Lake Mervent - Citardière Château - Pont du déluge

fr

There are many pedestrian paths to discover in Mervent forest.

Technical sheet

n°225412
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 7.09 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 10 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Return to departure point: Yes
  • ↗
    Vertical gain: + 53 m
  • ↘
    Vertical drop: - 53 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 91 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 36 m
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Photos

footbridge over the verrières river
on the verrieres river
deluge bridge arch
lake

Description of the walk

Park in the large car park at the Valley bridge in Mervent.

(S/E) Cross the D99 road (take care) and go along the lake to the west for 300m.

(1) Turn right and climb the path until you reach the D99A road in front of the wooden cabin.

(2) Go along the left-hand side of the two picnic tables and take the path on the right going between 2 wooden blocks. Follow this path straight on until you reach a forest path, turn right and go along the meadow.

(3) At the fork, continue straight ahead on the path, going in front of a fishermen's hut and a lake on the right.

(4) Turn left onto the tarmacked road and then take the white path which follows it and continue on for 1.5km.

(5) On arriving at the Levrette ford, turn left to follow the GR®364 (White and Red waymarking), going along the Verreries river. Stay on the right-hand bank.

(6) A bit before Pont du Déluge, the path climbs again towards the D99a road. Cross over the road. Further along the parapet, there are steps going down to the right. Follow along the river, staying on the right-hand bank, until you end up close to a small wooden bridge on the left.

(7) Cross over the bridge to change river banks and then turn right, following the path which goes along the river and lake. Stay on the lakeside, ignoring the paths leading off on the left.

(1) Continue straight ahead along the lake shores until you return to the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 38 m - Pont de la Vallée car park - Mère (rivière)
  2. 1 : km 0.34 - alt. 40 m - Leave the lake and climb the path
  3. 2 : km 0.95 - alt. 87 m - D99a - Cabane
  4. 3 : km 1.53 - alt. 83 m - Allée forestière, go straight on
  5. 4 : km 1.83 - alt. 78 m - Tarmac road, castle on the right
  6. 5 : km 3.4 - alt. 59 m - Gué de la Levrette, follow the GR to the left
  7. 6 : km 4.24 - alt. 51 m - Déluge bridge
  8. 7 : km 4.6 - alt. 38 m - Wooden footbridge
  9. 8 : km 5.79 - alt. 37 m - Bifurcation. Variant
  10. S/E : km 7.09 - alt. 38 m - Pont de la Vallée car park

Practical information

(4) Access Citardière Château by turning right.

The section between points (4) and (5) is less interesting. The land clearing has transformed a part of the countryside.
Picnic tables and an open hut at point (2).
No water point.
Hunting days from 15 September to 31 March. Check the ONF website: www.onf.fr

In the nearby area

 Always stay careful and alert while following a route. Visorando and the author of this walk cannot be held responsible in the event of an accident during this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

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Reviews and comments

4.3 / 5
Based on 39 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.3 / 5
Clarity of route map
4.2 / 5
Route interest
4.4 / 5
User 24075983

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of walk : Jun 07, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Clarity of route map : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

In addition to the difficulties caused by the poor signposting, I would like to point out that the route has several difficulties between 6 and 7, and between 8 and 1. On each occasion, the path is crumbling, and you have to hold on to the vegetation to get through. On the day of this hike, the weather was dry but the path was slippery in these difficult places. The path certainly becomes dangerous in wet weather. The overall difficulty of this route should be revised to "Difficult".
Also, the GPS track does not seem to be set correctly on the right path.

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ASTRAJP
ASTRAJP

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of walk : Mar 03, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Clarity of route map : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

Hello
I would like to draw your attention to two anomalies in the description of the walk.
- At point 5, there is an error in the markings on the GR and PR at the left turn. Two X Xs block the 2 left turns down to the stream after the bridge; a local hiker told me that people regularly get lost at this point. I'm going to report this to the Comité des Randonneurs de Vendée, which is responsible for signposting.
- Point 7: the path along the riverbank at the end of the walk has a number of difficult sections for hikers who have not done any climbing and are a little tired. The level of difficulty should be indicated and, as an alternative, walkers should be invited to follow the GR via point 2 and then 1 to get back to the start.
- It should also be noted that the route along the ruisseau des verreries is difficult to walk after the rain; many sections are flooded and slippery.
Point 2: indicate that the start of the path is near the hut because the markings have been erased.

