Cap de Flamanville and Anse de Sciotot

In Les Pieux, park in the small car park next to the cemetery on Route de Dielette.
Please note! This hike is not signposted.

(S/E) Cross Route de Dielette and take Rue des Abattoirs opposite. Turn left onto Rue Froide, then right onto Rue Centrale, the town's main shopping street. Follow it until you reach the town hall. Go around the town hall and its car park on the left.

(1) Ignore the street on the left that leads to "La Forgette" and the equestrian centre (road signs), pass in front of the Centre des Finances Publiques (on the left), then turn left at the next street (sign for Rue du Rozel on a low wall on your left), on the left of a car park. At the end of the car park, turn right and then take the first street on the left, Rue de la Roche à Coucou (red and yellow markings). Pass on the left of a supermarket and, further on, on the left of the water tower. At the crossroads, continue straight ahead towards La Roche à Coucou. Continue until you have completely left the built-up area.

(2) Turn onto the first path on the right, at a stone bench. When you reach a road, cross it and take the path opposite, slightly to the left. You will arrive at the Croix Brûlée crossroads, marked by a small stone cross.

(3) Continue along the small road opposite, which quickly turns into a path. At a fork in the road, turn left. Stay on this path when it turns left at a farm (La Maraiserie on the map). At the next intersection, continue around the bend to the right, ignoring the path on the left. You will come to a small road.

(4) Walk a few metres to the left (private path on the right) then immediately turn right. Immediately after, facing the farm buildings, turn left, then take the first path on the left. Shortly after, ignore a path that climbs to the right. However, just after, at a building on your left, continue on the path that climbs to the right and then turns left shortly after. Further on, ignore a path on the right, immediately come to a small road and follow it to the right. At the fork, turn left towards Ertot (road sign). At the next fork, at the entrance to the hamlet of Ertot, there is a wash house hidden behind the hedge on the right.

(5) Continue straight ahead, veering slightly to the left, to cross this hamlet of beautiful stone houses, ignoring the paths on either side. When the tarmac ends, continue straight ahead on the path and follow it to a crossroads with four paths (in addition to our path; one of the paths, parallel to the path, is not shown on the map). Take the second path on the right, to the right of a copse. At the fork in the path, keep left. You will come to a small road at a crossroads.

(6) Turn onto the first path on the right, between the stone posts, to enter the Flamanville and Pieux forest. In this forest, always follow the main, well-marked path. Shortly afterwards, you will see an information sign for "le scolopendre" (the centipede). Further on, you will see "le châtaignier" (the chestnut tree), "le néflier" (the medlar tree) and "le pic épeiche" (the great spotted woodpecker). At an intersection, follow the blue markings straight ahead, then pass to the right of a white barrier. You will arrive near a pond.

(7) Ignore the path that climbs to the left and walk along the pond on your right. Just after this, you will see a sign for "les demoiselles" (the damselflies), then cross a bridge and ignore the path on the left. Further on, you will see a sign for "le hêtre" (the beech tree), then "le grouet" (the grouet tree), then "le sapin de Vancouver" (the Vancouver fir tree) and "le houx" (the holly tree). You will arrive in front of a monumental gate.

(8) Take a path to the right of the gate to reach the road, then enter the castle grounds opposite. Walk to the castle, cross the bridge over the pond to enter the courtyard, then turn right to enter a second courtyard. Cross this courtyard, turning left to exit through another gate. Turn left and walk along the castle to visit the dahlia garden. Then return to the gate you used to exit the second courtyard and continue left along the path, past the sports field, to exit the estate and reach the D23 road. Follow this road to the left (on the left-hand side) to walk along the estate wall, then cross over and take the small road on the right, the Chasse Férey. Pass a beautiful property on your right, then the other stone houses in the hamlet of Férey, and at the crossroads with a path, continue along the path opposite. Continue straight ahead on this path until you reach an intersection with other paths at the top of the Cap de Flamanville cliff, at marker 119 on the coastal path (^GR®®223), where you will follow the red and white markings until further notice.

(9) Take the path furthest to the left, along the meadow. Further on, you will find marker 120 where the path joins a road, near a restaurant. Go behind the restaurant to find the Dolmen du Cap de Flamanville or Pierre au Rey, as well as an orientation table. Finish going around the restaurant (former semaphore) and continue along the road. When the road turns left, leave it and take the path on the right. Further on, join a wider path and follow it to the right. Further on, at the intersection of several paths (see variant 1 in "Practical information"), turn right.

(10) Shortly afterwards, at the end of this wide path and at the top of the cliff, follow the path on the left. After a fairly steep section, continue along the edge of the cliff on a wider path, ignoring a path on the left (arrival of variant 1), then passing in front of a quarry. Join a small road and then a wider road (note the sign for the Sciotot town exit on your left).

(11) Follow the road to the right, then turn right onto the first street, Rue du Fort (dead end), to descend into Anse de Sciotot. At the end of the street, continue along the seafront on the tarmac path, then, after the car park, on the large stones of the dyke, then on pebbles, before finding a more comfortable path after the beach car park. Turn onto the first path on the left to reach a road at a car park and Rue des Castilles opposite. Follow the road on the right until you reach an intersection with a street on the left leading to "Grand Sciotot" (road sign) and a small road on the right leading to "Viviers". You will also see yellow signs and marker 128 of the coastal path. This is the start of the round trip to La Roche à Coucou (see option 2 in "Practical information").

