The Rocher Canon and the Affolantes de Bois-le-Roi

Rocher Canon car park: on Route Ronde, 2 km on the right from the D606 (formerly N6) at the Table du Roi crossroads, on the D607 (formerly N7) at the Croix du Grand Veneur crossroads.

The indications (*) in the description refer to the section "During the hike or nearby".

(S/E) Start with the blue markings for the Denecourt-Colinet trail no. 12. When you leave the car park, head south (*), take the steps on the right that climb up into the rocks. Continue to the top, ignoring the blue cross (the blue trail on the right is the return route). Continue straight ahead, following the signpost furthest to the left. Follow the markings carefully, as it is easy to end up going around a rock and turning back without realising.

Climb up to cross the Rocher Canon and continue down the other side.
Caution: on the descent, do not confuse the blue markings with the blue/white pirate markings that you will come across. Follow only the blue markings. Cross the Route du Laisser-Courre before joining the Route de Chailly in Samois, then the Route Ronde at the Longues Vallées crossroads.

(1) Cross the Route Ronde with caution and take the Route de Solférino (the^first path on the left), following the blue markings. After about 300 m, turn right into the rocks. Follow the markings carefully, especially when they turn right for almost half a turn. Cross the paved road from Chailly to Samois. Continue following the blue markings through the Rocher Pierre-Margot, then rejoin the paved road just before arriving on the D606.

(2) Leave the blue markings and follow the^GR®1marked in white and red. Cross the D606 with caution and follow the^GR® to the left (north-east). At the^first junction, turn left with the GR^®. Turn right 800 m further on, onto the Route de la Perlure.

(3) Cross the D138 with caution and continue with the^GR® through an area of small huts along the Chemin des Coureurs. Cross Rue G. Baudoin. You will come to Avenue de la Forêt; follow it to the left.

At the crossroads that immediately follows, go straight ahead (leaving the^GR® which turns left towards the Bois-le-Roi station).

(4) Rejoin the^GR® and follow it under the railway line, then turn right onto Avenue Foch. Between the end of the low wall on the left and the bench, follow the^GR® on the left through the park, down towards the town hall. Pass by the "grotto" and its spring, then follow the^GR® to the right of the town hall and descend towards the barrier to find Allée de Barbeau on the other side. Follow it to the left, still with the^GR®, until you find the entrance to Clos de la Mulatière on the right.

(5) Leave the^GR® and turn right into the Clos. Continue straight ahead through the pedestrian crossing to reach the other part of the Clos, which you follow to the right to arrive at Avenue du Maréchal Leclerc. Turn left onto this road to reach Avenue Paul Doumer, then turn right towards the bridge over the Seine until you reach the next crossroads in front of the bridge.

(6) Follow the Quai de la Ruelle on the left with the GR^®. It passes in front of the "Affolantes" of Bois le Roi (*), the beautiful villas. Continue along the quay until you reach Rue de Seine on the left.

(7) Continue straight ahead along the^GR®, Quai de la Ruelle, with the Seine on your right, until you reach the sign for La Rochette.

(8) Leave the^GR® and take the path that winds up to the left. Pass under the railway line and continue to the top of the Route du Bois de Saint-Pierre, which runs parallel to the Seine. Turn right and then immediately left onto the Route de la Ruelle, which is perpendicular to the Seine. Continue straight ahead until you reach the D606 at the Table du Roi crossroads.

(9) The crossroads is dangerous to cross. Go left towards the traffic lights equipped with a pedestrian crossing button and cross the two roads in two stages. Reach the car park and the area furthest from the D606 to see the Route d'Oran perpendicular to the D606 on your left, with the Table du Roi (*).

Go to the table and continue straight ahead to the next intersection, then turn left onto Route de la Table du Roi. Cross the D115 (Route d'Alger) with caution and continue to the first intersection.

(10) Turn right onto the Route de Faÿ in Bois le Roi, then left to reach the Mare aux Évées (*). Go around the pond clockwise and take the^third path on the left. Follow the main path through the drainage channels, then turn 90° right to reach the Route de Dammarie.

(11) Follow Route de Dammarie to the left. After about 150 m, you will see an old oil well that has been converted for information purposes (*). Continue on Route de Dammarie, which will turn 45° to the right at the next crossroads. A little further on, the road will undulate due to rocks, then turn 45° to the left, crossing Route du Lancer. Continue along this road, cross two more crossroads, then, just after, look for the blue signposted path that crosses the Dammarie road.

