Les Pics in the commune of Urçay

de fr

This walk offers panoramic views of the Cher Valley and the partially filled-in Berry Canal. Start from the car park at Urçay church.
The route is partially marked with yellow lines.

Details

n°88691
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 7.50 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 25 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 101 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 105 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 235 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 166 m
  • ⚐ Country: France
  • ⚐ District: Urçay (03360)
  • ⚑
    Start/End: N 46.626638° / E 2.590903°
  • ❏
    IGN map(s): Ref. 2426SB, 2427SB
  • Hour-by-hour weather
    Discover Visorando Premium
Downloads
Open in the mobile app
Download GPX GPX
Download PDF PDF

Description of the walk

Departure from the church car park.

(S) Take the path that continues from the car park to the junction with the D445 tarmac road at Les Combles.

(1) Cross this road and continue straight on for 300 metres to the hamlet of Les Pics, then continue along the stony path on the right for 200 metres until you reach the junction with a tarmac road.

(2) Take this road to the left for 5 metres and then immediately turn right onto the grassy path until you reach the next junction with a small tarmac road.

(3) Follow this road to the right for 400 metres until you reach the N144 national road. Cross it and continue straight ahead on the path that branches off to the left (on your left, there is a sawmill) for 2.5 kilometres until you reach the junction with the D312 road.

(4) Cross and continue on the tarmac road for 500m, then, at a small pond, turn right onto the path.

(5) Continue to the D312 road and follow it to the right until you reach Le Vernet (do not cross the metal bridge over the Cher).

(6) Continue straight ahead on the path. You will walk alongside an open-air pig farm for 200 metres, then follow this path to Tizais, which you will cross until you reach the junction with the N144 in Urçay.

(7) Continue along the pavement through the village to return to the starting point at the church (E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 171 m - Departure from the church car park.
  2. 1 : km 0.52 - alt. 221 m - Les Combles - Cross the D445 tarmac road.
  3. 2 : km 1.17 - alt. 208 m - Follow this path to the left for 10 metres.
  4. 3 : km 1.77 - alt. 200 m - Follow this road to the right for 400 metres.
  5. 4 : km 3.58 - alt. 197 m - Cross the road and continue along the tarmac road.
  6. 5 : km 4.05 - alt. 189 m - Continue right until you reach the D312 road.
  7. 6 : km 4.95 - alt. 169 m - Le Vernet. Continue along the D312 road along the > - Le Cher
  8. 7 : km 7.12 - alt. 170 m - Continue along the pavement through the village.
  9. S/E : km 7.5 - alt. 171 m - Church car park

Worth a visit

On your return to the village of Urçay, visit the lace-making museum on your right (open in summer and free of charge).

Reviews and comments

4.3 / 5
Based on 4 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.3 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.5 / 5
Route interest
4.3 / 5
Pou95
Pou95

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 27, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

In point 2, the description says to take a path on the left and then immediately take a grassy path on the right after 10 metres. The route on the map takes a path on the right after 100 metres, but this path no longer exists. So we turned back. The path is not even 10 metres away, it is almost opposite.

Machine-translated

Azimut71
Azimut71

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 02, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

The path running parallel to the N144 is very pleasant, despite the noise from the nearby traffic.

Machine-translated

Krapsic
Krapsic

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 11, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hello,

(For your information, I did this hike in July 2020)

It's a very nice walk, with a hilly start that I enjoyed. The whole hike is very peaceful and I saw a few animals along the way. It's a small village that's quite pleasant to walk around.

Compared to the description, I didn't see the small pond mentioned in point 4, but that may be due to the vegetation in July.
After a few extra steps... I found my way back to the trail without much difficulty.

Machine-translated

pietineur
pietineur

Hello,
I'm glad you enjoyed the walk, so I'll correct the typo you pointed out.
Thank you.

Machine-translated

Chollet Alain
Chollet Alain

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 06, 2016
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Hello,
A very interesting route that includes a hilly first section through wooded countryside, followed by a rural section (houses, animals, ponds).
There are also few tarmac roads.
At point 3, the tarmac road should be taken for a maximum of 10 metres, not 100. The path is almost aligned with the previous one and is almost straight until point 4.

Machine-translated

Other walks in the area

Walking In memory of Nicolas Rambourg

Association / Club / Walk leader
En souvenir de Nicolas Rambourg
↔23.91 km ↗+147 m ↘-144 m ◔7h 15 ▲Difficult
⚑Departure from Vitray (Allier)
This beautiful walk will take you back to the rich industrial past of the Tronçais Forest. You will visit the forges at Morat and Tronçais, built by the Lorraine industrialist Nicolas Rambourg, and the four ponds (Saint-Bonnet, Morat, Tronçais, Saloup) that he created to power them. An industrial nod in the heart of France’s most beautiful oak forest.

Walking La Tranchasse - Coust Pond

Tourist office
La Tranchasse - Étang de Coust
↔7.80 km ↗+38 m ↘-30 m ◔2h 20 ▲Moderate
⚑Departure from Colombiers (Cher) (Cher)
Construction of the Canal de Berry began around 1808 on the initiative of Napoleon I and was completed in 1841. It took its current name, "Canal de Berry", in 1830. Its creation required, among other things, the installation of 115 locks, one every three kilometres. It consists of three branches that meet at Fontblisse, which is point 0. Many barges used to travel along it, transporting grain, wood and iron ore. The canal was decommissioned in 1955.

Walking Tour of the Saint-Bonnet and Morat ponds

Visorando member
Tour des Étangs de Saint-Bonnet et Morat
↔7.52 km ↗+22 m ↘-30 m ◔2h 15 ▲Easy
⚑Departure from Saint-Bonnet-Tronçais (Allier)
In the heart of the Tronçais Forest, a family walk along the ponds, navigating among the oak trees of the Colbert reserve.

Walking Tour of the Saint-Bonnet-Tronçais pond in the heart of the Tronçais Forest

Visorando member
Tour de l'Étang de Saint-Bonnet-Tronçais au coeur de la Forêt de Tronçais
↔4.86 km ↗+10 m ↘-10 m ◔1h 25 ▲Easy
⚑Departure from Saint-Bonnet-Tronçais (Allier)
A short family walk around the Étang de Saint-Bonnet-Tronçais pond in the heart of France's most beautiful oak forest, renowned among other things for its oak wood, which is highly sought after for the manufacture of barrels for the great vineyards. You will discover magnificent oak trees with perfectly straight trunks.

Walking Coust Pond - Charenton

Tourist office
Étang de Coust - Charenton
↔8.12 km ↗+93 m ↘-71 m ◔2h 35 ▲Moderate
⚑Departure from Colombiers (Cher) (Cher)
The commune of Coust is located south of the Cher, on the border between Berry and Bourbonnais in the Chignon valley. In the past, the stream fed a large pond between Pied de Coust and the church. It turned the wheels of the mills at Touzelles and Petit Paris before reaching the Rouchat mill. In the past, this stream was essential for Saint-Amand as it fed the moats of Montrond Castle and then those of the Saint-Amand-sous-Montrond enclosure.

Walking Grand Tertre loop starting from Drevant

Visorando member
↔9.38 km ↗+90 m ↘-90 m ◔2h 50 ▲Easy
⚑Departure from Drevant (Cher)
Climb up to the Grand Tertre, the last foothills of the Massif Central, which offers exceptional views of the Auvergne mountains on a clear day. Descend and follow the Canal de Berry before returning to the Petite Cité de Caractère of Drevant.

For more walks, use our search engine .

The GPS track and description are the property of this route's author. Please do not copy them without permission.