Bois du Gatis Trail

Pesmes, one of the most beautiful villages in the Franche-Comté region, reveals its secrets.
A watchful sentinel on the banks of the Ognon, Pesmes enjoyed an important strategic position, as evidenced by the imposing mass of the castle and the surrounding wall.

Details

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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 11.55 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 35 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 108 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 107 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 290 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 192 m
  • ⚐ Country: France
  • ⚐ City: Pesmes (70140)
  • ⚑
    Start/End: N 47.278088° / E 5.567291°
  • ❏
    IGN map(s): Ref. 3223E, 3223O
  • Hour-by-hour weather

Description of the walk

Park on the Quai de la Fontaine on the banks of the Ognon.

(S/E) Set off to the left (east), walking alongside the river with it on your right.
At the stop sign, turn right onto the D181. Follow this road for about 500m until you reach a crossroads.

(1) Continue straight ahead until you reach a Y-junction.

(2) Take the left-hand road (Vieux Chemin de Bard). You will reach a crossroads at the last house just before the D475.

(3) Continue straight ahead, carefully skirting the D475 to rejoin the path opposite. Follow this path for 1 km until you reach the C5.

(4) Continue straight on (east) for 800m, until you reach a four-way crossroads.

(5) Turn left and follow a small road through the fields for 600m. At a T-junction, next to a wood on your left, turn right onto a path that zigzags through the fields.

(6) Turn left between the vineyards towards the Bois de Lambeur.
You’ll come out onto a tarmac road; follow this to the right along the edge of the woods for 100m. Then turn left and head into the woods. Cross the woodland, changing direction several times (follow the Green Circle markers carefully). First, turn left then right at a sharp angle. Then turn three times at right angles: left, then right, and finally left. The path then curves to the right and then to the left.

(7) Just before the path veers off to the right again, turn left at a right angle. You’ll come out onto a wider path and turn right. Take the second path on the left. You’ll come out onto another path and turn right at the edge of the woods. You’ll reach the edge of the woods.

(8) Follow the path to the left across the fields for 850m. You will come out onto the C5.
Turn right onto the road towards the D12.

(9) Turn immediately left onto a path through the fields. Follow this path to cross the D475, the Pesmes bypass, with care. Return to the junction taken on the way out.

(3). Turn right and follow the route you took on the way there in the opposite direction to return to the Quai de la Fontaine car park on the banks of the Ognon (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 192 m - Quai de la Fontaine car park - Ognon (rivière)
  2. 1 : km 0.48 - alt. 193 m - Crossroads, detour to the Fontaine Theuriot
  3. 2 : km 1.02 - alt. 219 m - Fork
  4. 3 : km 1.35 - alt. 218 m - Crossroads of the circular loop
  5. 4 : km 2.12 - alt. 236 m - Junction with the C5 road
  6. 5 : km 2.97 - alt. 241 m - Four-way crossroads
  7. 6 : km 4.1 - alt. 272 m - Le Chânoy
  8. 7 : km 6.33 - alt. 287 m - Bois du Gatis
  9. 8 : km 7.64 - alt. 242 m - Exit from the Bois du Gatis
  10. 9 : km 8.48 - alt. 236 m - Route C5
  11. S/E : km 11.55 - alt. 192 m - Quai de la Fontaine car park

Notes

(1) Alternative route: at the crossroads, a small road on the right leads to the Fontaine Theuriot, a 1.2 km round trip.

Worth a visit

(S/E) Pesmes, a small, characterful town in the Franche-Comté region: castle ruins, 16th-century patrician mansions, Saint-Hilaire church.

Reviews and comments

3.5 / 5
Based on 8 reviews

Reliability of the description
3.8 / 5
Ease of following the route
3.1 / 5
Route interest
3.6 / 5
anonyme39
anonyme39

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 27, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

The signposts aren’t visible – you have to look for them – the signposts are either on the ground or otherwise hard to see.
The route description is accurate.

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jma01
jma01

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 17, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

The hiking trails have changed; I’ve mapped them out

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Louloutealachasse
Louloutealachasse

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 15, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Visited in October 2024. Just before the Lambeur woods, there is no path; the area is under cultivation, making it difficult to find the way.
To get out of the Bois du Gatis, before point 8, the path is impassable and unmaintained (confirmed by locals), full of brambles; even our dog didn’t like it.
There is nothing of particular interest on this route apart from a visit to Pesmes after the walk.

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Gigi G.
Gigi G.

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 12, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

And as a bonus, some lovely views of Pesmes...

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gazok54
gazok54 ★

Thanks, whiplash70, for bringing this to our attention.
The farmer has ‘encroached on the path’. I wonder to what extent this is actually legal!
I can see on the map that you can bypass the area via the road, though it adds a good kilometre to the journey.

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oursondesbois
oursondesbois

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 22, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

Please note that at point (3), on both the outward and return journeys, the D475 can only be crossed by taking the bridge on the D181, 200 metres further south.

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sordet.annick
sordet.annick

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 23, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A lovely trip. It was informative, and the tour of the town was superb – its castle, ramparts, gates… and the winegrowers’ houses…

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ponsot
ponsot

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 13, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

At point 3, it would be simpler to cross the D75 via the bridge, return to the other side to continue along the track, and amend the route on the map.Similarly, for the return journey, you need to cross the bridge again. A small change on the ground at point 6: the signposting takes us straight on for 200 m and then left to reach point 7. Apart from these minor corrections, the walk isn’t very strenuous but is pleasant.

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