(12) Follow the blue markings to the left. They will take you around rocks and through bushes. After a while, you will see the car park below on the left. To avoid taking multiple paths and damaging the ground, continue until you reach the top of the wooden steps at the start, then descend to the left to return to your car (S/E).

Signposting:
- Chemin de Grande Randonnée (GR®), national level: White/Red.
- Chemin de Grande Randonnée de Pays GRP®, often a long regional loop: generally yellow/red, or white/green for the Tour de la Forêt de Fontainebleau.
- Short-distance hiking trails, generally local loops lasting a few hours: a single yellow, blue, green, orange, etc. sign. Note: as there are many of these trails, a PR® may have recently changed colour.
Special cases: the Denecourt-Colinet trails, marked in blue. In this case, "1" means blue trail no. 1; "1/2" means a route shared by trails nos. 1 and 2; "1-2" means a trail connecting trails nos. 1 and 2; "1-1" means a shortcut on trail no. 1.

This hike is accessible by public transport. Take the Transilien R line and get off at Bois-le-Roi station. Start the hike from its starting point (4).

The names given to the rocks and sites date back to the foresters Denecourt and Colinet, creators of the Bleus trails, and come from mythology, well-known figures such as the painters of the forest (Barbizon School) and the need to reward the donors who financed the creation of the trails... and the imagination of the foresters.

(S/E) At the foot of the stairs, on the left, is the "Bonzaï" oak tree on a rock. In the rocks after the stairs: I: The Grotte du Rocher Canon

(1) K: The Adjustment.

(2) The Pavé de la Cave road, which was used to transport paving stones from the St Germain and Cuvier-Chatillon quarries to the port of Bois le Roi for transport to Paris.

(4) Town Hall Park: the town hall on the left and, on the right, the old annex building housing the municipal police.
Originally, Bois le Roi was not a village, but a group of different hamlets, the main ones being Brolles, Sermaize, La Cave and La Ruelle. As a result, Bois le Roi has no original name for its inhabitants. They are called bacots and bacottes. This name comes from the bac, or ferry, that used to cross the Seine between Bois le Roi and Chartrettes.

(6) On the right, the footbridge is roughly level with the former ford and the old port in the Cave district. It was a port for goods, mainly wood and paving stones. It was this port in the Cave that gave its name to the Pavé de la Cave road mentioned earlier.
- Heading downstream, you come to the "Affolantes" of Bois le Roi. The expression refers to these unusual houses on the banks of the Seine. Located between La Rochette and Saint-Mammes, they belonged to industrialists and merchants from Melun and Paris and were mainly built during the Belle Époque. They symbolise a carefree period and inspired many artists, including Degas, Renoir, Mallarmé and Debussy, who enjoyed spending their summers here between 1830 and 1914.

(9) The King's Table: it is said that, under the Ancien Régime, every year on¹ May, the Grand Master of Waters and Forests collected taxes in kind and user fees: the abbess of Lys brought a ham and two bottles; a baker from Melun gave a large cake; newlyweds paid five deniers, etc.
Once the duties had been collected, a banquet was held around this table and the officers of the Waters and Forests consumed the food that had been collected.

(10) The Mare aux Évées is an artificial water source where the drainage from this formerly marshy part of the Fontainebleau forest collects. From there, the overflow joins the Étang de la Prairie Malécot in Boissise-le-Roi, on the banks of the Seine, via the Ru de la Mare aux Évées. Its name comes from "œuvée", a place where oviparous animals such as birds, snakes, frogs, toads and newts lay their eggs.

More than 20 km of canals were dug between 1833 and 1835 (during the reign of Louis-Philippe) as part of a large-scale project to drain the canton. The pond is completed by canals that radiate out in a star pattern according to the plan by Achille Marrier de Bois d'Hyver. This represents a total of 12,300 m3 of water. At the same time, trees were planted on the embankments: mainly pedunculate oaks, various American oaks, firs, spruces and cypresses in the immediate vicinity of the pond. The same man organised the naming of 800 paths and crossroads to help people find their way around the forest. He also had trees, including Scots pines, planted on the heathland scattered throughout the forest.

In 1979, the Syndicat intercommunal du ru de la Mare aux Évées (Mare aux Évées Intercommunal Association) was created to continue the development and maintenance of the canals, in particular the 48 km of banks and those of the Bière agricultural plain.

(11) Old oil well and information panels.

(12) G: the Elephant's Head - H: the Menhir.