Country:
City:
Start from the Arguel car park in the centre of the village.
(S/E) Head to the far end of the car park to join the sandy path which leads off to the left towards the old wash house. Walk up the lawn towards the road, cross it carefully at the pedestrian crossing and, at the corner of the house opposite – despite a yellow-and-blue Yellow Cross on a low wall suggesting you turn back – climb the narrow path leading up to the church. Take a quick look around the church and its cemetery. Head up the path opposite the cemetery gate. At a fire hydrant, turn right onto the dead-end road, which becomes a lovely path climbing up the hillside (yellow-blue signpost).
(1) At the sign for the Route des Grands Prés, continue to the right towards the viewpoint 150 metres away. You’ll soon reach your first unprotected viewpoint overlooking Planoise. Take care! There is another viewpoint over the Pugey valley and the Arguel hillside, and finally the viewpoint overlooking Mont Poupey. Turn back, but do not go all the way back to the signpost. About 7 m from it, take the unmarked path on the right which climbs towards the ridge and winds its way through beautiful rock formations. At leaf-fall time, you’ll have a view of the Doubs valley to your right. This path leads you to a clearing which you’ll enter discreetly. I’ve often come across a few chamois there in the morning. The clearing offers a lovely view of Planoise Fort, Rosemont and the village of Avanne.
(2) Walk straight across the field; at the far end, you should easily find a well-defined woodland path, which in some seasons is slightly hidden by ferns. On the hillsides, you might be lucky enough to spot a chamois? Turn left onto the D308, which climbs up to the hamlet of La Maltournée (in the municipality of Larnod). Carry on straight ahead towards the village
.
(3) Opposite a very old house with unpointed stone walls, turn right onto a stony track and stay on it, even though, 300 metres further on, a signposted path invites you to turn right. At the start of the track, you’ll see tracks left by the iron-rimmed wheels of our ancestors. Follow the yellow-red markings. Side paths will be blocked off by crosses. You will pass through the typical woodland that crowns our limestone hills around Besançon, accompanied by the scent of boxwood. Boxwood flowers and bears fruit regularly on these soils. The seeds are dispersed when the fruits burst open; it is therefore unable to disperse them over long distances.
(4) Before reaching the N83 – using the sound of traffic to guide you – turn left onto a small stony path that climbs perpendicularly through the boxwood. A sign points towards the Rocher de Valmy, but it will be facing away from the direction you’ve come from.
(5) You’ll emerge onto a small open area with an altar and a cross, where Masses are held every year in memory of the Resistance fighters who were shot. There’s a table here for a picnic, if you wish. Climb up to the Rocher de Valmy via the path that runs to the right of the altar. To take your mind off these sad events, take a moment to admire the view over the valley, particularly downstream where the River Doubs traces one of its most charming meanders.
Retrace your steps and take the tarmac path on the right, which leads you back to the village of Larnod, then turn left onto the Route Royale, with a fine view of the Planoise hillside and Rosemont.
(6) Follow this ‘Chemin Royal’ until it joins the tarmac road, on which you continue in a straight line.
(3) Pass the old house again and, 50 metres on, at the ‘Stop’ sign, turn right onto the Chemin des Combards (yellow-and-blue signpost).
(7) Where the path stops climbing, just before a small orchard on the right, take the unmarked path that climbs perpendicularly to the left, despite the Yellow Cross and Blue Cross on a pasture post suggesting you should continue along the Chemin des Combards. Ignore it and head up to the left. This is indeed our return route!
After a bend, you’ll join the D142 at a bend, which you follow uphill for 150 m before taking, just before the second bend, the stony track to the left, closed off by a metal gate which you mustn’t forget to close behind you. You are now on mountain bike route 114 (marker on the right-hand post). Once again, there’s a lovely view over the Doubs valley and beyond. The path disappears into a field. Carry on, following the hedgerows. On the left, a clearing with a paragliding launch site offers a view of Avanne and Besançon. Take care near the unprotected viewpoint!
(8) Head diagonally up the pasture (on your right, a view of Pugey and its old tulip-shaped bell tower) to reach the opposite edge, where you’ll easily spot the start of the path that will take you back to Arguel. Once again, there’s a gate which you close behind you, and you head down this pleasant woodland path, continuing to follow the signposts for mountain bike route 114. You’ll come to the sign for the Grands Prés route.
(1) Return to Arguel, passing the church once more.
(9) Continue to the left as far as the last house in the village to see an old Michelin sign, then cross the small bridge, turning right to rejoin the sandy path, the old wash house and the car park (S/E).
Visorando Member
Moderate 
