Hiking trail in Saint-Léonard-des-BoisHiking trail in Saint-Léonard-des-Bois
©Hiking trail in Saint-Léonard-des-Bois|OTAM

Multi-day hikes

Want to discover the Alpes Mancelles on foot for several days?

Find two proposals: one around Saint-Léonard-des-Bois
and one around Fresnay-sur-Sarthe.

Between Saint-Léonard-des-Bois, Saint-Céneri-le-Gérei and Saint-Paul-le-Gaultier

Alpes Mancelles and Forêt de Pail

About 50 kilometers

Your itinerary

 

Day 1
Starting from Saint-Léonard-des-Bois, you can link the circuits “Les méandres de la Sarthe” (17 kilometers) and “Le passeur de Montaigu” (8 kilometers – accessible only from May 1st to September 30th), these two circuits overlapping slightly, making you a loop of around 23 kilometers passing through the village of Saint-Céneri-le-Gérei.

Day 2
Also starting from Saint-Léonard-des-Bois, you can link the “Vallée de Misère” circuit (only the Mont Narbonne loop to the west – 3 kilometers – the eastern loop, on Mont du Haut Fourché will have been done the day before on the “Les méandres de la Sarthe” circuit) and “Bois de Chemasson” (13 kilometers) via the GR36 at the “Anciennes Ardoisières” (dotted pink on the maps). This makes a loop of around 16 kilometers.

Continuation day 2 or day 3 (optional)
If this doesn’t seem like much, you can join the “La Prisonnière” circuit (8 or 15 kilometers) from the “Bois de Chemasson” circuit at Les Chapronnières, or stop for the night not far from the junction between the two circuits, at La Grande Savane (open from April to September), located at Le Petit Mohaison, and return on the third day to Saint-Léonard-des-Bois.


Between Fresanay-sur-Sarthe and Gesnes-le-Gandelin

Countryside and pretty villages

About 50 kilometers

Your itinerary

 

Day 1
You can link the circuits “Le Carrouge” (9 kilometers) and “Le Grande Bleu” (14 kilometers). These two circuits have a common part, making a loop of around 20 kilometers.

We recommend you spend the night in Fresnay-sur-Sarthe, from where you’ll set off on the second day.

Day 2 and day 3
Starting from Fresnay-sur-Sarthe, you’ll be able to link the circuits “Au détour d’une Petite Cité de Caractère” (19 kilometers) and “Tour du Pays Gesnois” (9 or 11 kilometers), which meet at a place called Les Carrires, along the GR36A.

If the 30 kilometers seem too much, you can always spend the night in Gesnes-le-Gandelin, a village located halfway along the route.

I'd like to bivouac!

Is this allowed?

Many of you have asked us if it’s possible to bivouac on our territory,
here is the answer!

According to the Article R111-33 of the “Code de l’Urbanisme”, bivouacs are prohibited in classified sites. In our area, this includes the communes of Saint-Léonard-des-Bois and Moulins-le-Carbonnel, as well as Saint-Céneri-le-Gérei (61), Saint-Pierre-des-Nids (53) and Gesvres (53).

Outside these communes, bivouacking remains more or less tolerated, under certain conditions:
– be more than 500 meters from a historic monument
– be more than 200 meters from a drinking water access point
– have the owner’s permission if you set up on private land
– do not set up on public roads and paths (our hiking and mountain biking circuits are only on public roads and paths)

You must also respect the environment and leave no “trace” of your passage (garbage, etc).

Campfires are forbidden by municipal decree in several communes on our territory, as well as within 200 meters of woods and forests in accordance with Article L131-1 of the “Code forestier”.

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