Lake Mervent - Citardière Château - Pont du déluge

Date of your route : Sep 07, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

The route is pleasant and mostly shaded. It is fairly straightforward, except for the end section which runs alongside the river. This is a short stretch but has some rocky sections, making it preferable in dry weather.

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Date of your route : Aug 19, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

beautiful, simple and well-marked trails

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Date of your route : Aug 11, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Good hiking trail, more than half of the route is shaded in hot weather, which makes it pleasant. Several difficulties at the end of the trail, especially with children between 6 and 7 and then 8 and 1, with loose ground making it difficult to pass. Nice view. The hiking time is accurate, even with children

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Date of your route : Jun 08, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : 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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Date of your route : Mar 04, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : 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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Date of your route : Nov 01, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : 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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Date of your route : Aug 12, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : 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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Date of your route : Jul 22, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Very nice walk, well signposted and clear explanations

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Date of your route : Aug 28, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

R

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Date of your route : May 27, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : 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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Date of your route : May 10, 2022
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : 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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Date of your route : Jan 10, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : 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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Date of your route : Nov 05, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : 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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Date of your route : May 22, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : 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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Date of your route : Mar 14, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : 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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