Le Cellier from La Cale de Clermont

Parking is available at the Route de la Cale de Clermont car park, Place du Pré-Athelin.

(S/E) From the car park, start the walk by taking the ‘Sur les Pas de Louis’ paths which climb to the right, below Château Clermont. Ignore the paths on the right and, after about 400 metres, you’ll reach a junction.

(1) Leave the return path on your right and carry on straight ahead. At the next junction, turn left until you reach the following junction. Follow the path to the right through the woodland until you reach the Château Clermont driveway and its garden, passing through a bamboo forest.

(2) Carry on to the left along the Allée de Clermont. Cross the D68, walk past the retirement home and then past the entrance to a farm on your right to reach the next junction.

(3) Turn left onto Chemin de la Prairie and go round the stadium (on your left), turning left onto Rue de Bel Air. Keep going straight on through Le Cellier until you reach Saint-Martin’s Church. Go round the church on the right until you reach the crossroads.

(4) Turn right, with your back to the church, towards Les Coulées. When you reach Rue Notre Dame, turn right towards the statue of the Virgin Mary. Leave the street and, just to the left of the statue, take a path that descends to the right. It enters the woodland, crosses the Ruisseau du Cerny and then follows it more or less closely until it reaches the hamlet of Les Coulées.

(5) Cross the stream and join the yellow-marked hiking trail towards the hamlet of La Maison Neuve (Le Cellier). After about 500 metres, ignore a path on the right and carry on straight ahead until you reach the entrance to the village at the hamlet of La Meilleraie.

(6) Carry on straight ahead; at the roundabout, head towards Maison Neuve for a few metres and turn right down a small street. This continues due north along the yellow-marked path. At the junction of two paths, turn right until you reach the road at the hamlet of La Basse Bélorière.

(7) Follow this road to the right; at the next junction, turn left and then left again to rejoin the signposted path. It meets the Ruisseau de Cerny; follow it to the right for about 250 m.

(8) At the junction (IGN elevation 48), turn 90° to the left uphill until you reach a small road.

(9) Follow it, taking a hairpin bend to the right. After about 400 m, it bends to the left, then bends to the right again at a junction with the Impasse du Champ Briant.

(10) Turn into the cul-de-sac on the left, continue straight on along the track; at the junction, turn right, joining the bend where a road meets a farm track.

(11) Head left along the road until you reach the large crossroads. Then leave the road and take the track on the right, which leads to a junction you have already passed on the way there.

(3) Carry on straight ahead in the opposite direction to the outward journey until you reach the driveway to Château Clermont.

(2) Turn left to go round the building. Then take the footpaths beneath the château, which wind their way towards the viewpoint. Enjoy the panoramic view of the Loire from the viewpoint, then, with your back to the château, begin the descent to reach the riverbank. You’ll come back to the starting junction of the walk.

(1) Follow the outbound route in the opposite direction to the left, returning to the Route de la Cale de Clermont and its car park (S/E).