Butte aux canons, Historic mound in Bois de Vincennes, France.

Butte aux Canons is a 15-metre-high mound in the Bois de Vincennes, one of the wood's two highest points at 71 metres above sea level. Its dry, brush-covered slope is crossed by low wooden rail fences, and two paths bordered by ramps lead to a belvedere at the top overlooking Vincennes and the eastern suburbs.

A shooting range was created in 1791 on the Allée Royale, with a mound as a target at the centre of the star-shaped crossroads. After projectiles reached the new Esquirol hospital at Saint-Maurice to the south, the firing axis was moved in 1838 and a taller target mound, the present Butte aux Canons, was built to the east. In 1855 the military domain was extended eastward and the army cleared the central part of the wood; the mound stayed in use for artillery until the army left in the 1950s.

The name comes from the artillery range: this mound was the target butt, the "butte aux canons", for guns firing from the Allée Royale. Two paths with railings lead up to a belvedere at the top, from which the view reaches Vincennes and the eastern suburbs.

The mound lies between Route Saint-Hubert, Route de la Demi-Lune and Allée des Quatre-Carrefours, near the large roundabout at the centre of the star of forest paths south of Allée Royale. Two paths bordered by ramps lead to the belvedere at the top, which looks out over Vincennes and the eastern suburbs.

From the summit you can see the turrets of Château de Vincennes and the distant eastern suburbs of Paris, a view many visitors do not anticipate. The eastern perspective reveals how the city extends beyond the forest boundaries.