(12) Leave the^GR®® and turn left to cross the hamlet of Sciotot. At the fork, follow the lane on the left (red and yellow markings). At the end of this lane, walk a few metres to the left (yellow sign, towards "les Pieux"), then immediately take the path that climbs to the right. Shortly afterwards, ignore the first path that climbs to the right, go through a gate (red and yellow markings) and then take the next path on the right that winds upwards (ignore the stony, eroded shortcut that goes straight up). Higher up, near a stony hillock on your right, La Roche à Coucou, enjoy the view of Anse de Sciotot. Shortly afterwards, turn right at the intersection.

(13) At the next intersection (see option 3 in "Practical information"), turn right again to descend towards Sciotot. Further down, at the T-junction, turn left and follow the same route as on the way out to return to the crossroads.

(12) Continue straight ahead towards "Les Viviers" then continue left on the beach (in case of very high tide, there is also a path at the top of the cliff that I have not tried). Pass close to a collapsed blockhouse. Further on, you will see a campsite by the sea.

(14) Leave the beach to reach the campsite, at a house whose garden has been eroded by the sea. Find a coastal path marker (^GR®®) and continue along the path that runs along the beach on your right, amid small dunes that seem to be advancing inland. Shortly afterwards, you will find marker 131. Turn left at the next path, at marker 132. Ignore the path on the right.

(15) Further on, cross the small river But via a bridge and find marker 133 and yellow signs, then continue along the road to the left towards "Le Rozel". At the T-junction, follow the red and white^GR®® markings to the left to cross Le Rozel. At the intersection, continue left on Rue Centrale, pass the church shortly afterwards and leave the village.

(16) Before reaching the castle (now a restaurant), take the small road on the right, at the yellow signs, towards "les Pieux". Continue along the road as it curves to the left and pass another entrance to the castle. Stay on the road, ignoring the paths that branch off. Walk alongside a beautiful marsh on your left, pass some houses on your right, then a group of houses on your left.

(17) Shortly afterwards, look for the yellow sign for "Entre terre et mer" and turn left onto the path. The path approaches the But (the stream you crossed earlier), then turns right to run alongside the small river on your left. Shortly afterwards, pass to the right of the marsh, then to the right of a small private pond.

(18) At a house called Moulin Hochet, turn left to cross the stream, following the "Entre terre et mer" signpost, and continue along this gently sloping path.

(19) At the intersection, just after passing a house on your left, follow the path to the right. Continue straight ahead to the equestrian club, continue straight ahead for a few more metres (along the car park) then, at the hangar, at the fork in the road, turn left, still following the "Entre terre et mer" signs. Join a tarmac road and continue straight ahead.

(20) Cross the road at the small car park on the right and continue straight ahead towards the town centre. Ignore all the side streets on either side of the housing estate until you reach the town hall in Les Pieux, at the junction you passed on the way there.

(1) Turn right to reach the shopping street and return to the cemetery car park (S/E) via the same route as on the way there.

Caution! Always be vigilant when walking along the coast, especially in bad weather (wind, rain, fog).

Between (6) and (7) Please note! There are no signposts to guide you in this forest. Pay close attention to the description (I have mentioned the information signs found along this trail) and carefully follow the changes in direction on the map. The app's GPS is not very reliable in this area, so it is best to cache the map.

The difficulties of this hike are its length and the steepness of the coastal path between (10) and (11). I therefore suggest three alternatives.

To avoid the steep path:

Option 1: At (10), take the path opposite, which stays at the top of the cliff and joins the normal route of this hike after a right turn.

To shorten the hike:

Option 2 (22km, 240m elevation gain): At (12), do not make the round trip to La Roche à Coucou, but turn right directly towards (14).
or
Variation 3 (18km, 240m elevation gain): At (13), turn left and follow the red and yellow^GRP®® markings, which will take you back to (2). Then return to the car park via the same route as on the way there.

(15) From this point, you will have only one "goal": to get to Les Pieux...

If you want to shorten the hike from the start and are not interested in crossing the centre of Les Pieux, you can leave your vehicle in the supermarket car park near the town hall.

Discover more hikes in this area with descriptions or the Visorando app here

(8) Flamanville Castle dates mainly from the 17th century. It is surrounded by several hectares of parkland enriched with woods, ponds and a magnificent octagonal tower. Its dahlia garden, open to the public all year round, features 1,150 varieties. Owned by the local council since 1986, the château is also a cultural venue hosting exhibitions and shows. The main building is open to the public during summer and winter exhibitions, but closed for the rest of the year. However, the grounds, park, dahlia garden and woods surrounding the château are accessible free of charge all year round.

Between (9) and (10) Cap de Flamanville. Due to its position jutting out into the sea, Cap de Flamanville provides a view of the coast from Nez de Jobourg to Pointe du Rozel. This is why the site was chosen in 1794 to become one of the lookout posts established along the French coast.

Dolmen at Cap de Flamanville. This is a very enigmatic megalithic monument located near the semaphore on the cape. It consists of an enormous block of stone weighing over 10 tonnes balanced on three other rocks, extended in a line by half-buried stones. This dolmen is known as the Neolithic site of Castel Dolmen, Pierre au Rey or Tripied. It is located at the highest point, at a place called "La Nigue". A semaphore was built next to it, which has now been restored and converted into a restaurant and a stopover lodge.

Between (11) and (15) The Anse de Sciotot, a 4km-long sandy beach, is sheltered from the prevailing winds. It is a paradise for surfers and sand yachting enthusiasts.

Between (12 and) 13: Overlooking Anse de Sciotot, the panorama from La Roche à Coucou stretches from Cap de la Hague and Cap Cotentin to Cap de Carteret, offering one of the most beautiful views in the region.