on, leaving Sainte-Marie on your right, until you reach the D207 at the hamlet known as La Garenne.
Turn left and follow the D207 carefully for about 280m, following signs for La Ferté-Beauharnais,^{the GR®} de Sologne, and yellow/red markings.

(12) Cross the D207 with care and follow the path signposted ‘CR de Vilcou no. 15’,^‘GR® Pays de Sologne’, with yellow/red markings.
Continue along this long path, ignoring all side paths. Pass the Étang de Vilcou and begin a long, gently ascending stretch until you reach a junction.

(13) Then turn right, following the ‘Sologne à Vélo’ signs.
Carry on, ignoring all side paths.
Pass through the hamlet of Les Coudraies and reach a junction where four paths meet.

(2) Turn left and follow the path taken on the way there, signposted ‘CR de la Pérelle No. 11’, with red and white markings. Head for the car park (S/E).