Frugières-le-Pin - Vals-le-Chastel circular via Aubagnat

Access to the village of Frugières-le-Pin is via the D20F. Coming from Brioude, before the Resistance Museum, take the path on the left. Parking is easy in front of the Town Hall and the Village Hall.

NB: this route does not necessarily follow the PR® or GR® markings.

(S/E) From the car park, facing the town hall (former school), take the road on the right (Route du Donjon) towards Aubagnat until you reach a junction.

(1) Take the road on the left, Rue des Vignes, towards Fiossat.

(2) Turn right. Walk straight through the hamlet, taking in the panoramic view of the Monts d’Auvergne. Keep left at the fork after the farm, enter the woodland and continue to a crossroads at the edge of the forest.

(3) Turn right and head towards Aubagnat, towards the fountain at the top of the hamlet.

(4) Head right to the fountain at the bottom of the village, next to the communal oven and the blacksmith’s forge.

(5) Turn left, take the road on the right at the first junction, then turn left at the three-way junction about fifty metres further on. This will take you to the Croix d’Aubagnat junction.

(6) Head straight ahead and, immediately after the house, take the path on the right and head down towards Vals-le-Chastel. You’ll come out onto the D56, just before the bridge over the Doulon.

(7) Cross the bridge, walk past the town hall, then take the path on the left which leads up to Saint-Paul’s Church. If it is open, head towards the chancel and, on the left, a door opens onto the seigneurial chapel. This allowed the lord of the manor and his family to ‘hear’ mass without mingling with the other parishioners.

(8) Retrace your steps and cross the bridge again.

(7) Immediately afterwards, take the path on the left and climb the steep slope up to the mast. Beyond the mast, the slope levels out and the path joins a small road after emerging from the undergrowth.

(9) Turn right towards the hamlet of Le Pin; at the junction, take the road on the left to cross the hamlet and continue to the water treatment plant: as you leave the hamlet, enjoy the beautiful view of Domeyrat Castle.

At the village exit, orientation boards have been installed since March 2026.

(10) Head right to follow the path that enters the woodland, which curves left to meet the small road you left earlier, then veers off to the right before rejoining it further on.

(11) Follow this road, turning right. At the first house on the right, leave the road and take a path on the left which leads directly to the village. Turn right twice in succession to reach the car park (S/E).

Bring food and drink with you as there are no refreshment facilities at the start or along the route.

Viewpoints in Fiossat and Le Pin.

Vals-le-Chastel: castle (private), church and its seigneurial chapel.

Frugières le Pin: the church , the Resistance museum.

Nearby: Lavaudieu.