Discovering the forest in Laschamps

In Laschamps, park in the hikers' car park (yellow directional signs, tourist information sign) at the picnic area, 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 intersection, continue straight ahead towards Col de la Moreno (road sign on your left). Shortly afterwards, ignore a street on your left leading to a hotel-restaurant, then take the first street on the right, Chemin de Combeta.

(1) Further on, as the street curves to the right, continue straight ahead on the path. Keep going straight ahead on this beautiful path leading to pastures and lined with beautiful trees, some of which are pollarded. When you reach the D942, cross with caution!

(2) Now follow the red markings (see "practical information"). Take the path that slopes diagonally to the left, following the red arrow on the tree trunk. After climbing for about 200 metres, you will come to a wide path. From this point, and until further notice, follow the red markings as well as the yellow markings. Turn left for a round trip to a sign marked "Sapin pectiné". Retrace your steps and, shortly after passing the path you climbed up, on your right, pay attention to the markings to find a path that climbs left up the slopes of Puys de Monchier and Salomon.

(3) Follow the path and shortly afterwards you will see the sign for "Bouleau" (birch). At the next intersection, turn right and continue climbing. At the junction with another path, continue straight ahead and you will soon see the sign for "Hêtre" (beech). About 200 metres further on, you will see the "Épicéa" sign. Further on, you will come to 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 intersection of paths, turn right to begin descending from the puys. About 200 metres further on, you will find the "Futaie régulière" sign. At a fork, keep to the 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 will see a sign for "De la graine à l'arbre" (From seed to tree). At the T-junction, turn right and then take the first path on the left. Shortly afterwards, you will see the sign for "Irregular high forest" and then, further on, the signs for "Scots pine", "Animal tracks" and "Work and felling". Shortly afterwards, you will arrive at the start of the circular route, at the edge of the D942.

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

Back at the car park, if you have a compass, you can try to find a nearby black rock with a few small round holes in it, on which a tree is growing. When you hold the compass close to the holes, you will see that the needles "lose their north" due to a magnetic disturbance frozen in this basalt outcrop (clue: path to the left of the reservoir).

Easy hike, standard hiking equipment

Alternative starting point: On the D942, approximately 300m south-west of (2), there is a car park dedicated to this discovery trail (information board). If you choose this starting point, follow the wide path to the "Sapin pectiné" sign, then follow this description and, at (2), continue to follow the description to (3). Then return to the car park via the same route as on the way there.

Red markings: The colour of these markings is not actually very appropriate for this hike because many trees are marked with lines of the same colour for forestry purposes. The red markings are horizontal and shorter, and at changes of direction, the lines are longer and end with an arrow.

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

The few signs dotted along this route provide information on some of the tree species found in this forest, as well as the basics of forestry.

The Laschamps phenomenon. When lava flows, it sometimes contains magnetic elements that align themselves with the Earth's magnetic field at that moment. As the lava cools, it solidifies and these elements are then frozen in the direction of the Earth's magnetic field at the time of the eruption. Later, when these rocks emerge, if you stand nearby with a compass, you will see that the needles go haywire and North becomes South, and vice versa.

While in Laschamps we can talk about a magnetic reversal, more generally it is a magnetic excursion: a similar phenomenon, but of shorter duration, with a rapid return to the initial polarity of the magnetic field. The Laschamp magnetic excursion dates back approximately 41,000 years. Most volcanic regions are likely to display this magnetic remanence. In the nearby region, it can be observed near Puy de Louchadière, Royat and Olby, but it can also be found in French Polynesia, Réunion and Iceland. This periodic change in the Earth's magnetic field is thought to be caused by an interaction between the Earth's core and the fluid surrounding it.

At Laschamps, several holes have been drilled into the rock to encourage outcropping. If you hold your compass close to the different holes, the effects of "loss of north" will be more or less noticeable, but in some places, a total reversal can actually be observed.