Couesnon Valley

The Couesnon river meanders through a deep valley, home to ancient mills.

Details

n°2145

Creation:
12 Jan 2012

Last update:
29 May 2023

Last review:
08 Sep 2025

Activity: Walking
Distance: 8.63 km
Average duration: 2h 55
Difficulty: Moderate
Back to start: Yes
Ascent: + 146 m
Descent: - 152 m
Highest point: 92 m
Lowest point: 37 m

Country: France
City: Mézières-sur-Couesnon (35140)
Start/End: N 48.307386° / W 1.433983°
IGN map(s): Ref. 1217SB, 1317SB
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Photos

Description of the walk

(S/E) Departure from the "Château de la Ville Olivier" castle car park.

Cross the D102 road and follow the path down to the river.

(1) Cross the small wooden bridge, walk for 100m, then cross the road to the left, and head opposite towards the kayak landing car park. Follow the Couesnon river to the road leading to a place called l'Ambaudière, then turn left to reach the mill "Moulin de Guyon".

(2) Leave the road by the track on the right and turn left at the fork. Cross the Couesnon river (passage called "Passage des Intrépides"), turn left and walk upstream along the GR^®39, stay on the path at the top of the valley to enjoy a beautiful view of the Couesnon and its valley.

(3) Arrived at "La Roche" village, there's a building where you can see the water plant that supplies the Rennes conurbation.

Follow the path back to the car park (S/E)

Waypoints

S/E : km 0 - alt. 61 m - Château de la Ville Olivier
1 : km 0.69 - alt. 43 m - Wooden bridge - Couesnon (fleuve)
2 : km 4.23 - alt. 39 m - Le Moulin de Guyon
3 : km 7.59 - alt. 76 m - La Roche
S/E : km 8.63 - alt. 61 m - Château de la Ville Olivier

Worth a visit

Village "Meziere sur Couesnon".
Caslte "Château Ville Olivier" (crepe restaurant).
Old mills.
Climbing site.
Village "Saint Aubin du Cormier".
13th-century castle ruins.
Village Gahard.
11th-century church.
Wash-house.

Reviews and comments

4.4 / 5

Based on 30 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.3 / 5

Ease of following the route
4.2 / 5

Route interest
4.6 / 5

Sinici

08 Sep 2025 at 11:21 7200

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 08, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Hello,
we only covered the western half of the hike, which is almost 9 km. The outward journey is easy, but the return is much steeper. This walk is best done in dry weather, ideally in summer when it's hot, as you walk almost entirely under the shelter of trees.

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grand large

11 Mar 2024 at 11:24 3600

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 11, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Just the right window for this hike

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Franck saulais

29 May 2023 at 19:28 7200

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 29, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very nice hike to do, with quite a few changes in altitude to avoid, I think, after rain,

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dorovitré

03 Jul 2020 at 16:42 7200

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 28, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very fine walk in the foothills of the valley. Rather hilly for the region. Small forest track. Possibility of splitting the route in 2 by crossing the Couesnon at Plansonnais on the IGN map.

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4francoise4

22 Jun 2020 at 09:08 7200

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 20, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very nice walk.

At first it was a bit difficult to find the start near the canoe parking area.
The right bank is extremely pleasant under the trees.
On the other hand, the return journey along the left bank is very hilly.

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stef35bzh

31 May 2020 at 22:42 7200

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : May 31, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A very nice walk, mainly in the shade, which is very welcome in hot weather ...
1st part rather quiet then 2nd part more hilly ...
However, the height difference given in the description is incorrect, as measured with my Garmin Fenix 5 watch (altimeter).
which indicates about 250m of positive difference in altitude (and therefore as much negative).

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Marc Wallays

09 Sep 2019 at 22:45 7200

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 19, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

When you have to leave the right bank of the Couesnon to go to the left bank, it's not easy to know where to leave the path as there are footpath markings on both banks (old and new markings). I got caught out and extended the distance I walked a lot.
But it's a lovely walk.

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pierre capelle

19 Aug 2019 at 09:31 7200

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 19, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A lovely, relaxing route in the middle of Brittany, which leads to a small valley with plenty of undergrowth. An ideal walk for the whole family.

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Domi2935

11 Aug 2019 at 11:52 7200

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

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

A nice little walk, but a bit monotonous, along the Couesnon. On the right bank (the outward journey), you have no access to the water (fenced meadow) and on the other, you are high up. Sometimes difficult to get your bearings. Shady. We made several mistakes (contradictory instructions). Uneven terrain.

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marithemorin

10 Jun 2019 at 14:35 7200

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 10, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

This walk took place on 14 April: magnificent! It's lovely to walk along the Couesnon. Worth repeating.

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NolVP

10 Jun 2019 at 13:57 7200

Overall rating : 5 / 5

It's a very pretty walk that's suitable for families (youngest child 5 years old), but beware of the gradient, which can be quite steep in places. The unexpected side-effect was that the day after a storm we had to climb a large tree (a poor old oak) because it was blocking the path.
The view over the Couesnon is magnificent and we really enjoyed the alternating moorland, meadow and undergrowth.

Definitely worth doing again!

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marithemorin

08 Apr 2019 at 10:38 7200

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 08, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Very nice ride, mostly on beautiful paths.
Thank you very much.

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jeanpaulauffray

25 Feb 2019 at 10:19 3600

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 25, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Very beautiful valley, great walk in very good weather at this time of year, nice path along the bottom of the valley, but the return journey is a bit more sporty as there are several ascents and descents from the bottom of the valley towards the heights of the bocage, so it's better to warn hikers. Thank you

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chaouine

24 Sep 2018 at 12:10 7200

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 08, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Pleasant walk along the couesnon and through the fairly physical forest

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Guillac

27 Aug 2018 at 13:22 7200

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 27, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Very pleasant in the shade
To be redone

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