Discovering the forest in Laschamps

In Laschamps, park in the walkers’ car park (yellow directional signs, tourist information sign) by the picnic area, to the west of the village, on the D52. See ‘Practical information’ for an alternative starting point.

(S/E) Join the D52 and follow it to the left. At the junction, carry straight on towards the Col de la Moreno (road sign on your left). Shortly afterwards, ignore a road on your left leading to a hotel and restaurant, then take the first road on the right, the Chemin de Combeta.

(1) Further on, as the road bends to the right, carry on straight ahead along the track. Keep going straight on along this lovely track, which runs through pastures and is lined with beautiful trees, some of which are pollarded. You’ll come to the D942 – cross it with care!

(2) Now follow the red markings (see ‘Practical Information’). Take the path that leads diagonally to the left, following the direction of a red arrow on a tree trunk. After climbing for about 200 metres, you’ll come out onto a wide path. From this point onwards, and unless otherwise indicated, follow the yellow markings as well as the red ones. Turn left for a return trip to a sign reading ‘Sapin pectiné’. Retrace your steps and, shortly after passing the path you came up on, look out for the markings on your right to spot a path that climbs to the left up the slopes of the Puys de Monchier and Salomon.

(3) Follow the path and, shortly afterwards, you’ll come to the “Bouleau” sign; then, at the next junction, turn right and continue uphill. At the junction with another path, carry straight on and, just beyond that, you’ll find the “Hêtre” sign. About 200 metres further on, you’ll come to the ‘Épicéa’ sign. A little further on, you’ll reach a wide path, at the ‘Saule marsault’ sign.

(4) Leave the yellow markings and continue to follow the red markings. Take the wide path on the left for about 50 metres, then, at the junction, turn right to begin your descent from the puys. About 200 metres further on, you’ll come to the ‘Futaie régulière’ sign. At a fork in the road, keep right. Further on, ignore a path on the right.

(5) Shortly afterwards, take a path on the right, following the red arrows on the tree trunks. Further on, you’ll come to the sign marked ‘De la graine à l’arbre’. At the T-junction, turn right, then take the first path on the left. Shortly afterwards, look out for the sign for “Irregular high forest”, then, further on, the signs for “Scots pine”, “Animal tracks” and “Forestry work and felling”. Shortly afterwards, you’ll reach the start of the circular route, at the side of the D942.

(2) Return to the village of Laschamps via the same route you took on the way out (S/E).

Back at the car park, if you have a compass, you can try to find a black rock nearby, pierced with a few small round holes, with a tree growing out of it. If you hold the compass close to the holes, you’ll see that the needles ‘lose their north’, due to a magnetic disturbance trapped within this basalt outcrop (clue: a path to the left of the reservoir).

Easy hike; standard hiking kit required

Alternative starting point: On the D942, approximately 300 metres south-west of (2), a car park has been provided specifically for this nature trail (information board). If you choose this starting point, follow the wide path to the ‘Sapin pectiné’ sign, then follow these directions and, at (2), continue following the directions until you reach (3). Then return to the car park via the same route you took on the way there.

Red markings: The colour of these markings is, in fact, not particularly helpful on this walk because, due to forestry operations, many trees are marked with lines of the same colour. The red marking lines are clearly horizontal and shorter, and at changes of direction, the lines are longer and end with an arrow.

Discover more walks in this area to follow, with a description or via the Visorando app here, and more generally in the Puy-de-Dôme here

The few information boards dotted along this route provide details about some of the tree species found in this forest, as well as the basics of forestry operations.

The Laschamps phenomenon. When lava flows, it sometimes contains magnetic particles which then align themselves with the Earth’s magnetic field as it exists at that moment. As the lava cools, it solidifies and these particles become locked in the direction of the Earth’s magnetic field at the time of the eruption. Later, when these rocks are exposed, if you stand nearby with a compass, you will notice that the needle goes haywire and North becomes South, and vice versa.

Whilst at Laschamps we can speak of a magnetic reversal, more generally the phenomenon is known as a magnetic excursion: a similar phenomenon, but of shorter duration, with a rapid return to the magnetic field’s original polarity. The magnetic excursion at Laschamps dates back approximately 41,000 years. Most volcanic regions are likely to exhibit this magnetic remanence. In the surrounding area, it can be observed near the Puy de Louchadière, in Royat and in Olby; but it is also found in French Polynesia, on Réunion, and in Iceland. This periodic variation in the Earth’s magnetic field is thought to result from an interaction between the Earth’s core and the fluid surrounding it.

At Laschamps, the rock has been drilled with several holes to expose the outcrop. If you hold your compass close to the various holes, the effects of ‘loss of north’ will be more or less pronounced; however, in certain places, a complete reversal can actually be observed.