Once these minor errors have been corrected, I'd say the hike has been upgraded to "Good".
Sincerely
JP Astorg , a former hiking leader with Les Amis de la Nature de Niort and an FFRP diploma.

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Blue
Blue

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of walk : Oct 31, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : Yes

Good route, a little difficult to identify the path to follow in some places and some parts are technical without suitable footwear and in wet weather (smooth rocks). Some great photos to be taken.

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florencelambert
florencelambert
• Last modified:

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Aug 11, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

A very nice tour.
The time indicated for the tour was respected.
The sections were sometimes a little complicated if we had very young children.
A beautiful walk with lovely views over the river.
Can be done in hot weather as the route is well shaded.

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Naima
Naima

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Jul 21, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : Yes

Very nice walk, well signposted and clear explanations

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thsoir
thsoir

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of walk : Aug 27, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Clarity of route map : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

R

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Jacqueline CLOCHARD
Jacqueline CLOCHARD

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of walk : May 26, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Busy trail : No

The return along the Mother River and the stream is too difficult and not signposted as such, which is a shame as these are the last moments of the walk.

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chipie33290
chipie33290

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : May 09, 2022
Reliability of the description : N/A
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

very nice hike that I combined with the one through the Père Monfort cave, that's 14 km
very pretty landscapes, heritage, thank you for this trail

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martin du theil
martin du theil

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Jan 09, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

Hi, I think there's a mistake on the route (red) shown on the map between point 2 and 3. The start of the track leading to point 3 is 300m to the north on the tarmac road after the bend. As I didn't find it on my first walk, I did it in the opposite direction. Have a good day,

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drapeau jean jacques
drapeau jean jacques

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Nov 04, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : Yes

bonjour ,rando intéressante que j'ai fait seul ,il y a certains point qui pourraiti être signaler mais avec l'application pas de problème ces fait pour ca

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christcoret
christcoret

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : May 21, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

I loved it. If you want to discover a wild area, I recommend this hike.
Of course, as is often the case, logging has devastated a small part of the route.
The picnic tables are a mess. It's hard to find your way, so don't hesitate to use the GPS. Next, there's a short section of road that's not very exciting, leading to a patch of forest managed by the ONF. If there are no trees, there's a sign saying that in a few centuries, the forest will have grown back... but in the meantime... we'll just have to put up with it! On the other hand, the GR 364 section is magnificent. You discover a beautiful forest and follow the Verreries stream... what a sight. After the Déluge bridge, you plunge back into the forest. What a thrill!
We then followed the edge of the lake, where we spotted a coypu.
Well done for this varied and very enjoyable route.

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bullitt
bullitt

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Mar 13, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : Yes

2 adults, 1 child (aged 3 and a half), 2 dogs on leads + picnic stop along the way = Allow 4 hours of leisurely walking.
A very pleasant family walk, and the visiorando application with real-time GPS position is very useful for checking that you're making good progress from time to time.

From the Pont du Déluge to the finish, some parts are a little steep for walking with dogs, but it's still manageable if you manage your pooches.

We'd definitely do it again.

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phbizet
phbizet

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of walk : Oct 08, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

A very pleasant forest walk, with no major difficulties, apart from the path to find along the lake between marks 7 and 1, where apparently the path changes from a lane to a footpath, which would be a good idea to indicate in the route description.
It's a pity that autumn hasn't coloured the trees yet!

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claudieyvon
claudieyvon

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Sep 27, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : Yes

parish specific to Brittany, you need good shoes to go over some steep areas.
je garde dans mes favoris

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Okimuk
Okimuk
• Last modified:

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Jun 27, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

It's very pretty and pleasant, intimate, shady and refreshing: a walk that's well worth the effort! Be careful on rainy days and the day after, as the path is slippery in many places. Some parts of the path are steep and fairly narrow; the path collapsed in 2 places, and we had to climb over it to continue. The trail is still manageable if you have a little walking experience.

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The GPS track and description are the property of the author. Do not copy them without permission.