Streams and Bois de Serres in Écully

Less than 10 km from Lyon, this is an easy walk, allowing you to:
- admire beautiful late 19th-century residences (country houses, known as ‘maisons des champs’, belonging to Lyon silk merchants’ families, often surrounded by gardens or English-style parks)
- the wooded valleys of the Serres and Planches streams, an area designated as a site of outstanding scenic beauty.

Details

8208818
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 11.23 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 40 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 171 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 176 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 300 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 227 m

Description of the walk

Park at the Parking des Chênes.

The route is well signposted (posts at the main changes of direction and yellow markings).

(S/E) Head towards the church via Avenue Édouard Aynard, go round it and continue along the avenue in the same direction. Walk alongside a park for another 200 m opposite the fire station.

(1) At the end of the park, turn right onto Chemin de Grandvaux, and continue straight on after the roundabout.

(2) Enter the castle grounds and take the path on your left, staying more or less parallel to Chemin du Trouillat until you reach the end of the sports field.

(3) At the “Le Calabert” signpost, turn left towards Chemin des Rivières.

(4) At the signpost marked “Chemin des Rivières”, head towards Fontville by following the path on the right. The path continues as a road that winds its way to the junction of Chemin de Fontville and Chemin de la Verdoyure.

(5) Take this road on the left. It is a dead-end road that continues as a path. At the end of the path, turn left. A bridge allows you to cross the Ruisseau des Planches.

(6) At the signpost marked “Les Flachères”, turn right towards “Jansavon”. At the fork in the paths, follow the one going uphill to the left. Pass quickly under the railway line, then follow it before taking the road on the left. Turn right at the first road, Chemin du Siroux, and follow it to the end. Then turn right onto Chemin d’Écully. You will cross over the Rivière des Planches again.

(7) Just after the river, take Chemin des Planches on the left and walk alongside a pond on your right.

(8) At the “Jansavon” signpost, continue along the path on the right and stay on this main path for a good kilometre.

(9) At the “Sivu de Serres et des Planches” signpost, stay at the edge of the woods (do not enter the town) and continue to follow the yellow markings.

(10) When you reach the road, turn right and cross the railway line, then turn right again immediately afterwards. After 200 m, cross the Ruisseau de Serre via a wooden bridge, then go through a wooden gate, moving away from the river. After a few hundred metres, the path turns into a road and begins to run alongside houses. Continue straight on until you reach the junction.

(11) Turn right onto Chemin de Pontet et Crases. The road winds between an industrial estate on one side and a nature reserve on the other. You will gradually enter the town. At the Cinq Chemins roundabout, continue straight ahead. At the next roundabout, continue for 50 m along Chemin de Calabert.

(12) At the signpost for “Les Calettes”, take the path towards Écully. Walk past the École Paul Bocuse, then the sports ground on one side, and the Étang des Calettes on the other.

(3) At the signpost marked “Le Calabert”, you rejoin the route taken on the way out but now follow it in the opposite direction; climb the steps on the left to enter the castle grounds. Leave the grounds via the entrance where the walk began.

(2). Take the road on the right to the roundabout, then continue straight on along Chemin de Grandvaux.

(1) Go round the park and follow Avenue du Docteur Terver to the church. The car park is just past it on the right (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 242 m - Les Chênes car park
  2. 1 : km 0.71 - alt. 243 m - Chemin de Grandvaux
  3. 2 : km 1.39 - alt. 240 m - Castle grounds - Château du Vivier
  4. 3 : km 1.81 - alt. 243 m - "Le Calabert" signpost
  5. 4 : km 2.06 - alt. 230 m - "Chemin des rivières" signpost
  6. 5 : km 3 - alt. 273 m - Chemin de la Verdoyure
  7. 6 : km 3.39 - alt. 229 m - Signpost "Les Flachères"
  8. 7 : km 4.7 - alt. 236 m - Chemin des Planches
  9. 8 : km 5.01 - alt. 251 m - "Jansavon" signpost
  10. 9 : km 6.27 - alt. 293 m - Signpost "Sivu de Serres et des Planches"
  11. 10 : km 6.47 - alt. 268 m - Railway
  12. 11 : km 7.46 - alt. 300 m - Chemin de Pontet et Crases
  13. 12 : km 9.1 - alt. 253 m - Signpost "Les Calettes"
  14. S/E : km 11.23 - alt. 242 m - Parking des chênes

