The Pierre au Coq botanical trail

Start at the Ormoy-Villers cemetery, Rue du Chemin Vert. Two parking options:
- At the foot of a small wayside cross, at the eastern end of the cemetery (2–3 spaces).
- In the cemetery car park, at its western end (around a dozen spaces).

The path is marked by wooden posts with an arrow carved into their bevelled tops. Shortly after setting off, the^first information board provides a detailed map (for the most part, you follow the ‘Lièvre’ circular route, with the sole difference being that you pass the Pierre au Coq in the^first half of the route rather than at the end).

(S/E) Set off eastwards, walk to the end of the cemetery, let the road bend to the left and climb a flight of steps, keeping the wayside cross on your left. At the top, turn right onto the bridge spanning the embankment of an old railway line. Cross a junction and you’ll reach the information boards opposite.

Follow the wide path, with the information boards on the right-hand side. At a fork in the road, take the path on the right, which is slightly narrower. Ignore a path coming from the left, pass some picnic tables on the right-hand side and you’ll come to a junction.

(1) Turn right onto the path that starts at the foot of the sign reading ‘Regeneration following the 1976 fire’. Climb between two wooded hills and arrive at a flat area.

(2) You will then find the ‘Pierre au Coq’ on your right, a natural monolith with a distinctive appearance (information sign). Retrace your steps back to the flat area (ignore a signpost directing you to descend on the western side).

(2) Cross the track and follow a path opposite, slightly to the left, which runs between a sort of sandstone slab on the left and a post on the right. Climb the hillock covered with pine trees and rocks, and reach a viewpoint (elevation 129; sign). Retrace your steps back to the flat area.

(2) Then turn right and head back down between the two hills along the path you took on the way up.

(1) Once back at the picnic tables, take a well-marked path to the right. Shortly after a sign reading ‘Lande acide’, leave this path and turn right onto a narrow track. Cross a sparse pine forest facing west-south-west, then enter a deciduous woodland.

(3) At the junction near a forest track on the left-hand side, turn right onto a grassy path (which may be damp). At the next junction (with a marker post lying on the ground in May 2017), take the sandy path on the right. Climb slightly and you’ll reach a junction marked by two signposts.

Take the path on the left (the one on the right leads up to the Pierre au Coq). Descend along a sunken path. At the bottom, at a junction, turn right and you’ll reach the crossroads with the information boards. Then turn left, cross the bridge again and go down the small flight of steps on the left to return to the cemetery (S/E).

A good pair of trainers is sufficient for this short walk on paths that are mostly sandy and in good condition. There are brief sections that may be damp at the southern end of the circular route.

A detailed map is essential (at the very least, the one accompanying this description).

Notes:
- The walk is situated in a sensitive natural area, which is also private property; the owner has granted pedestrians access. Please stay on the paths and do not venture into the undergrowth; follow all the signs.
- At the junction after the bridge, whilst the^first sign provides a precise and useful map, one of the subsequent signs displays an IGN map featuring a ‘Discovering Biodiversity’ route leading to the Péroy-les-Gombries Forest (further south). It appears that this longer circular route is in fact not feasible, as I observed paths that were clearly blocked, if only at the southern end of this walk (3).

Alternatives:
- Short version: the “Tortue” circular route – At La Pierre au Coq, follow the arrow on a post which directs you to descend the hill on its western slope. You’ll reach the junction very quickly. Then follow the main route to the end. The total distance is around 1.75 km if you do visit the viewpoint, and 1.4 km if you do not.
- Additional information - This walk can be combined with the“Le Bois du Roi and the Pierre glissoire de Péroy-les-Gombries” walk, which is 15 km long. Start with this second walk, setting off from the church, and, at its turning point (1), complete this circular route. On returning to the information boards, rejoin the route of the other walk.

Hike completed by the author on 20 May 2017.

- Explore a fragile natural environment, including mature and regenerating woodland.
- La Pierre au Coq, a natural monolith.
- Numerous information boards.

In Ormoy-Villers, in the centre of the village, Saint-Martin’s Church (12th–16th centuries).