The map which appears in the center of the leaflet of the departmental committee of the hiking federation, presented in Éguzon on 1is and November 2, 2024, is telling: scattered points mark the municipalities located to the north and east of the department. In the south, almost every town has at least one hiking trail.
“Many were created in the 1980s. Ten by the Department, but they have not necessarily been maintained since”estimates Remy Faure, president of the departmental committee of the French hiking federation (FFR). The association's volunteers therefore suggest that municipalities “label” their paths when the path is correctly marked and passage is possible. “We have an evaluation grid to assess them. »
Some of the trails gathered on the map that their employee created are therefore certified by the federation. There remains the question of their maintenance. “We redid five GR trails from Valençay to Châtillon and created the Benjamin-Rabier loop, too. There, it was a will of the communes”explains these militant hikers.
“Not the same awareness of the issue”
Political strength and the choice to invest in hiking resonate differently depending on the territory. “There is not the same awareness of the issue of hiking between the north and the south of the department,” we explain to the federation. The community of communes of La Châtre and Sainte-Sévère thus hands down wins the record for the number of trails. Each municipality offers at least one loop to walk on, but the norm is rather two or three different circuits. “It’s easier for elected officials from the south, there is real tourist interest”analyzes the members of the hiking federation.
Path use is difficult to measure: “It is generally through accommodation that we can get an estimate”specifies Rémy Faure. And the economic issue is then discovered when guest rooms or collective lodgings take advantage of extended stays for groups or families. “And then everything follows: restaurants, stores…”summarizes Jean-Luc Murzeau.
Listening to municipalities
The federation therefore regularly informs municipalities that wish to develop hikes for stays. Jean-Luc Murzeau provides training to municipal agents to mark trails and thus maintain the routes.
They are available to territories devoid of what is, in their opinion, an asset. Only Saint-Maur, for the community of Châteauroux metropolis, has trails while Champagne Berrichonne, whose gently rolling landscape makes wandering difficult, is particularly devoid of walks and therefore of the contribution of hikers' wallets. But the federation maintains its educational efforts. Its major “GR 100” project should be able to be put into service in 2025. “Here too, we tried to bring together the different GRs as much as possible on the same paths when they pass the same places, to facilitate maintenance and marking. »
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