If anybody is considering going green laning in France I can supply, for use with Memory-Map's (IGN) 1:25000 French maps, an overlay of green lane routes – several thousand kilometres – in various regions including France Comte, Burgundy, Alps, Pyrenees, Ardeche, Loire etc. All these routes have been published in French off-road magazines e.g. Action 4x4, Passion 4x4 and Land over the past 10 years.
Normally, the magazines publish the routes in the form of a road-book. However, the quality of the road-books are usually appalling, towns misspelt, GPS points wrong - (the worst was off-set 2,500 km SE of the route), really useful mobile land-marks are included such as sheep and horses, as well as seasonal ones like fields of beetroot or cereals, important things like bridges, power lines and railway lines are often missing. One road-book had the diagrams laterally reversed making it a bit tricky.
I think there must be some sort of a competition to produce the prettiest road-book even though it is nearly useless. No wonder the French have never won a war, it's a wonder they could find the battle. Anyway I have carefully transcribed these on to the map so that they are pretty good. And the ones I have driven are OK. Once you have driven a couple you soon get the hang of finding your way about and figuring detours (farmers aren't keen on 4x4s and dump magaliths on the track).
The law for green laning is very simple, you can drive on any autoroute, route national, chemin rural, voie communal and voie prive that is open to vehicular traffic. A road/lane/track is closed if it has a sign at the start saying that it is closed or a gate/chain across it. In Parks Naturels and Forets Domenials special regulations may also apply.
It is strictly forbidden to drive off-road especially under trees (forests), meadows and alpine pastures, nor is it permitted to drive on beaches, sand-dunes or along the shoreline. Vehicles must be roadworthy. On the spot fines, impounding of vehicles and arrests can be made by gendarmes and park rangers for breaking the law.
So if anybody wants the routes overlay, let me know and I will email it to them. If anybody has similar route overlays I would be please to receive them.
Gavin Lawrence
