A short tour of the Montagne des Alouettes

Start from the Champ de Foire car park in Lainsecq.
(D/A) From the bus shelter, cross the road and turn left into Rue du Muguet (heading north-east), which runs alongside a wall (there are sealed rings used to tie up cattle on fair days). Continue along this street until you reach the last houses in the village. Continue along this road and turn left at the crow's feet.

(1) At the entrance to the wood, turn left. Follow the edge of the wood, then enter the wood at the crossroads. Reach the tarmac road. Turn left. The road soon becomes a footpath. Continue straight ahead.

(2) At the left-hand bend, join a side road. Turn left.

(3) Turn right onto the track and join the edge of the wood. Follow it to the next crossroads.

(4) Turn right and go straight down to the tarmac lane. Take this road on the right and after 150 m, turn left at the bend in the road. Head south-east through the village of Sougères-en-Puisaye.

(5) Shortly after Les Simons, turn right twice in quick succession onto a track. Climb up to the next road on the left. Continue uphill and turn left at the first track (footpath markers on the ground).

(6) When you come to a pile of stones with a cairn on top, head into the undergrowth. As soon as a field appears on the right, turn right and continue along the edge of the wood.

(7) At the road (cross on the right), turn left onto the dirt track that leads to Rue des Carrouges. Turn right up this street. At the pond on your left, a right/left turn leads to an ancient Roman road.

(8) Take this old Roman road, which is very stony on the way up. Keep it as your main path until you reach the sign at the top indicating "Montagne des Alouettes 365m".

(9) Shortly afterwards, turn right and then left at the next crossroads. Leave the old mill on your left.

(10) In the middle of the plain (pedestrian markers on the ground), turn right onto a downhill track and turn left at the next crossroads. Still descending, this stretch of track ends in a street at Les Guillons du Ravan. Keep to the left of this street.

(11) Cross the road (D6) and turn right onto the lane flanked by a hedge (young in 2018). At the crossroads with a track coming from the left, go right and find a tarmac section. Cross La Villeneuve, then the side road.

(12) Go straight ahead to reach a crossroads. Take the right-hand track. The climb takes you back to the D6 you crossed earlier.

(13) Go straight ahead along the track. At the wooded crossroads, turn left and continue until you reach a tarmac lane.

(14) Turn left to cross Champ Martin Bas. Go straight over the D6. Leave one lane to the left and one to the right. Follow this lane, leaving the farm and Château de Beauvais on your left.

(15) Cross the D3 towards Moulin Barjot and go straight on at the crossroads leading to the houses in this hamlet. At the bottom of the descent, leave the road leading to Les Guirtelles on the right. Go up this road, leaving the tracks on the left. Reach Montreparé and cross between a farm and the houses. Go downhill, reaching the middle of the hamlet of Chappe.

(16) Turn at the hydrant (on your left), into the small lane signposted "Source de la Pisserotte".

(17) After visiting the 3 springs (la Pisserotte, le Bouillon, la Vigueur), turn back.

(16) Turn left, go down a few metres and turn right.

(18) At the Croix de la Guirtelle, go straight ahead. At the crossroads of 4 streets, turn left. Take the second turning on the right and the next on the left. Cross the D6 and join the car park (D/A).