Via the rigoles and the Burgundy Canal

To get to Meilly-sur-Rouvres from Pouilly-en-Auxois (5km), take the Arnay-le-Duc road and turn left about 100 metres after the car park on the right towards the aerodrome. Departure point in front of the church in Meilly-sur-Rouvres (parking spaces opposite the town hall).

(S/E) Walk down the main street with the church on your left. After about 100 metres, turn right into the first street (towards Chazilly). Then turn right to follow the ditch on the right.

Green/yellow markings

(1) Follow the path along the edge of the ditch. Cross a path leading to a farm on the right and continue along the edge of the ditch.

(2) Cross the D14 for the first time and continue opposite on the left bank of the ditch.

(3) Cross the D14 a second time and continue opposite on the right bank of the ditch. The ditch runs parallel to the D14.

(4) Cross the D14 a third time and continue opposite on the opposite bank of the ditch (left bank).

(5) Cross the D115k and take the path opposite that runs alongside the canal on the same bank. Follow this path, which will soon turn from south to east and then north-east, with the reservoir in view on your right.

(6) Arrive at the D115k and follow it to the right.

Off the marked trail

Do not turn right onto the Chazilly reservoir dam. Continue on the D115k until you reach another ditch.

Green/yellow markings

(7) Cross the bridge and turn left onto the right bank of the channel. Continue along the bank until you reach a path, which you should follow, veering slightly to the right.

No markings

(8) Cross the D970 and turn left.

(9) After 200 metres, turn right onto the path that runs alongside the canal. Further on, follow this path, which turns right and away from the canal. When you reach the motorway, turn right then left and cross the bridge over the motorway. Cross the village of La Rèpe via the pretty little bridge on the left until you reach the D18, then take the canal towpath and follow it, turning left (with the canal on your right).

(10) At the first bridge, cross the canal and continue in the same direction on the other bank (canal on your left).

(11) Cross the D977bis at Vandenesse-en-Auxois and continue along the canal towpath on the same bank (canal on your left). Follow the canal to the port of Escommes, then continue past it.

(12) Turn left at the first bridge to return to the other bank towards the port.

(13) Follow the path that runs alongside the port.

(14) Turn right towards Escommes. Continue along this path, which will take you over the motorway and across the D977bis, then continue along the path opposite until you reach Maconge.
In Maconge, continue straight ahead at the first crossroads and cross the bridge over the canal.

(15) Pass the church junction on the left until you reach the T-junction. Turn left and continue straight on until you reach the cemetery.

Yellow markings

Turn slightly left to follow the path straight ahead to Rouvres-sous-Meilly

(16) Pass a chapel on your left.

No markings

Shortly afterwards, opposite a pretty wash house and its pond, turn right. Then turn into the second street on the left for the church (S/E).

Please note that VNF is carrying out major works on this route throughout 2020.

This hike takes you away from big game hunting areas and is ideal for a winter outing.
Hiking boots are essential for this route.
There are no drinking water supplies along this route.
Refreshments are available in Vandenesse-en-Auxois. Please enquire at the two restaurants.
Be careful in spring, as the vegetation along the ditches can be thick (grass, nettles). In this case, you can always follow the D14 from point (1) to point (4).

For information on accommodation in the area:
La Capitainerie - marina - 1 rue de la coopérative - 21320 Pouilly en Auxois
Tel: 03 80 90 77 36 / Fax: 03 80 90 81 66
info@pouilly-auxois.com
www.pouilly-auxois.com

(1) Reservoir feed channel: this type of channel is used to collect winter water from small streams along its course in order to feed the reservoir into which it flows.

The Chazilly reservoir is one of five reservoirs that feed the Burgundy Canal. It consists of a walled dyke that blocks a small valley.
The other reservoirs are: Les Tillots, Panthier, Cercey and Grosbois-en-Montagne.

(7) Feeder channel for the Burgundy Canal from the Chazilly reservoir. This type of channel is used to feed the canal in summer with water that has been stored in the five reservoirs during winter.

(8) Option to make a round trip to Sainte-Sabine to see the church and castle up close.

(12) Option to make a round trip to the entrance of the 3,333-metre-long underground passage that leads to the Seine side in Pouilly-en-Auxois (here, it is the Rhône side).

(13) The port of Escommes: there is the same on the other side in Pouilly-en-Auxois. These ports allowed boatmen to wait their turn to pass through the underground passage. The barges alternated between one direction and the other at times determined by the time it took for a train of barges to pass through the underground passage.
At the start of the canal, the barges were pushed by the boatmen using wooden poles that they planted in notches distributed along the vault of the tunnel.
Later, the barges were pulled by an electric tugboat located in Pouilly, which moved along a chain laid at the bottom of the tunnel. Electricity was supplied by two hydroelectric plants (one at each port) that used the waterfall from the basin to the basin below (about 3 to 4 metres high).
This is the highest basin (380 m) on the Burgundy Canal, and it flows towards the Seine side on the other side of the underground channel and towards the Rhône side on this side.

(14) Arrival of the channel from the Chazilly reservoir. The channels from the Cercey and Grosbois reservoirs arrive at the port of Pouilly. These three reservoirs (Chazilly, Cercey and Grosbois) supply both sides of the canal. The Tillots and Panthier reservoirs only supply the Rhône side.

(15) Maconge Church.

(16) Saint-Aignan Chapel.