The Cirque de la Fontaine Salée as seen from the hamlet of Les Bories, drystone shelters

Park at the Terre d’Horizon/Le P’tit Café car park (the lower car park; do not drive up).

(S/E) Follow the road to the left as you leave the car park, then turn left and continue along the road.

(1) At the junction, take the forest track on the right into the woods and carry on until you come out of the woods.

(2) Carry on, passing close to a mast, until you reach the hamlet of Ménial.

(3) Follow the road to the left towards La Morangie.

(4) At the entrance to the hamlet of La Morangie, follow the GR®30 (red and white markings) to the left. Continue north-east, keeping straight ahead and then turning left until you reach a fork in the path.

(5) Leave the GR®30 and take the path branching off to the left. Cross a series of wooden footbridges. The path, which is not easy to spot, crosses an area of peat bogs to reach a spruce forest currently being restored by the Reserve (Montagne du Mont Sensitive Natural Area).

(6) Follow the signposted path on the left, which winds its way down through the woodland. Leave the woodland to rejoin a wide track and pass close to the Buron de Merdençon on the left: an unstaffed refuge where you can have a picnic by the fire.

(7) Go through a gap in a fence and continue along the forest track (north).

(8) Turn left onto a path that descends into a beautiful beech forest. The path goes downhill before climbing again to a junction of paths.

(9) Carry on straight ahead until you reach a gate.

(10) Go through the gate , taking care to close it behind you. Pass through an open area offering a lovely view of the village, cross a footbridge and follow the path uphill to another junction by an electricity pole not far from a house in Les Lades.

(11) Turn right onto a shaded path that winds between two summer pastures (this section of the path up to the Mont has been restored by the ‘Chemins et patrimoine au pays des Toupis’ association – ‘Toupis’ is the name given to the inhabitants of Chastreix).

(12) At the sign, go through the gate to enter the private estate “Terre d’Horizon” (dogs must be kept on a lead). Follow the path down to the car park (S/E).

Dogs are not permitted in the Reserve, even on a lead.

At (11): this section of the path leading to Le Mont has been restored by the association ‘Chemins et patrimoine au pays des Toupis’ – the name given to the inhabitants of Chastreix.

Source de la Fontaine Salée, panoramic view of the Cantal Massif and the Puy de Sancy