Park at the Château d'Ornans, near the fountain. Yellow, blue and red markings.
(S/E) Pass between the two no-entry signs and turn right towards the viewpoint. You will arrive at the ruins of the old castle, which was dismantled on the orders of Louis XIV during the second conquest of Franche-Comté in 1674. Continue towards the Chapelle Saint-Georges, built by Othon, Count of Burgundy, in 1289 and rebuilt in 1500. The current chapel is in the flamboyant Gothic style and is still used as a place of worship. Continue along a small lane to the left of the chapel to complete the circular route around the hamlet, passing in front of an old cul-de-four oven.
Pass between the two no-entry posts.
(S/E) Turn immediately left into a dead-end road leading to private property. Go down the path on the right and, after a small stone staircase, you will reach the road leading back down to Ornans.
(1) Cross it and go down the steps onto the path on the other side. Walk a few metres uphill towards an old post and go down to the left. A little further down, at the new fork, go straight on towards the Fontaine aux Vipères (Viper Fountain), so named by Courbet to mock the sharp-tongued washerwomen. Set off again along the path that passes above the bins. You will come back to the road and climb up to the calvary at the beginning of the hamlet.
(2) Turn left (towards Roche des Pins). At the last house, go down the beautiful stone path on the right that runs along the cornices. 200 metres further on, you can carefully leave the marked path and take the small path on the right that runs closer to the cornices (despite the yellow and blue cross) to discover some crevices. You will rejoin the marked path a little further on. At the top of a small valley, you will come to a fork in the hiking trails. Continue straight ahead in the same direction (Roche des Pins).
(3) At the Mambouc stream, ignore the path that descends to the right towards Ornans, crossing the stream on three wooden planks. Shortly after the remains of a wooden barrier and a mountain bike signpost 26, continue straight ahead at the fork, following the ledges and ignoring the path ascending to the left.
(4) You will soon arrive at the Pautard viewpoint (unsecured) overlooking the town, the castle and the Roche du Mont. Continue along the ledges, passing once again by viewpoints overlooking the old town of Ornans.
(5) At a pine grove, you will arrive at a belvedere. Be careful not to miss it, as it is not signposted. All you can see (with difficulty) from the path is a bench and the barrier between the foliage. Look to your right, where the path approaches the corniches that will lead you there. Shortly after the viewpoint, at a series of signs that are difficult to see when walking in the opposite direction, you will arrive at the end of another small valley. Continue along the ledges.
(6) When you reach the Roche du Mont meadow, you can carefully take the small path on the right (more pleasant) which runs along the edge of the cliff to the statue of the Virgin Mary, a viewpoint overlooking the old town of Ornans and the upper and lower Loue valley, with a view, if the sky is not too foggy, of the Roche de Hautepierre.
(7) Continue for about two hundred metres along the ledges to a final viewpoint overlooking the upper Loue valley and a bench a few metres further on for a break or a snack before returning by the same route to the Château (S/E).
The route includes cliff paths and unsecured viewpoints.
