Chavanat walks

The banks of the Banize and Thaurion are truly enchanting! A visual treat that slows down your average speed: it's impossible not to stop repeatedly to contemplate the course of these two rivers, the balanced granite boulders or the mini waterfall that wants to play the big one.

This is an opportunity to discover a rather secret path leading to the impressive Poirier Waterfall. Here, the Thaurion becomes a bubbling river that bounces off large granite boulders. This walk will also take you across two footbridges over the Thaurion, between twin ponds, along paths through woods and undergrowth, and across meadows.

Starting from the Martinèche car park, Martin Nadaud, the most famous mason in the Creuse, invites you to follow the paths of his childhood to discover the built and natural heritage of the commune of Soubrebost in half a day.

At the gateway to the Millevaches plateau, set off on a walk punctuated with information panels to discover a 50-hectare listed natural site.

Starting from Sous-Parsat, this hike offers the opportunity to admire the amazing frescoes and stained glass windows of the village's Saint-Thomas Church, to stop at Mareilles in front of the "cylindrical" fountain and its pretty basin, and to walk through the undergrowth or across the bocage.

Located on the Millevaches plateau, Lac de la Vaud-Gelade is an artificial lake, created between 1940 and 1944, with a surface area of 300 hectares. It is fed by the Thaurion and several streams. It is used for electricity production. Its earthen dam with a granulite foundation holds 21 million cubic metres of water, which feeds Lac de Vassivière, depending on its water needs, through a 4km-long underground tunnel.

Starting from Thauron, this is an easy walk that takes you along a small section of the magnificent Thaurion Gorges, then into the countryside.

A circular route starting from Saint-Pardoux-Morterolles that also allows you to discover the Cascades d'Augerolles site. This hike passes through meadows, woods, forests and the areas around the waterfalls. A few panoramic views, streams and a plank bridge complete the picture. It should be noted that the roads, where there are any, are forest roads, some paved and some unpaved, but in any case very little used.

The village of Royère-de-Vassivière was established on a strategic pass on the Millevaches plateau, at the crossing point of a prehistoric ridge path. The ridge paths (or pouges) allowed people to travel long distances. They favoured the granite peaks of the rounded hills, called Puy or Peux, and avoided the damp, peaty valley bottoms that only cattle frequented.

This 5 km route, which links two villages, mainly follows very old rural paths, cleaned by volunteers from the Pierres et Nature de Thauron association: two recent forest tracks, created for the exploitation of conifer plantations, and a tarmaced communal road, which has a long history.

Peat bogs develop in granite basins called alveoli, where the acidic, poor soil provides favourable conditions for their growth. These fragile environments are home to a specific flora composed of very particular primitive plants: sphagnum mosses. The different stages are visible here: low marshes covered with quaking bogs, active raised bogs, and peat heaths bordered by willows and birches.

Chassagnas, of Latin origin, Cassania or Gallic Cassanus, refers to the oak tree. Chassagnas consists of a wooded slope down to the edge of Lake Vassivière and a partially cleared summit offering a 180° view of the lake.The Chassagnas peninsula, jutting out into the heart of Lake Vassivière, forms the boundary between Creuse and Haute-Vienne. Together with its twin, the Puy du Rocher, which overlooks Vauveix, it acts as a barrier between the lake's two main bays.

The dam is complemented by the Auchaise dyke, which seals off a depression in the ground on the right bank about 400m from the main structure. This reservoir also receives water diverted from the upper basins of the Taurion (La Vaud-Gelade), Vienne, Dorat and Chandouille (Faux-la-Montagne) rivers.

This two-stage route of 2 x 18 km will take you on a journey of discovery around one of the largest artificial lakes in France. You can expect to see mid-mountain landscapes, varied vegetation including fir forests, moors and peat bogs, and wild flora and fauna on this tour of Lake Vassivière, commonly known as "Little Canada". The highlight of the route: a stopover at the Pourvoirie du Lac stopover lodge (accommodation, breakfast and dinner with a panoramic view of the lake).

This first stage takes you through unspoilt countryside, with a route that is both wild and surprising.