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Park in the car park at Parc Mon Roc, Chemin des Verpillières in Saint-Martin-en-Haut.
(S/E) Enter the park above the car park through a roofed archway. Walk up to a flat area and turn right. At the end of the small car park in the park, follow a signposted path to the left. Pass the edge of the woods and turn right. Cross the woods (heading south), passing rocky outcrops, and join the Chemin des Fanges, which runs alongside a housing estate. Cross a road and reach a fork. Ignore the path on the right towards La Charmance. Continue left for 700 m. At the fork, leave the road on the right towards Le Rabut. Take the road on the left to reach a crossroads.
(1) At the sign for “Le Bernard Ouest”, follow the signs for Le Signal Saint-André straight ahead. The road bends to the right and descends. At the second right-hand bend, leave the road and take a path on the left. Cross the Ruisseau du Rieu and reach a junction 50 m further on.
(2) Ignore the path ahead. Turn left (eastwards) onto a path lined with a hedge. Cross the road to Saint-André-la-Côte and continue straight ahead for 100 m. At the fork, turn left, cross a path and pass to the right of a large farm. Turn right, ignoring the paths on the left. At the edge of the forest, reach a fork.
(3) Leave the ascending path. Enter the woods on the left and head for the Signal Saint-André viewpoint (alt. 925 m).
(4) Continue along the path downhill (south-west), ignoring the side paths. Reach the junction with the D113 road and follow it straight ahead for 50 m.
(5) At the “Pierre Longue” sign, head towards Grenier de Joanny. At the bend, leave the road heading right and turn onto the small road on the left. At the “Grenier de Joanny” sign, continue for a further 50 m.
(6) At the “Sagnirand” sign, follow the sign for Monchard on the left for 1.5 km to reach the hamlet of Les Templiers.
(7) At the entrance to the hamlet, just before the barn, go down the muddy path on the right, leaving the road ahead, and head towards a junction. Turn right and, after 30 metres, reach a fork in the road.
(8) At the “Monchard” sign, head left towards the Croix Forest crossroads.
(9) At the “Croix Forest” sign, head towards Le Trêve by taking the path down to the right, which runs alongside the Rontalon road.
(10) At the “Le Trêve” sign, turn left and head for the first fork.
(11) At the “Le Grand Puy” sign, ignore the level path straight ahead. Head down towards Les Assiers, to the right.
(12) At the “Les Assiers” sign, continue straight ahead towards La Martinière d’en Haut. Cross a road after 150 m, ignore the path on the left and keep to the right, on a straight and often muddy track, to reach a road. Follow it to the left. Pass the hamlet of Le Giraudier, cross the Artilla stream and follow it, then cross the D311 road.
(13) At the sign for "La Martinière d'en Haut", head up to the right (north-east) towards the Bois de la Martinière. In the hamlet, ignore the paths to the right and left. In the woods, leave the path continuing straight ahead to turn left, climb a hairpin bend and reach a junction.
(14) At the sign for "Bois de la Martinière", ignore the path on the right. Follow the path climbing to the left, towards Le Bayard. After 400 m, you’ll reach a junction. Ignore the level path ahead and take the one climbing to the right. Ignore the cross-paths. Pass in front of a house; at the junction marked by an old wooden sign, turn left towards Bayard and head for this hamlet.
(15) At the “Le Bayard” sign, ignore the road on the right and take the one on the left, towards Le Gazanchon, to reach a crossroads.
(16) At the sign for “Le Gazanchon”, head down the road to the left towards La Poipe.
(17) At the sign for "La Poipe", head up the hill opposite towards Rochefort. After a flat section, go back down to cross a small road, passing two large greenhouses. In the hollow, cut across a path, turn right and climb the hill. Leave the path, continuing straight ahead, then turn left to reach the Route de Rochefort.
(18) Do not head towards the Rochefort hiking sign on the hilltop. Before resuming the hike by turning right onto the road (westwards), you may wish to spend a little time visiting the medieval hamlet of Rochefort, and in particular its chapel.
Then follow Route de Rochefort westwards. Leave it after 200 m, at the right-hand bend, to take a path opposite. Leave the path on the left and rejoin the same road. After 100 m, turn right onto Route de Saint-Martin-en-Haut to Yzeron, until you reach a fork.
(19) At the sign for “Les Places”, leave the road and turn left towards the Places Nord junction.
(20) At the sign for “Les Places Nord”, ignore the road on the right and head down the path opposite towards Carthally.
(21) At the “Carthally” sign, ignore the road to the left and continue straight on towards Le Crêt, ignoring any side paths. Cross a stream and head back up to a junction. Ignore the road to the right towards Le Passet and, after 50 m, reach a crossroads in the hamlet of Le Villard (elevation 699 m).
(22) Follow the road to the right, passing through the hamlet of La Combe. Pass a large cross and, after the Bessy farm, leave the road to climb the path on the left. At the top, you’ll reach a junction.
