Le Roulanais

This trail has been signposted by local volunteers under the auspices of the Vaîtes-Aigremont Community of Communes. Follow the blue and yellow markings.
The trailhead is located at the car park opposite Roulans Town Hall, on the other side of the main road.

(S/E) Head towards Besançon until you reach the junction with Rue des Jardins.

(1) Take this tiny street on the right, which winds its way between vegetable gardens and houses. Then follow the markings and turn right into Rue Claude Perreciot.

(2) Continue right along Rue des Broussottes, then Rue des Epicéas, which continues straight on after crossing Rue du Collège.

(3) Turn right onto Chemin du Château d'Eau between the school and the insemination centre. Continue until you reach the junction with the path through the woods.

(4) Turn left onto this path through the woods to reach the winding track, or Chemin du Côtard, which you should follow to the left. The winding descent offers a panoramic view of the villages of Vennans and Saint-Hilaire.

(5) At the final bend, turn immediately left towards Pouligney. Continue west along this path until you reach a junction with a road.
Do not take the road immediately, but continue left along the path. Walk alongside the road until you meet it again, then follow it for a few metres to the left before turning right onto a steeper section. You will then pass close to a small copse of trees and reach another crossroads.

(6) Turn left onto Rue de la Chaille and head towards the village of Pouligney. Continue along Rue du Charmey and, at the crossroads, take Grande Rue on the left. Proceed to the junction with Rue des Perrières (the third street on the right).

(7) Turn right onto it and you’ll reach a stony forest track. Continue straight on to cross the Bois des Argeliers and reach the motocross track.

(8) Turn left onto the path that leads into the Bois de la Chaille. This path can be quite muddy. Follow the markings carefully so as not to get lost in the woods. On leaving the woods, cross a clearing formed by a felled area. Below this lies the old pipeline. Continue straight on to reach Rue de la Chaille.

(9) Follow this street to the left, then, after Rue du Tartre, take the path on the left which leads to Rue Claude Perreciot (to do this, follow the yellow and blue markings carefully).

(2) Turn right and retrace your steps in the opposite direction to return to the car park (S/E).

(3) The insemination centre:
It is a cooperative where the Montbéliarde breed of cow – the only one capable of producing the milk used to make Comté cheese – is improved and preserved.
(4) The legend of Le Côtard: this path was once frequently used to travel from one village to another. It is said that a ghostly monk would wander along this path after dark.
(5) The Executioner’s Cross: on the morning of Friday 13 October 1307, King Philip the Fair of France ordered the arrest of the Knights Templar. These warrior monks had settled on the small hilltop above the grove to watch over the paths. They were murdered right here. This cursed place was then named the Executioner’s Cross.
The pipeline: commissioned in 1962 to transport oil from the port of Fos-sur-Mer, the pipeline is a large buried pipe that runs all the way to Karlsruhe in Germany. The facility is no longer in operation today and nitrogen is kept in the pipe to prevent it from deteriorating.