Le sentier de la p'tite maison
A 5-kilometre loop walk, accessible to adults and children, through woodland dotted with signs to help you discover the species, plants and animals...
The "sentier de la p'tite maison" runs for around 5km through woodland on the Maltat and Seine-Seine local roads, straddling the Saône-et-Loire and Nièvre départements and forming a loop from the Maltat football stadium.
To the north-east of Bourbon-Lancy, it passes through a wooded area that is easily accessible from the Maltat-Cronat road, or from the Maltat-Saint-Seine road; it is signposted on both roads. It is in the immediate vicinity of the GR3, from which it can also be reached and from which it can be looped.
It was created on the initiative of the "La p'tite maison" association, which has been promoting the history and heritage of Maltat and the surrounding area since the early 2000s.
This is the region's plant heritage, and the trail allows visitors to discover its diversity as well as its homogeneity, due to the local geology: an alluvial terrain made up of sand, clay, marl and small pebbles, formed in the Tertiary period over ten million years ago. Sessile oaks, beeches, hornbeams, heathers, mosses, as well as hawkweeds, piloselles, foxgloves, periwinkles and veronicas, depending on the season, can be spotted on the numbered signs along the trail.
You'll also learn what a peat bog is, what a crôt is, how a hamlet is formed, how wood was worked in the past and how it is exploited today, how species resist or not the vagaries of the climate, how plants can be used to treat illnesses...
Signposts help you find your way around the trail. At the entrance, a sign gives general information about the trail and the regulations. Picnic tables welcome walkers at crossroads, and litter bins ensure that the path is kept clean.
Publicity is provided by posters and leaflets (describing the route) distributed in the nearest town halls and tourist offices.