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First circular: Les Noyers.
(S/E) From the car park at Place Mailho, head north-east along Rue des Pyrénées.
Pass Rue des Sources on your right and continue along Route d’Hibarette.
(1) At the fork in the road, take Rue de Castillou on the right. It joins Route de Visker, passing through meadows. Turn left and head back towards Bénac for 300 m.
(2) Turn right and head north-north-east towards Les Sablas until you reach a crossroads. Turn right, then, 200 m further on, turn left. Follow Chemin du Turounnet until you reach Rue des Pyrénées. You will pass the school and the town hall.
(3) Turn right and enter the village via the D203. Continuing westwards, you will cross the Echez at Rue de la Bigorre. 260 m from the stream, a small path branches off to the left.
(4) Turn left onto this path and follow it to the Bénac equestrian centre.
(5) Turn right, then immediately left onto Rue de la Passerelle. At the bend and the corner of a house, look for a small path that will take you across the Echez via a footbridge, then on to Rue des Pyrénées and the car park (A/D).
End of the first section. You have covered 5.6 km in just over an hour. After this warm-up, the real challenge begins.
2nd circular loop: the Devil’s Rock.
(S/E) From Place Mailho, head due south towards Rue du Muguet, without taking it. Turn immediately left, then left again onto Rue du Bourg, which you’ll follow south-east, then south, until you reach a fork in the path.
(6) At the fork, head up for 1 km along a path on your left, then left again at the next fork. Head back down the other side of this hillock, towards the road, at the Layrisse waste collection centre.
(7) Head down the Route de Bénac (D203) on the left and cross the D3, continuing straight on along a footpath. It then climbs through woodland for 1 km.
At an altitude of 475m, you will have reached the road leading to Visker. Turn right and head back down this road for 400m towards Bénac.
(8) Leave the road to the right onto a small track. Follow it for 300 m and, in the woods, take a
narrow path on your left. It joins the D3.
(9) At the road, first turn right then left to continue down it, and cross a small stream, the Aube.
After the stream, head uphill, still through the woods, for 1 km and 110 m of elevation gain, to Layrisse.
(10) Turn right and cross through Layrisse via Rue Saint Laurent. Continue along the Peyrehitte path to the Devil’s Rock.
(11) The Devil’s Stone, a quartz boulder 9 m in circumference and 1.5 m high, lies at the edge of the path 300 m from the cemetery. It is the subject of some fine legends, but it is more likely a boundary marker on an ancient Roman road. It also marks the boundary between the communes of Layrisse and Bénac on the one hand, and Orincles, Julos and Paréac on the other.
You can reach Bénac via the path that continues straight ahead. However, for this route, retrace your steps for about fifty metres and follow the path branching off to the right. You will reach Rue des Sources.
(5) Follow the route back, in the opposite direction to the outward journey, to reach Place Mailho (A/D).
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