Romain la Roche

To get to Romain (25), head between Villersexel and Baumes les Dames.
Park your vehicle in the centre of the village behind the church.

(S/E) Walk up through the village, turn right, pass in front of the church, turn left onto Rue de Fontenelle, cross the main road and take the RD 116E. Take the first gravel path on the right. Pass the water tower and walk between the woods and the dry meadow to reach the Aire des Campenottes. Join the^GRP® des Sept Rivières.

(1) Leave it on your right and turn left, then left again onto the tarmac road.
Leave the road and take the gravel path on the right. Go around the quarry to the west and enter the woods.

(2) Take one of the straight, well-marked trenches on the left in the woods, heading due north. At the intersection with a perpendicular path, turn right and then left 200 metres further on to continue north. On your left is the cliff top overlooking the D25 and the village of Gondenans les Moulins. Continue along the path, which descends steeply to the D25. Turn right and 50 metres further on, take the path that descends to the left before the safety barriers at the bend. The path ends at the edge of a pasture.

(3) Turn left onto the path (marked red and yellow, then yellow and blue). At the first bend to the right, take the small path that jumps from rock to rock (marked red and yellow). On the left, in the cliff, is the Trou du Seri (during periods of heavy rain, water gushes from the cave).
Then you will reach the bottom of the valley, with its many resurgences, which you will skirt around to arrive at the Chapelle de la Trinité.

(4) Follow the marked path on the left along the pasture. You will come out onto the departmental road, turn right until you reach the main road (D50) and descend towards Gondenans les Moulins. Leave the red and yellow markings that lead to Rougemont and descend to the centre of the village.

(5) Pass in front of the castle entrance, cross the stream via the wash house, go around the block of houses to the east on a grassy path to join the yellow and blue marked trail.
Climb up into the woods. Turn left (red and yellow markings) for 200 m (the path you came down earlier), then left again (yellow and blue markings). After walking through the woods, descend the pastures along the edge of a hedge to reach a beautiful stone path. Turn left towards the village of Cuse.

(6) Just after the first house, turn right onto the farm track until you reach the sign.

(7) Cut across the fields, still following the yellow and blue markings, to reach Nans, a village that you will soon see. Descend to the centre of the village. Follow the stream with its paved bed, follow the tarmac road and leave the village via Rue des Roches. The path (still marked with blue and yellow markings) passes behind an old farm and, at the edge of the woods, passes under the Falaise de Nans.

(8) Leave the marked trail that branches off to the right and continue straight ahead on the beautiful stone path that leads to the golf course.
You will then find yourself in front of the Old Castle of Bournel. Retrace your steps.

(9) Walk past the splendid gardens to the south, including the rose garden on arches, the ponds, the box hedges and the French garden.
Continue along the avenue lined with impressive cedar trees, taking a moment to estimate the age of some of them, whose trunks, with a diameter of around 2.5 metres, suggest they are several centuries old.
Turning around, you will see the modern neo-Gothic château built in 1860.
Look north-east towards the Vosges mountains, where you will see a small white spot, which is none other than the chapel of Ronchamp. At the water reservoir, follow the^GR®59(red and white markings) for a short while.

(10) Turn right onto the unmarked path that climbs the foothills and heads south-west to rejoin the path (marked yellow and blue) that follows the ridge and leads to La Gloriette. Leave the marked path and follow a track along the ridge. Stay on the well-marked path along the ridge and do not be tempted by the downward slope, as you may end up at the foot of the rocks. You will come across a yellow and blue marked path and then a first viewpoint, followed by a second, offering a beautiful view of the Château de Nans.

(11) Return to the trail and follow the red and white^GR®59markings for a while.

(12) Continue straight ahead and then turn right onto the path (marked red and yellow), which will take you to the car park near the junction of the D29 and D116E roads in less than 1.5 km. Leaving the car park, turn left onto the tarmac road towards Uzelle until you reach the first beautiful wooded path on the right.

(13) Turn right and, at the end of the woods, you will come to the Cabane des Chasseurs. Join the tarmac road and the village of Fontennelle-Montby. Look for the red and yellow markings.

(14) Turn left, then right onto the D25, then left again before the farm. A bench at the top of a hill that seems tough at the end of the day allows for a short break.

(15) The path winds through the woods and follows a low wall marking the municipal boundary, leading to a good path. Turn left. Before Place à Bois, a small path leads to the Grotte du Crotot, opened in 1978 by the GSCB (Groupe Spéléologique de Clerval - Baume-les-Dames).

