Walking trail - Le Champ de Roches (Grand Circuit)

Markup: green dot.
It is advisable to wear good hiking shoes, also bring drinks in a backpack, keep your dog on a leash, and respect the trails.
Departure: Corcieux, church square.
1/ Head towards the Hôtel du Commerce and take a right onto Rue de l'Hôtel de Ville. Pass in front of the town hall (green dot).
At the intersection, follow the road of the Arrentès de Corcieux (D 31) for about 250 m before turning right onto Rue de l'Ormeau, a short but steep climb that leads to the Croix Egline housing estate (alt 561 m).
Continue straight ahead. Go past this housing estate and follow the dirt path through the fields until you reach the calvary of Croix de l'Ormeau (alt 594 m). Turn right (green dot).
On the right, view of the 3 Monts, the Roche des Corbeaux overlooking the village of La Houssière-Vanémont.
2/ The dirt path leads to a paved road that you will take on your left (green dot). To your right, observe in the distance the Romanesque Church of Saint-Jacques du Stat*.
After 200 m, turn right towards the hamlet of La Nolle (alt 610 m). Leave the calvary on your left and embark on the dirt path. A little further on, take the left onto the paved road that will lead you to the hamlet of Mariémont (green dot).
3/ At the first intersection, continue straight ahead (green dot). At the next intersection, leave the calvary on your left. Beautiful panorama over the Corcieux basin, site of an ancient prehistoric lake. Continue until the pass of Arrentès de Corcieux (alt 684 m). In front of the restaurant, cross the D 31 and take the C1 towards the center of the village of Arrentès de Corcieux heading to the Champ de Roches (green dot). You will pass in front of the town hall.
At the next intersection, continue to the right (green dot). After crossing the Corbeline stream, continue on the steeply rising road. In front of an old farm, turn left onto a small path lined with stone walls, into a spruce forest.
4/ Turn sharply right and 100 m further down, go left to arrive at the site of Champ de Roches. Here you can discover explanatory panels about this geological feature.
After crossing it, continue on the paved road after the parking lot (green dot).
After 150 m, at the intersection, follow the markers (green dot) and continue straight on a dirt path. Upon reaching the paved road, turn left downhill (direction Corcieux).
Cross the Corbeline stream again. At the Goutelles intersection (alt 700 m), continue straight ahead towards the Arrentès, through the fir forest.
5/ At 800 m, leave the road and take the small path slightly rising to your right (green dot).
At about 200 m, observe, on your right in the stone wall, the entrance to a water mine*.
At the exit of the forest, turn left and discover the very beautiful panorama of the Corcieux basin, with in the foreground, the Col des Arrentès and in the distance, the blue line of the Vosges.
Upon reaching the first houses, cross the paved road and take the descending path opposite to reach the hamlet of La Charmelle. Then turn right (green dot). At 300 m, take the dirt path on your left that runs alongside the small Bans stream (green dot).
You pass by ancient granite quarries. After the stone bridge, turn left. At about 300 m, below, observe the ruins of an old mill at the place called La Folie and further on, to your right, some imposing granite blocks.
At the first houses of the hamlet of Vichibure (alt 563 m), turn left. To your right, a first farm dated 1723 is an old prison that belonged to the Counts of Martimprey. There remains on the southeast façade a small window in flamboyant gothic style.
Note on the façade of the next farm the date of its construction (1827), its sandstone pediment and two inscriptions H10. CH6: during the German occupation in 1940, houses were requisitioned to house the enemy army. The inscriptions specified the number of men (H 10) and horses (CH 6) that could be accommodated.
Turn right (green dot) and about 500 m turn left. You will pass in front of the EHPAD Le For-felet and run alongside the camping sites of Bans and La Tour. Via Rue Notre Dame then Rue Henry, return to the church square, the starting point of the hike.
To see:
CHURCH OF SAINT JACQUES DU STAT (to visit): Its Romanesque art bell tower, built at the end of the 11th century, is listed in the inventory of Historical Monuments. According to the archives, Charlemagne, who came to hunt with his entourage in the game-rich forests of the region, was enchanted by the site of Saint-Jacques and had a chapel built there.
THE WATER MINES: These are galleries dug into the ground to collect spring and infiltration waters. Built in a friable soil like sandstone, they were masonry constructions. They appear as long tunnels built of rubble and vaulted. Some are still functioning to provide running water to isolated houses.