Start at the "Bassin de Saulx" sign, Route Champlan, opposite the Stade Roger Gyger, on the right-hand side of the road when heading towards Champlan. Car park below on the left (go under the white archway).
Yellow signposts
(S/E) Set off on the gravel path above the car park, with the Yvette river on your right. At the fork (EDF electricity substation), take the path on the right. After a few metres, turn right to cross a secondary branch of the Yvette on the Pont de Saulx (small waterfall). Continue along the gravel path with the river on your right and the Bassin de Saulx some distance away on your left. After a clump of bamboo on the right-hand side of the path, you will reach the Pont de la Planche aux Vaches.
(1) Turn right to take the stone bridge over the Yvette. Continue on a path along the edge of the field on your right and reach the D118E road (car garage opposite).
(2) Cross the road at the pedestrian crossing (take care), go through a red and white barrier, follow the path that starts at the corner of the garage and follow a stream on your left. At the T-junction that follows (stone block, discreet sign on the wall opposite), turn right. Follow a stream on your left, cross a wet passage and continue with a hedge on your right.
At the next T-junction, follow the path on the left. Just before a small wooden bridge over the Ruisseau des Paradis, turn right onto a grassy path. With the stream still on your left, wind your way between fields, meadows and gardens. At a junction with a path on the left, continue straight ahead and follow a fence on your right.
(3) At the next T-junction, turn left, cross the stream over the Pont de l'Arche and go up a wide path. Ignore a path on the left and head south towards some houses. At the junction (green gate opposite), turn right onto a wide, stable path and follow the walls or fences on your left.
Red and white + red and yellow markings
(4) At the T-junction, leave thePR® trail on your right and follow theGR®655andGRP® Ceinture Verte de l'Île-de-France on your left. At the next junction, turn right onto Rue de Villebon. Stay on this small road, which further on becomes Chemin des Galennes, heading south-west, and pass two junctions. Keep a horse riding centre on your right, then a car repair shop, and you will reach the D118 road.
(5) Cross this road (take care), pass a forest barrier (signposted "Plaine de Saulx") and enter the forest. Follow a slightly uphill sunken path and, at a fork (signposted "Forêt Départementale du Rocher de Saulx"), turn left. At a junction with a white and red underground oil pipeline marker, continue straight ahead. Follow a sunken path that climbs slightly and, at the top of the hill, you will reach a crossroads in the forest.
Orange markings for horse riders
In addition to a horseshoe painted black on an orange background, there are wider, longer orange markers located higher up than the usual footpath markers. These markers should not be confused with the orange curved arrows used by mountain bikers.
(6) Leave theGR® trails on your right and continue straight ahead (east) on a path along forest plot no. 35 (number painted on a tree on the right-hand side of the path). At a three-way junction (with a double orange marker on a tree in the middle), turn left.
No markings (except at the end of the section)
(7) At the next crossroads, turn right onto a wide path that passes between plots nos. 7 and 34 and winds along the edge of the plateau (unobstructed view of Paris on the left). After turning left with the path and when it turns right, leave it and continue straight ahead (east) on a narrower path (plot no. 9 on the left). Reach a viewpoint (railings).
(8) Continue on the path heading south-southeast (plot no. 10 on the right-hand side). At the T-junction, find theGR® markings and the wide path and follow it to the left, keeping a fence on your right. After a few dozen metres, at the corner of the fence, leave theGR® markings on your right (on a wetter path). Continue straight ahead (east-southeast) for about 500 metres.
Orange markings for horse riders (same as above)
(9) At the junction at the edge of forest plots nos. 13, 14, 26 and 27, turn left onto a path that descends and immediately turns left. Descend slightly and, at a T-junction, turn left.
No markings
(10) At the T-junction at the bottom of the descent (opposite tennis courts and, further to the left, a large hotel), turn right. At the fork immediately after (yellow sign with two sides), turn left and pass between two hedges bordering horse pastures. Go through a forest gate and continue on a small road with the hotel car park on your left.
At the T-junction, turn left and follow the road for about 100 metres (drive carefully). When you reach the hotel, turn right onto a farm track (signposted "No entry"). Ignore a path on the right and continue north-east on a grassy path between the fields.
Yellow signposts
(11) At the crossroads, take the second path on the left, which heads north towards the bell tower of the church in Saulx, and look for a marker further on the right-hand side. Cross a stream and pass through an area of market gardens (greenhouses). When you reach a residential area, the path becomes a street. At the T-junction that follows, turn left and then immediately right into Rue de l'Arpajonnais.
Shortly before the roundabout, turn left onto a path, go through a red and white barrier and follow the cemetery wall on your right. At the end, turn right and note the church on your left.
(12) At the next roundabout, turn left and then immediately right onto Rue de Mélan towards Parc des Sources (sign). Go down the cobbled street, which quickly turns into a path, pass a red and white barrier and continue downhill with a wall on your left. At the corner of the wall, ignore the yellow signpost that branches off to the left and continue straight ahead on a wooden footbridge. When you reach a pond on your right, follow the footbridge on the left at the fork. Go through a turnstile and you will come to the D118E road.
(2) Cross the road (take care), pass through a forest gate, continue along a path at the edge of the field and take the Pont de la Planche des Vaches bridge to cross the Yvette river (note the two yellow arrows at the entrance to the bridge, one pointing left, the other right).
Please note! The entire northern part of the Bassin de Saulx is undergoing construction and is closed to the public (as of October 2019). Therefore, once you return to the point (1), turn left and return to the car park via the same route you took on the way there. Ignore the last paragraph below.
(1) At the end of the bridge, turn right and start going around the Bassin de Saulx in an anti-clockwise direction. Stay on the wide gravel path slightly higher up and ignore all the paths branching off to the sides. Turn left onto the path just before the N20 road, cross the bridge over the spillway and turn left again. Just before the car park, at a fork, take the left-hand path, closest to the basin. Pass the Pont de Saulx bridge and continue with the river on your left until you reach the starting point (S/E).