Wild Trail: France will soon have its trek inspired by the Pacific Crest Trail

A trek to cross rural and picturesque France… This is an idea that germinated in Sophie Chanvril's imagination in 2017, while she was making a legendary trek of nearly 4 kilometers in the United States, the Pacific Crest Trail. It was therefore across the Atlantic that the idea of ​​tracing the wild path in France was born.

THEroaming in bivouac through what demographers call the diagonal of the void! And why not ? In any case, it is a very serious project, born under the impetus of the fifty-year-old dynamic. It is now carried by five passionate volunteers. Sophie Chanvril, Nicole and Gérard Hengoat, Jean-Paul Le Duault and Elisabeth Avril are working on the creation of a wild path in France, "on the trek and bivouac mode, as close as possible to hyper-rurality". They are “all very motivated and determined to bring this fabulous project to life”.

The Wild Path

The departure of Wild Path, will take place in Saint-Brieuc, then will trace through the Monts d'Arrée natural park, towards the Crozon peninsula, then the Landes de Lanvaux, before crossing the Massif Central and reaching the Carlit peak. A new crossing of the Massif Central passing further east, towards the point of arrival in the Ardennes, Givet! To reach the end of the trek, hikers will have to walk 3 kilometers of little-known paths, far from the most frequented Grande Randonnée trails. At a rate of 20 kilometers traveled each day, it will take 5 months to complete the trek.

Brittany, Pays de la Loire, New Aquitaine, Occitanie, Auvergne Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne Franche-Comté and Grand-Est… The walkers will travel through 7 regions and no less than 29 departments, to discover the wildest of France .

A growing team

On Saturday 23 November 2019, a meeting of the utmost importance for the survival of the project, took place at Café Rollais. About fifty people gathered to join the project to create an XXL trek in France. Hikers and trekkers and bivouacs, have joined the ranks of volunteers. Because it will take time and a lot of volunteers to create a precise topo-guide. The 5 founders made a first layout on a map by following the listed trails. But now it will be necessary volunteer walkers and if possible local, take the paths, annotate and describe the routes as precisely as possible. The paths of the trek must be far from the main roads. They will cross small villages allowing meetings and food and water supplies, as well as authorized bivouac areas.

The call for volunteers

The association launched an appeal for volunteers. It is therefore still possible to join the association and to take part in this ambitious project carried by enthusiasts. After joining, the volunteers choose a region or a corner they wish to explore and have their choice validated by the association. They can then begin to list the trails, carefully filling in the points of attention. A precise and compulsory framework of work allows a good cohesion of the troops. The objective of this participatory work will be the creation of a rich and harmonious topo-guide.

Next October, the teams will unveil new working methods that will make it possible to move forward and bring the circuit online as quickly as possible. This will require a large number of volunteers. feel free to contact the association as quickly as possible !