Cellars and hillsides of Châteaugay

Leaving Sayat, discover the wine-growing village of Châteaugay on the way out through the orchards of the Plateau de Lachaud and on the way back through the Plateau de Bade. Along the way, you'll discover the market towns of Malauzat and Blanzat.

Technical sheet

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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 17.58 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 5h 50 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Return to departure point: Yes
  • ↗
    Vertical gain: + 283 m
  • ↘
    Vertical drop: - 288 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 526 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 359 m

Description of the walk

In Sayat, park in a small gravelled car park near the cemetery. There are many different signs on this route. Only the most relevant on certain sections will be mentioned in the description.

(S/E) Head north along the road alongside the cemetery until you reach a roundabout. Go straight ahead on a short tarmac section and continue on the grass to join a road (the D15) and follow it straight ahead. Take care before the bend, preferring the lower right-hand side.

(1) After about 150m, take a track on the right. About fifty metres further on, follow a path to the left for a short round trip to a cave (more of a covered shelter). Take a path around the ruins of a hut.

Back on the path, continue to the left. Ignore the access to a field on the left, then a path on the right and reach a crossroads.

(2) Go straight on for a round trip to another small natural cave: ignore a path on the right at a waymarker post, then ignore a path on the left. About fifty metres further on, after passing a rocky chaos on the right, notice a small cave on the left of the path. Turn back to the third junction.

(2) Continue to the right. Continue straight ahead until you come to a crossroads with several paths and two signposts on the right. Continue straight on towards Malauzat (not signposted). Cross the D796(take care) and continue straight ahead through a residential area until you reach a small roundabout.

(3) Continue straight ahead (towards Volvic, road sign), into the town of Malauzat. Continue straight on until you reach the town hall (Volvic stone cross on the left). Turn right to pass in front of the town hall, and shortly afterwards notice a fountain on the Place de la Cruchale on your right, followed by a yellow sign indicating "Château du XIXe siècle, privé".

Continue straight on past the château to the next crossroads, with Rue de Tureau on your right. Turn left onto a small road. At a glass container, take the path on the right. Immediately afterwards, ignore a track on the right and continue straight on towards the Plateau de Lachaud.

(4) Arrive at the "Plateau de Lachaud" signpost and continue straight on, passing a yellow "Églantiers et pruneliers" sign on the left. Continue straight ahead until you come to the edge of the houses and continue along the small road. After passing a house with a turret, follow the path to the left of the antenna.

(5) At the crossroads, follow the signs for Châteaugay straight ahead. A few metres further on, notice a dry stone shelter in the meadow on your left. At the next crossroads, continue straight ahead following the yellow disc signs into Châteaugay.

At the crossroads with Rue Saint-Vincent, go straight on, following the Yellow Disks. After passing a storm basin on the right, come to a crossroads at the "Chemin de la Boule" signpost. Ignore the directions and take the second turning on the left, which soon bends sharply to the right.

(6) At a roundabout, turn right into Rue du Nord. Further on, cross Rue de la Crouzette and continue in the same direction. At the next crossroads, ignore the left-hand signposted road and turn slightly right towards a municipal information sign.

Pass this sign and continue straight on, ignoring the streets on the right, to reach the cellars (cellars on the left, cross and other cellars also on the right of the road). At the next intersection, look for the "Quartier des caves" sign and continue straight on towards the Coteaux de Châteaugay. Continue along the cellars on your left, passing a very worn information panel.

(7) Go up to the left and back to the orientation table. At the Bellevue marker, go left across the lawn to find the orientation table. Then head back down the same path.

(7) Turn left following the red and white GR®® markings. Go past a beautiful wooden gate surmounted by a small Bacchus and continue along this path until you reach the Coteau de Châteaugay signpost. Turn right towards Pompignat, on the path lined with vineyards.

After about 200m, take a narrow path that descends to the right between vineyards. When you reach a wide track, follow it to the left.

(8) At a small signpost for the "In the footsteps of the winegrowers" trail (reverse signposting), turn right onto a small road. At the crossroads, continue along the track opposite. As this track bends to the right, follow a grassy track to the left and then, a few metres further on, at a T-junction with another grassy track, turn right.

(9) At the next junction, take the track on the left for a round trip to more rustic cellars. Ignore the track on the right and, when the track ends, continue along a path past a number of cellars, more or less well-maintained, on the left. An opening in the door of the last cellar provides a view inside. Retrace your steps.

(9) Continue straight ahead on the grassy path, joining a wider track and continuing to the left. Ignore a track that whizzes left back towards Châteaugay, with the château in your sights. A few metres before a bridge over a stream, turn right into Rue des Vignots.

At the next crossroads, continue straight up. At the end of the road, turn left, then immediately left into Rue des Caves.

(10) About 80 m further on, look out for the staircase on the right-hand side of the road. Climb up, passing a cellar chimney, and continue along the path which leads to a street. Keep to the right and you will soon come to a T-junction (signposted "Rue de l'Amandière" on the right-hand wall), with the "Le Chalard" signpost on the left.

Continue left along the red and white GR®® signposts (follow the signposts until you see a sign to the contrary in Blanzat) until you quickly reach the "Rue du Chalard" signpost, at a fork in the road, and turn left towards Parc Jay.

At the next signpost, continue towards Parc Jay, turn left and then left again to follow Rue du Château through a stone gate. The entrance to the courtyard of the château is on the left.