Notes

(S/E) The Chênes car park is free – and limited to a 4-hour stay – from Monday to Saturday, 8 am to 7 pm. Please take a ticket from the pay-and-display machine (enter your number plate).
https://www.ecully.fr/mon-quotidien/mobi...

You can also take bus no. 19, 3 or 55, getting off at the Écully Centre stop

There are a few benches and picnic tables in the Bois de Serres, as well as toilets.
Many families also picnic on the grass in the castle grounds (2) or by the nearby Étang des Calettes (3)

Worth a visit

Saint-Blaise Church: usually open all day, every day of the week except Mondays. Rebuilt in the Neo-Romanesque style in 1846, with some older sections that have survived through the ages.
Find out more

(2) The castle grounds are home to the Château du Vivier, built in the late 19th century for a silk merchant from Lyon.
You’ll find other fine mansions from this period along this route.

(3) The Étang des Calettes on the other side of the path.

The Ruisseau de Serres is a tributary of the Ruisseau des Planches, which itself flows into the Saône.

Reviews and comments

4.1 / 5
Based on 7 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.1 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.6 / 5
Route interest
3.7 / 5
Les mamies randonneuses
Les mamies randonneuses

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 22, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Admittedly, there are beautiful houses, former residences of Lyon's silk merchants, but there is also a lot of tarmac. This is an advantage when the paths are wet. Another interesting point: it is easy to reach Ecully from Lyon by public transport in a short time.

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Dom_Lyon
Dom_Lyon

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 01, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

The initial parking spot isn’t ideal (from a hiking perspective). A detour through the town that isn’t particularly interesting. Far too many pavements and tarmac. It could be improved by adjusting the route (there are pleasant parks or paths nearby).

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Monsieur Chupon
Monsieur Chupon
• Edited:

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 10, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk near Lyon, accessible via Vélo'v.
Unfortunately, there are quite a few sections through the city, but this gives you time to admire the various villas, the pretty parks and the castle. The sections through the forest and meadows are very pleasant.
We completed the circular circuit in about 2½ hours.

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mariejoamand
mariejoamand

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

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

We weren’t able to follow the instructions exactly because the route didn’t seem to be up to date; the Écully path proved difficult to reach as some parts of the route were ‘blocked off’, so we ended up taking a different route
Otherwise, despite a bit of driving round in circles, everything went well. Thank you
MJO

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picha
picha

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 25, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk, though a bit too much tarmac for my liking!

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jamarth
jamarth

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 12, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Everything is fine, but I’m wondering about the 146-metre elevation gain stated on this hike’s details page. We are a group of older walkers (aged 60 to 85) and have been walking together for around thirty years. To prepare for our walks, we map out the routes on Google Earth beforehand. It’s very accurate, both in terms of distance and elevation gain or altitude, and it helps avoid any nasty surprises. For this Ecully route, the route mapped out on Google Earth gives a cumulative elevation gain of 322 metres, which is more than double that stated on the description. And at our age, we really feel the difference. The elevation gain for this route is certainly closer to 300 metres than 150 metres. Is there an explanation for this discrepancy?

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mamouburni
mamouburni

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 13, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A walk that has the advantage of being on the outskirts of town whilst offering lovely paths through the woods. There’s quite a bit of tarmac, but that’s actually a plus at the moment, as many of the trails are impassable due to flooding... In the woods of Serre, the route was still busy with families, but then again, it was Sunday and the weather was lovely...

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