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As Ged said walking not a problem I assumed little baby in backpack or similar. If you’re looking for pushable venues then all of my suggestions bar Potala are wack!

Cuvier is minging. Sadly Isatis is going the same way. I wouldn’t take my kids there now. In the last couple of years there seems to be a lot more bog roll and litter.
 
Isatis, specifically warming up there (and even more specifically white 12!), should not be missed if you’ve not been to Font before.
 
More running info.

Here's a website from the 90s with some route suggestions for running.
http://fabricesueur.free.fr/fontainebleau.html

The one T_B mentions around L'Elephant isn't on there but is very good. Blue markings.

The 25 bosses is also great. Marked in red. There is also a short cut via Diplodocus marked red and white which cuts the route down by a few kms.

The blue route from Canche aux Mericers is less hilly than the ones above. From the parking it heads off right towards l'Telegraphe and the full loop goes to Gorge Aux Chats and back. There are two junctions on the way out which head South and cut the route shorter and join the route on the way back.

The route on the website which starts around Rocher de la Reine I haven't found any markings for so may no longer exist as a marked route.

I've not tried any others yet so don't know if they're marked or not.
 
Roche aux oiseaux can be empty when Roche aux sabots is rammed. The way in isn't sandy.
If you hit Paris after 10am and before 4pm during the week, it's quicker to take the peripherique.
 
Cheers good knowledge, we are on a morning tunnel so that'll work well
 
Heh Ged :wave:
Been quite a few years since I’ve been and I am under the impression that I’d find the piles of :shit: at the more popular areas depressing. However, pre kids etc... I went there a lot. Always found if you were prepared to walk or drive away from the obvious spots you could avoid the hordes. Gros Sablons and Rocher Fin come to mind immediately as being quiet areas with class problems.
 
Easter is a busy time, but the crowds are definitely concentrated around specific areas

We went to Buthiers Canard right in the middle of the busy period at Easter last year and I had the crag to myself while the rest of the family did less scary stuff
 
BrutusTheBear said:
Heh Ged :wave:
Been quite a few years since I’ve been and I am under the impression that I’d find the piles of :shit: at the more popular areas depressing. However, pre kids etc... I went there a lot. Always found if you were prepared to walk or drive away from the obvious spots you could avoid the hordes. Gros Sablons and Rocher Fin come to mind immediately as being quiet areas with class problems.

Bloody hell, where were all you naysayers when I was asking where to go for my Easter holiday! ;D
 
BrutusTheBear said:
Always found if you were prepared to walk or drive away from the obvious spots you could avoid the hordes. Gros Sablons and Rocher Fin come to mind immediately as being quiet areas with class problems.
The main sandy area of Rocher Fin is anything but quiet, especially after a shower. If it wasn't for the hoardes, it would be the perfect area with a young family: open, flat and sandy, with good easy circuits and a handful of decent harder things.

If you go down in to the trees, you can get away from the crowds but it might not be so family friendly.
 
Hi Ged,

I'd second oiseux as a great off the beaten track yet reasonably accessible area. We also really liked Rocher de la Reine, some great problems, lovely ambiance and Hotline is there! Franchard Sablons is nice although slow to dry, the far end of Isatis (around Iceberg) is quiet with some great problems and JA Martin around L'Etrave is now very open and sunny as a lot of trees have been felled.

Hopefully Bonny isn't mobile yet. We lost Kit on the forest near Sabots when he was 1 or 2. It was only 5 minutes or so but felt like a lifetime. Now he's 14, it would be a blessing!

As you would probably guess with me, I much prefer the less well known, off the beaten track areas. Of the more frequented, Buthiers and Cuisiniere would be my pick.
 
I think Canche aux Merciers is a really great area for easier circuits - the boulders tend to be smaller with good landings, some decent boulders in the low 7s and very child friendly.
 
Petit Bois was excellent for kids and generally dead quiet when we were there last summer. Nice and shady if it's a bit hot too.
 
joel182 said:
I think Canche aux Merciers is a really great area for easier circuits - the boulders tend to be smaller with good landings, some decent boulders in the low 7s and very child friendly.

Sadly a bit too child friendly, when we went there there was a busload of school kids all over the place. If there are busses in the car park, might be best to head over the road to Bois Rond (I think it's just across from there?)
 
Rocher de la reine can be quiet when Bois Rond and Canche aux merciers are heaving. Canche is also always busy on Wednesday afternoon as it's the local schoolkids sports day.

I like Rocher Fin but I wouldn't want to push a pushchair there.

After nearly 10 years in the forest the only :shit: I've seen was under a slab at Buthiers Canard.....Lagers! Mind you I avoid anywhere busy at Easter.
 
fried said:
Canche is also always busy on Wednesday afternoon as it's the local schoolkids sports day.

Could well have been then! We were the only people at Bois Rond when we went.
 
fried said:
Rocher de la reine can be quiet when Bois Rond and Canche aux merciers are heaving. Canche is also always busy on Wednesday afternoon as it's the local schoolkids sports day.

I like Rocher Fin but I wouldn't want to push a pushchair there.

After nearly 10 years in the forest the only :shit: I've seen was under a slab at Buthiers Canard.....Lagers! Mind you I avoid anywhere busy at Easter.

I can't believe you have only seen one shit, my perception was that around Isatis if you walked out of the bouldering area, lots of boulders had turds and paper under them, this was last year, but really only reinforces what has been happening for years. I stayed on the Cuvier bivouac site the last night before I shut, the party was lets say quite good, but the shit around the site was not. I've stayed many time at the bivouac at Bourron-Marlotte and couldn't believe the people that wandered of into the woods with toilet paper even thought there was a toilet, admittedly a pit of horror, provided. My pessimistic view view is that the freedom of the forest will be curtailed in the future.
 
One more question. There seems to be dozens of guidebooks to choose from. Any suggestions?
 
2 x Montchausse guides - the purple one and the "off piste" one.


A good close scale map of the area is useful too, helpful if you're trying to find parking areas and I guess trails for running.
 

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