Continue along the street to pass to the right of the chapel and under another stone gate. Continue straight on past a large cross and the Bacchus Fountain,

(11) Further on, notice the church below on the left, then a beautiful cross on the right of the street, and another old rampart gate on the left. Continue straight ahead. Further on, a small park surmounted by a cross on the left offers another view of the valley to the east.

At the end of this street, cross the D402 carefully and continue along the small road opposite. You will come to the first houses in the hamlet of Les Mauvaises.

(12) Drive through this hamlet, ignoring all the roads on your right. At a small roundabout, take the first turning on the right and then, at the fork in the road, turn left into Rue du Puy Robert. Arrive at a crossroads at the "Les Mauvaises" signpost.

(13) Continue to follow the GR®® towards the Plateau de Bade. Follow this wide track as far as the "Plateau de Bade" signpost. Continue towards Blanzat. You will come to a T-junction, with a vineyard and a cherry orchard on your left.

(14) Turn left. The path then bends right and descends steeply to reach the first houses in Blanzat.

(15) Leave the GR®® at Rue Saint-Esprit. Follow this street to the left until you reach a square with a fountain and the Place Ballofy sign. Continue towards Le Bédat until you reach Place de la Poste, level with the church.

Follow the main street to the right for a few metres, then turn right again past the "La Colombe" building. Follow the road as it bends to the right, then turn left towards the cemetery, following the blue signs. Walk alongside the cemetery and continue along this road, which runs alongside a small stream. It turns into a track further on. Ignore a private road on the right.

(16) At the next two forks in the road, turn right (blue markings). At the "Balade des vignerons" sign on the right of the path, leave the Blue markings and follow the path to the left.

(17) Reach the D762 at another "Balade des vignerons" signpost. Cross with care and continue along the road opposite (Rue de Saint-André). After a right-hand bend in the road, turn right at the T-junction into Rue des Chassangs. At another T-junction, turn right to reach the car park near the cemetery(S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 468 m - Car park at Sayat cemetery. Near the - Bédat (rivière) - Affluent de la Morge
  2. 1 : km 0.98 - alt. 502 m - Path on the right
  3. 2 : km 1.72 - alt. 497 m - Back and forth to a second cave
  4. 3 : km 3.38 - alt. 516 m - Straight through the village
  5. 4 : km 4.55 - alt. 509 m - Plateau de Lachaud, straight on
  6. 5 : km 5.75 - alt. 525 m - Straight on to Châteaugay
  7. 6 : km 6.55 - alt. 504 m - Right Rue du Nord
  8. 7 : km 7.03 - alt. 494 m - To and from the orientation table
  9. 8 : km 8.46 - alt. 410 m - Small road on the right
  10. 9 : km 9.67 - alt. 381 m - Round trip cellars
  11. 10 : km 10.76 - alt. 478 m - Staircase on the right
  12. 11 : km 11.55 - alt. 491 m - Church on the left
  13. 12 : km 12.53 - alt. 494 m - Les Mauvaises, straight ahead
  14. 13 : km 13.4 - alt. 503 m - Direction Baden Plateau
  15. 14 : km 14.46 - alt. 472 m - Left-hand path
  16. 15 : km 15.23 - alt. 399 m - Rue Saint-Esprit off GR
  17. 16 : km 16.24 - alt. 429 m - Right then right
  18. 17 : km 16.95 - alt. 462 m - Street opposite
  19. S/E : km 17.58 - alt. 468 m - Car park at Sayat cemetery

Practical information

This is a medium-difficulty hike, requiring standard hiking equipment.

Sayat is accessible from Clermont-Ferrand on line 32 of the T2C.

The three round trips can be skipped to shorten this walk.

There are several stretches of road and residential areas.

In the nearby area

 Always stay careful and alert while following a route. Visorando and the author of this walk cannot be held responsible in the event of an accident during this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

Reviews and comments

4 / 5
Based on 2 reviews

Reliability of the description
3.5 / 5
Clarity of route map
4 / 5
Route interest
4.5 / 5
tommyvercetti
tommyvercetti

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of walk : Sep 10, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

First of all, thank you very much for this hike . It makes it possible to have hikes that are new, original, long and so on.

Secondly, I found that the itinerary was sometimes more of a treasure hunt than a precise route. But sometimes it had its charm, even if it meant I missed the whole section between Sayat and Malauzat. I couldn't find the right turn on leaving Sayat (because there were lots of paths, "After about 150m, take a path on the right" wasn't enough for me to find the right one).
So I lengthened the hike a bit. Since there was no risk of getting lost in this area, I took a guess among the marked paths, some of which were also well trodden, and I arrived at Les Mauvaises, then from there I went back to Malauzat and picked up the itinerary.
In short, some inaccuracies (sometimes, in a village, street names would be more useful than very approximate landmarks) which, without taking into account other misleading elements, can sometimes throw us off course. But there are also some very good passages.
The difficulty in finding your bearings comes mainly from the fact that the walk is almost entirely unmarked, so the itinerary is the only thing to tell you if you're on the right track (and the map, of course, but sometimes, in villages for example, it's not very accurate).

One important note, however: at point 16,"At the "Balade des vignerons" post on the right-hand side of the path, leave the Blue markings and follow the path to the left."
CAUTION the "Balade des vignerons" post has been ripped out, it is against a tree, not in evidence, on the left of the path.

I had to reach the next intersection, which I didn't recognise on the map, to realise that I'd gone too far, and when I retraced my steps and saw this path, I looked for and found the sign.
Yes, I often retraced my steps during this hike, although in this case it was totally independent of a misinterpretation of the route.

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GKLMdb
GKLMdb

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : May 23, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : Yes

An easy and very pleasant walk.

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