Tour du Bois Brûlé in Mathay

Date of your route : Mar 02, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : Yes

? on attendance

We noticed that the GPX file does not quite match the PDF file for the various points; the route leaves the paths (marked or unmarked) to enter the forest where you have to "navigate by sight"; danger
We met hikers who were just as "lost" as we were; we had to turn back.
Given the difference in altitude at this point, hikers are at risk.
This route should either be abandoned or the section between 2 and 5 should be removed.

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Date of your route : Aug 11, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A passage to get past the barbed wire never found

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Date of your route : Mar 26, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

(2) Along the edge, it is not easy to find the passage (barbed wire) to get back to the forest path.

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Date of your route : Feb 14, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

This hike requires a hiking GPS as there are no markings. Despite this, as other hikers have pointed out in their comments, from (2) onwards, you should not go down into the fields as there are no paths, no barriers, only barbed wire and sometimes even double barbed wire. This hike is not up to date and it would be advisable for the website to indicate that there are no markings. When you arrive at point (2), take the road to reach points (4) and (5), which will prevent you from going round in circles and having to turn back.

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Date of your route : May 15, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Ease of following the route : Not used / Not applicable
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

A very bad sign: right from the start, from the football stadium car park, and after passing the village hall, it was extremely difficult to find Rue des Essartes and then Rue du Maquis. We spent 20 minutes going round in circles in the narrow streets lined with beech, hornbeam and lime trees... before finally finding Rue du Maquis thanks to directions from residents of the housing estate. There, the reference to "the old railway line", which has completely disappeared under the wasteland, is completely useless for someone who is not from the area. For the rest of the route, the same observation as in the previous comments: from the hamlet of Lucelans and after descending the stony path into the fields, it is impossible to find the forest path that is supposed to descend from the woods; whether you walk along the edge of the woods (as indicated in the description) or try to cut across the pasture following supposed hiker tracks, nothing works: you come up against a long barbed wire fence that leaves no way through. After an hour of wandering through fields and woods, we turned back like the others....

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Date of your route : Jun 13, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : Not used / Not applicable
Very busy route : No

I think it could be a nice hike, but:
like Ptitdens (see comments below), I didn't want to walk through a housing estate (in the blazing sun);
I started from D and turned back towards point 5. After the railway tunnel, there is a car park where you can start the hike by following the old railway line (the pink dotted line), which is a lovely balcony trail.
After that, between points 2 & 3, things get tricky:
there are not one but two groves of trees (possibly?) that you leave on your right
and at the end of the pasture, there is no longer a barrier and after the recent bad weather, there are numerous large areas where cows have trampled the grass in the meadow and in the woods (at the edge).
We looked for the municipal boundary markings but saw no traces of paint or other clues.
if you have to go into the woods for 100 metres, then the slope is steep and there were many obstacles,
We could clearly hear the motocross route further away, but
after an hour of searching, we (four seniors who did not want to take unnecessary risks) turned back.

This off-road section needs to be developed further and information provided on a few notable points, such as the steepness of the slope, a view, perhaps an azimuth.

I would try this route again because it left me wanting more.

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Date of your route : Jul 09, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful hike, but I don't see the point of crossing a housing estate, so I started from the edge of the woods and closed the circular route on the way back by following the old railway line. One detail: I was a bit lost when I left the cow pasture. I went down into the woods at the indicated spot, but there was no gate or path, and I found the route a little further down.

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Hello,

Thank you for your comments.

You rated:

Reliability of the description: Disappointing

Did the description cause any problems? If so, how can we remedy this? Can you make any suggestions?

And you noted:

Reliability of the map route: Average

As the signposting does not depend on the author or Visorando, "Map route" does not refer to the signposting, but rather the accuracy of the route as it appears on the map in relation to the actual terrain.

Also written:

Fortunately, we had our mobile phone to guide us

Isn't that a bit inconsistent with an average rating for the route?

See you soon

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Date of your route : Nov 11, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

The signposting was very discreet, and we had a few difficulties at the start. Fortunately, we had our mobile phone to guide us. There were lots of small paths with no signposts, but the view of Mandeure and Mathay was lovely.

Nath

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Date of your route : Apr 29, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

We enjoyed the hike, but from Lucelans at number 2, when you have to take the gravel path on the left to cross the fields, we couldn't find the path that goes down to the motocross track, so we returned to the small tarmac road from Lucelans.

Daniel

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Hello,

Thank you for your comment.

You rated:

Reliability of the description: Disappointing
Reliability of the map route: Very disappointing

Did you have any problems with the description and route? Or are you simply not used to reading and following descriptions or perhaps reading maps?
If so, please feel free to send us your suggestions for improvement.

See you soon!

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Date of your route : Sep 28, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing

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Date of your route : Jan 29, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A pleasant hike to do in summer or winter with superb views, but be careful on the section along the A475 road where cars drive quite fast.

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Date of your route : Sep 11, 2016
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Hello,
I did this hike on 11/09/2016 - There is a big problem with the second gate at the end of the pasture. This gate no longer exists, the pasture has been extended, and there is a barbed wire fence that looks recent and goes all the way around. After searching in vain, we crawled under the barbed wire and found the farm track, but only by groping our way through the woods. I'm afraid that next year it won't be possible to get through.

At the motocross track, do not cross it as indicated, but follow it on the right to reach the pumping station at the bottom without taking the road.

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Date of your route : May 26, 2016
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

I did this hike on 26 May 2016 with 16 people. There were no navigation issues along the entire route, just a slight hesitation on the old logging road where you have to turn right to reach the motocross track, as a rudimentary skid trail branches off before the crossroads. (I didn't immediately read that it said "to reach a crossroads at the bottom").
However, what bothers me is that after leaving the last pasture, you have to walk 200 metres through tall, uncut grass. I don't think the farmer is too happy about that. Otherwise, it was a beautiful hike.

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