(16) Return to the path and, after Place à Bois, take the beautiful limestone road, which you must leave after 50 metres to take a rough logging track that climbs to the top of a small hill via a right-hand bend. Initially exposed, the path then enters the woods. At the first crossroads, continue straight on along the ridge and after 200 metres you will reach the boundary between the communes of Romains and Messandans, marked by a stone boundary stone. Take the trench on the right and below, on the left at the bottom of the valley, you will find the Grotte de la Pucelle.

(17) Retrace your steps and at the crossroads, go down to the left, pass two water points and rejoin the limestone road, which you should immediately leave on the left, crossing the ditch via an aqueduct.

(18) After 10 metres, take the path that crosses the woods between the clearings and joins the GRP at a crossroads.

(19) Turn left onto the straight trench marked in red and yellow. After a few hundred metres, turn right towards the west and cut through the woods, following a makeshift trail marked with red paint by a kind soul, to reach Le Dessus de la Roche de Romain via a small, discreet path.

(20) (View of the village and Montmartin Castle). For the more adventurous, take the path that winds to the left of the rock (a slightly difficult passage) and pass under the rock. Follow a goat path and, for the more skilled, climb the rock using a chain and climb up to the Neolithic shelter. Take one last look, as our ancestors did thousands of years ago to watch for game, then climb back up the rock. Return to the edge of the cliff, turn right, follow the ridge, and after 250 metres, a small path winds between the rocks and leads first to a track and then to the D50.

(21) Cross it to reach Romain (S/E).

Domaine de Bournel: before hiking, ask for permission to pass through the Domaine de Bournel (Mr Gaspard de Moustier, tel. 06 80 23 30 30, email: gdemoustier@gmail.com). In case of large crowds or golf tournaments, it is best to avoid this area.
Refreshments are available at the château's bar/tavern (smart dress required. Muddy boots are not welcome).
Aire des Campenottes: on the right, a protected botanical site with daffodils and snowdrops.
Quarry: in the large bend, the entrance to the quarry where, in 1978, the presence of fossilised bones led to the discovery of a major palaeontological and prehistoric site. A series of reconstructions are on display at the Château de Montbéliard museum.
Gondenans les Moulins cliff: in the cliff, caves are home to large populations of bats.
Rougemont Castle: an 18th-century building constructed with perfect symmetry, which unfortunately has only been disrupted by a few minor recent modifications.
Nans: in the background, the rocks of Nans, on which you can make out the troglodytic castle. It is a charming village with its fortified farms, footbridges and fountains where water continues to flow. You can also discover some ancient features such as 16th-century mullioned windows and 17th-century towers.
At the golf course: when arriving at the golf course (you must of course respect the golfers' game and stay on the paths for safety reasons).
Bournel Castle: you can enjoy a drink at the bar/brasserie. The first buildings, which date back to 1735, were remodelled following the work carried out on the new castle. Take the time to admire the façades of the buildings and pause for a moment of reflection in front of the plaque commemorating the arrest by the Nazis of the former owner of the premises, the Marquis de Moustier, Member of Parliament, President of the General Council and early member of the Resistance.
La Gloriette: a kind of kiosk, but in fact an old communal fountain from the Comté region that was moved to this location and overlooks the remains of a monumental staircase that led to the château.
Château de Nans: we are in a picturesque site remarkable for its botany, its view over the Ognon valley, and its troglodytic castle suspended from the cliff. It is in fact a cave closed off by a stone wall with a porch, windows, a turret and a loophole. This castle, which can only be reached with the aid of long ladders, served many times as a refuge for the inhabitants of the area, notably in 1475 during the invasion of the German Swiss and then in 1640 during the Ten Years' War. This place is also said to have been a leprosarium during the epidemics suffered by the population of the area. A final viewpoint offers a remarkable view of the Ognon valley. A log cabin and a few tables invite hikers to linger for a while.
Grotte du Crotot: the cave has been closed to protect it. The interior is beautiful, one of the most beautiful in Franche-Comté (visits are possible once a year on Heritage Day).
Grotte de la Pucelle: (According to oral tradition, it served as a refuge for the inhabitants of Romain during times of war and pillaging. This 5-metre-long cavity is one of the main tributaries of the upper part of the Crotot cave.)

Rougemont Museum.
Visit the Crotot cave during Heritage Day (information available from Romain la Roche Town Hall).