Circular on the heights of Saint-Didier-sur-Doulon, Largnes, Tavernols

The hike starts from the village of Saint-Didier-sur-Doulon. The car park is located at the bottom of the village, on the banks of the Doulon.
This is a personal route: do not rely on official signposts.

(S/E) Take the street behind the church, cross the Doulon, and continue uphill behind the town hall.

(1) Turn right. Pass Maisonneuve Castle (private) and then the sequoia tree a little further on.

(2) Turn right onto the tarmac road and cross the Souvy stream at the ruins of the old Moulin de Poux mill, where a watermill once stood. As the flow of the Louspeix stream was insufficient and irregular, a water reservoir was used to store hydraulic energy to enable the mill to operate. This reservoir is still visible on your left, but to see it you have to enter the undergrowth. Continue to the three-way junction.

(3) Turn left, pass Louspeix, and continue to the end of the tarmac road.

(4) Turn left, cross the stream again, and continue straight ahead to reach the hamlet of Largne, where you will join the GRP®: superb view of the Monts d'Auvergne. Continue straight ahead.

(5) Turn right, leaving the GRP®. Pass through Lousparel, then descend to the left through the woods. Cross the Lousparel stream, climb towards Tavernols, and rejoin the tarmac road.

(6) Turn left to reach the hamlet and enjoy the magnificent panorama. Then continue straight on to the crossroads north of Chalus. Turn left to rejoin the outward route.

(1) Turn right and follow the route you took at the start in the opposite direction to return to the car park (S/E).

Bring your own supplies.

This hike can be done in summer as it is shaded.

Maisonneuve Castle (private). The sequoia tree with a circumference of 8 metres. The viewpoints of Largnes and Tavernols (6).

(S/E) Visit the village of Saint-Didier-sur-Doulon and imagine it with a baker (who bakes bread at the weekend), two cafés, one of which is still open (L'Auberge du Doulon), a blacksmith, a grocery store, a tailor, a secular school (now the town hall), a Catholic school (the large building on the left bank of the Doulon) which served as a summer camp.