Circular route in the Margeride to Saint-Symphorien

Head to Thoras and, at the bottom of the village, follow the signs for Savignac heading south. Continue for about 1.2 km and park at the junction with a stony track (which you will use to complete the circular route).

(S/E) Walk back about fifty metres along the road you came along to take the dirt track branching off to the right, which, after 600 m, descends and then becomes a small tarmac road, leading to the hamlet of Reynaldes after a sharp left-hand bend and a right-hand bend.

(1) Turn left in the centre of the hamlet. The tarmac road quickly turns into a track.
Follow this dirt track to the right at the crossroads just outside the hamlet. Continue until you cross the D985.

(2) Turn right and stay on this road (watch out for cars) to pass the hamlet of Moulin de Fortune at an elevation of 1054.

(3) After the hamlet and a bridge over the Ruisseau de Donaldes, leave the road and head straight on along a small track.
Follow the path, which winds a few times and climbs steeply up to the hamlet of Donaldes.

(4) In the hamlet, turn right then keep to the left at the three-way junction. Walk through the village and take the wide path that heads slightly uphill to the left. Stay on this good, balcony-like path until you reach the next hamlet, La Vialatte.

(5) At the entrance to the hamlet, after the first house, take the path veering slightly to the right. Turn left after about 150 metres and continue straight on for about a hundred metres further on at the junction with the tarmac road at an elevation of 1188. Follow this small tarmac road as it climbs up to the village of Saint-Symphorien.

(6) In Saint-Symphorien, at the top of the climb, take a small street on the right to reach the Croix de Saint-Symphorien, about 250 m away.

(7) At the foot of the cross, there is a beautiful 360-degree view over the Margeride and, further afield, the Allier valley and the Velay.
After this break, return to Saint-Symphorien.

(6) Continue down the road to the right into the village.
At the first junction with the road coming from the church, take the path opposite which leads down towards Les Salelles.

(8) Turn left after about a hundred metres and carry on until you reach a large farm on the left-hand side of the track.

(9) After the farm, turn right onto the road leading to the hamlet of Les Salelles. After 150 metres on this road, continue along the path opposite, which will take you to La Baraque du Tribe. (Watch out for cars).

(10) At the crossroads, veer slightly to the left onto the small road leading to the hamlet of L’Herm (signposted). Once on this small road, immediately take the track that goes straight ahead. Then, after about 500 metres, turn right onto a similar track. Continue straight on until you reach a three-way junction.

(11) Take the grassier path on your left (the other path, which looks better, disappears into the pastures). Continue along this path until you reach two crossroads behind the hamlet of La Brugère Haute.

(12) At the first of these junctions, turn right onto the small grassy path which climbs slightly and leads into the woods. As you emerge from the woods, the path descends and becomes a good dirt track. Turn left at the bottom of the descent to reach the hamlet of La Fagette, which you can see ahead.

(13) Walk through this hamlet and continue along the village road until you reach the top of a climb and a junction with a stony track, just before a house on the right, at an elevation of 1205.

(14) Turn left onto the track, which continues uphill. Stay on this same track, ignoring the paths branching off to the left or right, until you return to the starting point of the walk (S/E).

Water is available in the various hamlets you pass through.
Watch out for cars between points (2) and (3) and at the crossroads at point (10).