Bois-Rond

Overview

Bois-Rond is a bouldering area located in the Southern part of the Fontainebleau massif. It is on the East side of the Forêt Domaniale des Trois-Pignons (Trois Pignons Forest). About 50 rocks are usually climbed, most of them offering several routes with different difficulties. No boulder exceeds 5m.
It is made of the same fine grit stone as the rest of the Fontainebleau sites. However the hold are not as worn out as common places such as Cuvier or Franchard.
Due it is location Bois-Rond is less visited, and therefore offers more peace for those wanting to climb in a quiet area. Soft stone, good holds, forest smell, a good area to discover the joy of French bouldering !
Like the rest of Fontainebleau summer months can be hot and therefore harder to work on tough routes, as sweating will bother you. For performance go between October and May.

Getting There

From Paris, drive on the highway A6 for about 40 kms.
Take the exit mentionning "Fontainebleau", to catch road N37.
After 3 kms turn right on D50 to go through Fleury-en-Bière and then Arbonne-La-Forêt. Once you reach that village (12 kms), take D64 towards Achères-La-Forêt. Stop after a bit more than 1 km, there is a small car park on your right.

From this car park, you just need to walk for 5 minutes on a very clear trail.
First small trail for about 200m and then a larger one for anoter 200m. The main boulder circuits (as described below) will be on your right hand side.

Red Tape & Camping

You can climb without any restriction in this area.
In theory it is forbidden to camp in the Fontainebleau Forest. However if you are respectful of the environment and do not lit a fire, nobody should bother you. There is no running water around. Take your trash away with you, when you leave. Fontainebleau (nearby) will offer everything you need for food, accomodation and petrol.
For tourist information, clic here : Office du Tourisme

Bouldering Circuits

Bois Rond has 6 bouldering circuits :

1 yellow circuit with an overall difficulty of PD (usually II)
1 orange circuit with an overall difficulty of AD (38 routes graded between 2c and 4a)
2 blue circuits with an overall difficulty of D+ (boulders graded between 4b and 5b)
1 red circuit with an overall difficulty of ED (50 routes graded between 5b and 7a)
1 white circuit with an overall difficulty of ED+ (7 routes graded between 7a and 7c)

And important thing to know is that the scale used in Fontainebleau (in general) uses the same numbers as the cliffs in France... but they are not equivalent. For example 5c in Fontainebleau is equivalent in difficulty to 6b on a cliff. A two-letter difference is usually appliable.

Book, Map & Weather

A nice guidebook is : L'escalade à Fontainebleau - Les plus beaux blocs et circuits d'escalade
by Jacky Godoffe (Editions Arhtaud - 1999)
Another one with even more boulders described on this are is : Escalade à Bleau - Tome 2 written and edited by the Cosiroc organisation (2001)

The best map is undoubtedly : IGN 24170T

Weather forecast : Meteo France > Fontainebleau

Images

View Bois-Rond Image Gallery - 10 Images