Fortified House

de fr

Marked walk No. 39
From the16th-century castle at the very start of the route to the ruins of Château de Maison Fort, the route takes you past the ponds, including the largest, Étang de la Forge, and the Chemin du Tacot.

Details

n°2937008
Creation:
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 8.91 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 45 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 68 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 64 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 230 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 177 m
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Description of the walk

The start of this walk is on Avenue de la Gare, very close to the Tourist Office.

(S/E) Head towards the castle, cross the Grande Rue, and enter the park grounds. Go round the building on the right. At the end of the gable, turn right and continue through the wooded area towards the buildings at the far end (retirement home). After the pond on your right, turn left, passing below the car park, and then right when you see the steps. The path to the car park ends at Allée des Amours, which you should follow uphill to reach Route des Thus.

(1) Cross the junction and go straight on into Rue Noire. Continue to Route de Dampierre (D957).

(2) Cross the D957 with care and continue along the road opposite. When you reach the start of a sharp bend, turn left onto the track (Ancienne Voie Romaine d’Orléans à Autun).

(3) Turn right. Ignore the side paths to reach Chante-Merle. Pass through this hamlet to reach a crossroad.

(4) Head left until the next junction. Turn right towards Les Chaboureaux.
At the hamlet, stay on the main road to cross the village. It ends at a crossroad; take the left-hand path for about 200 m.

(5) Turn right onto the hedge-lined path which leads further on to a road.

(6) Turn right and then immediately left onto the small tarmac road. You will reach Maison Fort.

(7) At the bend (private road opposite), turn left, staying on the road, and shortly afterwards take the path on the right.

(8) Turn right and continue for about 50 metres. Take the dirt track on the left, without crossing the old dyke with the very wild pond on the right. Walk alongside the Étang de la Forge, keeping it on your right. Cross the Maison Fort stream via the footbridge. Turn right onto a wide path. Reach the D955 road.

(9) Cross this road with care. Turn right for 10 metres, then left to continue along Chemin du Tacot. Continue straight ahead, ignoring the side paths, to reach the starting point (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 177 m - Office de Tourisme de Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye
  2. 1 : km 0.61 - alt. 199 m - Junction of Allée des Amours and Route des Thus
  3. 2 : km 1.18 - alt. 226 m - Rue Noire junction - D957
  4. 3 : km 2.3 - alt. 224 m - T-junction
  5. 4 : km 3.4 - alt. 202 m - T-junction
  6. 5 : km 4.82 - alt. 211 m - Road-path T-junction
  7. 6 : km 5.41 - alt. 208 m - Junction with a road
  8. 7 : km 6.13 - alt. 196 m - Fortified House
  9. 8 : km 6.66 - alt. 184 m - Crossing with the ponds on the right
  10. 9 : km 7.63 - alt. 178 m - Crossing the D955. Heading towards the - La Vrille
  11. S/E : km 8.91 - alt. 177 m - Musée du grès de Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye

Notes

Muddy paths in some places during winter.
Please note: at the next junction (4), this route crosses path with the signposted Route No. 35, ‘Le circuit de la Chapelle aux rois’, all the way to the centre of Les Chabourreaux.
This route, marked in accordance with the marking guidelines of the Puisaye-Forterre Community of Communes, is marked with the number 39 on yellow-backed signs.
The signposting was carried out by the association À chacun son chemin en Puisaye-Forterre in June 2021.
If you encounter any issues, please complete this questionnaire (it only takes 1 to 2 minutes).
Take care when crossing roads.
However, the fact that the route is signposted means you must set off with at least this description and the accompanying IGN map or the Visorando app.

Worth a visit

Places to visit:
The Château de Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye with the Musée du Grès.
The pottery shops and workshops in the village of Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye.

(9) The Tacot (hence the Chemin du Tacot) used to pass close to the ochre and clay quarries where the yellow-bellied toad, a small toad and a protected species, is found. Recognisable by its yellow and black striped belly, this little amphibian has pupils shaped like little hearts...no doubt the traces of Prince Charming turned into a toad... The very bright yellow colour, synonymous with toxicity, protects it from its predators.

Reviews and comments

4.5 / 5
Based on 5 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.6 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.8 / 5
Route interest
4 / 5
blandoche
blandoche

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 29, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk, often in the shade, which is a real bonus on a hot day, and Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye is well worth a visit
Highly recommended

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minescape
minescape

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 19, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

A rather disappointing walk, as there wasn’t much to see for my taste (I didn’t see any ruins at Maison Fort, for example).
The only attraction is the Étang de la Forge; otherwise, there’s not much to see.
A walk to do just for the pleasure of walking, but not to see anything in particular
Easy as it’s a short walk with no elevation gain.
The walk is quite shaded.

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pernes.noelle
pernes.noelle

Overall rating : 4 / 5

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

A lovely walk dotted with spring flowers in southern Puisaye. It was a bit of a let-down as we didn’t see Maison Fort Castle – or what remains of it –; perhaps we missed the sign!

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FGN
FGN

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 23, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Signposts marked with the number 39 are very common along this route. You won’t have any trouble finding your way. For the first few kilometres, the path is made of clay and loam. Nothing grows on it. So doing this walk after it has rained is certainly very unpleasant. Today’s walk was very pleasant, with a chance to pick some blackberries. The final stretch along the ponds is also interesting.

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Revelatta2B
Revelatta2B

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : May 12, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant walk.
However, if you walk the route clockwise, at Maison Fort, the path followed by the route is blocked by a gate marked ‘Private Property / SCI Amis de Maison Fort / No Entry’.
You have to follow the road for about fifty metres until you reach a path that branches off to the right and joins the trail a little further down, taking you back to the Étang de la Forge. This short detour wasn’t marked on my Topo V5 France map.

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