(23) At the sign for “Le Crêt”, ignore the left-hand branch and turn onto the ascending path on the right, towards Le Rocher. Follow the road through the hamlet of Le Crêt. After a short climb, at the left-hand bend, leave the road and take the path opposite. Ignore the path on the right and, 50 m further on, rejoin the road. Follow it straight on, cross a path and reach a junction.
(24) At the “du Rocher” sign, follow Le Loyard, straight ahead, for 100 m. Turn left onto the D489 and take the first road on the right.
(25) At the “Le Loyard” sign, leave the D489 and follow the signs for La Forêt to the right. At the fork, ignore the road on the right. Take the one on the left for 60 m and reach a junction. Ignore the road straight ahead and turn right. After 200 m, leave this road at the left-hand bend and take the shortcut leading down opposite. It passes through a damp hollow and, after a short climb, rejoins the road. Keep to the right to reach the hamlet of La Forêt.
(26) At the “La Forêt” sign, leave the road to the left. Take the dirt track towards La Grande Goutte. At the fork, 500 m further on, leave the level track. Take the path down to the right. Pass a hairpin bend, then follow the Rossand stream. Cross it and follow the right bank; 300 m further on, you’ll come to the Moulin de La Grande Goutte Photo.
(27) At the “La Grande Goutte” sign, ignore the path towards Montromant and follow the ascending path to the left, towards Chervolin and the Thoues des Sarrazins (written as Thue des Sarrasins on the IGN map). This is an underground section of the Roman aqueduct of La Brévenne, the third of the four supplying Lyon.
At the first junction, you have a choice:
- Take the path on the right which runs alongside the underground aqueduct, parts of which are exposed, then, at the junction, head up to the left to rejoin the marked trail and follow it to the right.
- Alternatively, as shown on the map, stay on the marked path and, 400 m further on, at the junction with the path described above, continue straight ahead.
(28) After a short climb, join a level path. Leave the ascending branch to your left. Follow the one on the right, crossing two muddy gullies. After a left-hand bend, climb 300 m and emerge from the forest. Shortly afterwards, ignore a path on the right. Continue along the path which leads to the Chervolin road and follow it up to the left. At the entrance to the hamlet of Chervolin, ignore the path on the right at the hairpin bend and, 50 m further on, reach a fork.
(29) At the “Chervolin” sign, ignore the path on the right. Continue along the path climbing to the left towards Lamure. Leave the cross-country paths and head down onto the D489 road. Follow it down to the right for 300 m, until it meets the street in the hamlet of Lamure.
(30) At the “Lamure” sign, follow the signs for Bel Air. Follow the hamlet’s path for 300 m and turn right to cross a stream. Climb the slope opposite and join a path. Ignore the right-hand branch and take the left-hand one. Walk up the edge of a wood; then, on a steeper slope, the path becomes narrow and muddy before joining the D34 road. Turn left and reach a crossroads at the entrance to Duerne.
(31) At the “Bel Air” sign, continue straight on along the D34, which crosses the village, towards Le Bourg. At the Le Bourg sign, continue along the D34 towards the Stade Bouliste. Pass the church and, just after a slight left-hand bend, reach a junction.
(32) Leave the “Stade Bouliste” direction straight ahead. Turn right onto Impasse de la Caserne, marked with a dead-end sign and a Yellow Cross. After 100 m, pass a barrier blocking vehicle access and continue along Chemin du Pontel.
(33) At the “Le Pontel” sign, ignore the path on the right towards La Borgia. Continue straight ahead towards La Prat and join the D34 road. Follow the hard shoulder to the right of the D34 for 20 m and take a path descending to the right. About a kilometre further on, ignore the path going uphill to the right. After another 500 m, pass to the right of the large Laprat farm. Take the right-hand bend and, 30 m further on, join a road.
(34) At the “La Prat” sign, cross the road and take the path leading down to the right towards Croix Carrière. Cross a path running perpendicular to it. When you reach two farms standing side by side, the road continues along the path. Shortly afterwards, cross a stream. At the bend to the right, ignore the path on the left. After 30 metres, you’ll reach a junction. Ignore the road on the right and climb the steep hill opposite. Pass through the hamlet of La Jubandière to reach a junction
(35) At the “Croix Carrière” sign, head towards Rue de la Paix. Ignore the path on the right and join the D34 road opposite. At the roundabout, go up Rue Martinaud on the left. At the end of the street, turn right onto Route d’Yzeron. Walk alongside the cemetery until the first junction
(36) At the sign for "Rue de la Paix", turn left towards Le Cimetière via Rue de la Paix.
(37) At the “Le Cimetière” sign on a roundabout, turn right onto Rue de Rochefort towards Place Du Plon. Continue straight ahead, ignoring the side streets, and keep left at the fork. Cross the car park, then Route de Rontalon, and head up Chemin des Verpillères opposite to return to the car park (S/E).
Visorando member
Moderate 
Easy 
