Ceyrat - Saint-Genès village via Chaos de la Faille and Artière

Departure from Ceyrat, Rue Frédéric Brunmurol, Brunmurol bus stop on line 26.

(S) With your back to the car park, turn right, walk past the town hall and, at the crossroads, continue straight ahead towards Royat. Stay on the right-hand pavement. Turn right at the first street, at a pretty cross, Rue de Chantemerle. At the fork in the road, keep right, ignore an alley on the left and, at another fork, keep left. The street immediately turns left. Continue straight ahead to find the start of a path.

(1) Follow it and pass behind a campsite. Shortly afterwards, at a bench, ignore the path on the right and continue straight ahead along Chemin de Boucherade. At another bench, ignore a path on the left and turn left at a third bench, where the path changes its name to Chemin de Boisséjour. Ignore all the paths on the left, cross a passageway, ignore a path on the right and arrive on a street in Boisséjour that leads to a busy road.

(2) Cross carefully (pedestrian crossing on the left), then turn right onto the pedestrian walkway and turn left at the first street. Cross the bridge over the Artière. At the intersection, take the second street on the left, Rue Gabriel Peri, and arrive at the church square. Continue straight ahead (covered fountain on the right), follow the street in the wrong direction AND pass a covered wash house. At the intersection, take the second street on the left, Rue Pierre Curie.

(3) At the traffic lights, continue straight ahead on the same street, passing a bridge over the Artière on your left, and continue straight ahead on Rue Pierre Curie. At the end of the tarmac, continue along the path, which then narrows into a trail overlooking the Artière. The trail then winds upwards and ends with a few steps before reaching a T-junction.

(4) Turn left. Further on, notice the Rocher de Gargantua on the left, on the other side of the Artière. Ignore the path that descends to the left and leads to a track.

(5) Follow it to the left and cross the Artière. Ignore a path that climbs to the right and arrive at a fork in the path, with the Rocher de Gargantua below on the left. Continue to the right. Further on, leave the path and climb up a few steps on the right. Note the enamelled lava rocks that are part of a botanical trail and, at the top of the steps, continue climbing along the path. Ignore a path on the right and pass in front of the Rocher des Bénitiers.

(6) At the intersection, continue to the left. Further on, ignore a path on the left and then wade across a stream (be careful, this is not always easy, avoid rainy periods). Ignore a path on the right and then, at the T-junction, turn left. Please note that maps are not reliable in this area. Ignore a path on the right and go straight down a few steps, passing the Rocher du Géant and then the Rocher du Diable.

(7) At the fork in the path, descend to the left for a round trip to the Dent du Diable and Doigt du Diable rocks.

(7) On the way back, continue to the left. At a trail intersection, ignore the trail that goes straight ahead and go up to the right. Pass the Rocher de la Croze and ignore a trail on the left. At the T-junction, turn left and you will come to a path, not far from a road.

(8) Turn left, immediately ignore the path that climbs to the right and ignore another path on the right further on. You will come to a path with a water catchment on the left. Cross it and follow the path opposite. Further down, you will come to an old road.

(9) Turn right and follow the path that leads to a road in a bend.

(10) Cross carefully and then go down the road on the left. You will come to a busy road (Avenue de la Libération). Follow it to the right, cross a bridge over the Artière and you will immediately come to a small car park on the right with hiking signs.

(11) Cross the car park and take the path towards Gorges de l'Artière and Dolmen de Samson, indicated by an old sign. The path runs alongside the Artière river on the right. At the crossing over the Artière, ignore the path on the left (follow the signs for Route Gorges de l'Artière). Continue with the Artière river now on your left, pass the Octopus Montanus sculpture, cross back to the right bank via a footbridge and leave the rocky chaos called Dolmen de Samson on your left. Take another footbridge to cross to the left bank. Shortly afterwards, the path climbs and reaches an intersection (Côte de Berzet signpost).

(12) Continue left on the path that approaches the Artière and arrive at an intersection (Ruisseau de Saint-Genès signpost).

(13) Continue straight ahead on the path that follows the Ruisseau de Saint-Genès (the name given to the Artière upstream) as closely as possible. You will arrive at a crossroads. Continue straight ahead to cross a bridge and visit the wetland, then return to the crossroads and climb towards Saint-Genès on a path lined with beautiful pollarded poplars. At the top, you will arrive in front of the old renovated castle, which now houses an association. Pass in front of the church to reach a road and follow it to the left for about 100 metres to find the Saint-Genès Centre stop for the TAD minibus (E).

Difficulty: Moderate, crossing a ford (avoid rainy periods) and a few steep paths in rocky terrain. Standard hiking equipment required, with perhaps one or two walking sticks.
I recommend the Visorando app.

Please note! For this stage, we will be using the Moovicité Transport on Demand service, so remember to book your journey! TAD.
Outward journey: Jaude, line B (Royat Place Allard) => Royat Place Allard then line 26 (Ceyrat Mairie or Ceyrat Fontimbert) => Ceyrat Mairie or Brunmurol.
Return: Saint-Genès Centre, TAD => CHU Montpied then line A (Les Vergnes) => Jaude.

Discover more hikes in this area with a description or the Visorando app here and more generally in the Puy-de-Dôme here

This stage allows you to explore Ceyrat in more depth with a visit to its second ancient (and wine-growing) village, Boisséjour.
The route then climbs up into the woods to discover an impressive rock formation, the Chaos de la Faille, which demonstrates the geological forces at work on this border, the Limagne Fault, between the Limagne Plain and the Dômes Plateau.
After a brief return to the urbanised part of Ceyrat, we rejoin the Artière in the gorges it has carved out at the very beginning of its course, and follow one of its source streams up to the Saint-Genès wetland, developed by Clermont Communauté.