Le Puy de l'Enfer and Le Puy de Monténard

Coming from the D983, take the D788 towards La Garandie. Do not go as far as this hamlet, but at the first farm building, turn right onto a small road, the Chemin de l'Enfer, and park immediately in the car park next to a picnic area.

(S/E) Continue on foot along this road, then along the path that extends it. Pass a yellow sign marked "Vue sur les puys de la Vache et de Lassolas" (View of the Puy de la Vache and Puy de Lassolas), then ignore a path on the left. Further on, ignore two paths on the right, then the path marked "interdit" (no entry) to the Puy de l'Enfer quarry on the left. Just after passing a cross, ignore a path on the left that descends towards La Narse, then arrive at the hamlet of L'Espinasse.

(1) On the street, opposite the fountain, turn left and continue along this street, ignoring all the streets on the right and one street on the left. Pass a second fountain on the right, then notice an old blacksmith's shop a few metres to the left of the street.

The street turns right at the Chabot farm (cheese shop). Immediately after, ignore the path that descends to the left and turn right onto the small street towards the iron cross. Pass in front of this mission cross and continue, ignoring the streets on the right.

(2) As the street makes a first turn left then right, take the path on the left. Continue straight ahead to reach the hamlet of La Martre, where you will find a beautiful fountain with plenty of water all year round.

(3) Ignore the street on the left, continue straight ahead, then follow the bend to the left. Ignore the road that branches off to the right and continue to veer left. You will arrive in the heart of the hamlet, where you will see an old abandoned tractor on the left side of the street. Just after that, you will find another fountain and an iron mission cross.

(4) Then take the road on the right to leave the hamlet. The small road descends, crosses the Narse stream (currently being re-meandered), then climbs again. Come out onto a wider road and follow it to the left to pass below a cross (Croix Saint-Roch), then take the first street on the right to reach Saulzet-le-Froid.

(5) At the fountain on the left-hand side of the street, turn right towards the church that you can see in the distance, following the red and white^GR®® markings. Follow these markings to cross the village. Pass below the church, in front of another fountain at a crossroads, and continue straight ahead, ignoring a street on the left that is also marked^GR®®.

At the village exit, continue straight ahead until you reach a crossroads with yellow directional signs. Leave the^GR®® markings and continue straight ahead towards Creux de Mareuge. Shortly afterwards, ignore a path on the left and descend to the Labadeau stream.

(6) Ignore the path on the right, cross the stream and continue along the path that goes uphill. At the crossroads with a narrower path, continue straight ahead. Further up, you will come to a crossroads with another wide path. Turn left and continue for about 600 metres.

(7) At the intersection with a wooden post bearing a mountain bike sign pointing straight ahead, turn right, slightly uphill, noting a blue sign. Follow this sign until further notice, but be careful as this colour is not very visible in the coniferous forest that covers the slopes of Puy de Monténard.

Ignore a forestry track on the left just after this point. At the next intersection, bear left. On the climb, be careful to bear right onto a less well-maintained track. At the T-junction, ignore the grassy path on the right and turn left.

Join a wide path (the one you left earlier on the climb) and follow it straight ahead. You will come to an intersection marked with a small blue^PR®® sign, at a pile of pozzolan rubble on the right-hand side of the path.

(8) Turn right for a round trip to the summit of Puy de Monténard. Viewpoint and triangulation point. Take the same path back down to the junction at the PR®® sign^.

(8) Continue to the right. Further on, ignore a poor forest path on the left. You will come to a T-junction at a small blue^PR®® sign. Ignore the vague grassy path on the right and continue to the left.

(9) You will come to a wide path; follow it to the left. Take the next wide path on the left (about 100 metres before reaching a road). At the next junction, leave the blue markings and follow the small road on the right to a small roundabout in the hamlet of Zanières. Follow the first road on the left (D74, Les Rouchoux), passing in front of an iron cross.

(10) Shortly after the left-hand bend, take a grassy path on the right. Join a wider path and follow it straight ahead. Cross the Labadeau again. At the next crossroads, continue straight ahead.

(11) You will arrive at a crossroads at the Suc Plana signpost. Turn right towards Narse d'Espinasse. Further on, cross the Narse stream, which is being re-meandering, just before you reach the "Narse d'Espinasse" signpost.

(12) Make a 1.2km round trip towards Les Quairas to discover Narse d'Espinasse, a small marsh of volcanic origin.

(13) On the way back, take the grassy path that climbs to the left behind the signpost, with no directional indication, along the crater of Puy de l'Enfer (beautiful view of the Narse below).

(14) At the top, do not continue straight ahead across the meadow (yellow cross) but follow the path to the right. After a descent, join another path at the Les Quaires signpost. Turn left, then left again at the fork just after (^GR®®). You will come to a road opposite a signpost. Turn left and follow the Chemin du Puy de l'Enfer to reach the picnic area car park (S/E).

Moderate difficulty hike, standard hiking equipment

Discover more hikes in this area with a description or the Visorando app here

Some photos here

The Narse d'Espinasse and the Puy de l'Enfer form an exceptional volcanic complex. The narse is a peat bog (peat marsh) formed in a maar, a vast volcanic explosion crater. Around 11,000 years ago, this maar was formed when magma encountered the La Veyre river.
This collision caused volcanic explosions that led to the creation of the Puy de l'Enfer. The maar filled with water and formed a lake before becoming a marsh (narse) a few millennia later.
The Puy de l'Enfer erupted at the same time as the narse. The southern part of the volcano was swept away by the explosions of the Espinasse maar. This cone is composed of a succession of strata rich in ash and volcanic bombs and strata formed by cooled lava flows.

Meandering and renaturation of the Narse, Labadeau and Veyre rivers. These three watercourses were rectified and recalibrated during the agricultural land consolidation of the 1960s and 1970s. The serpentine riverbeds disappeared, replaced by straight ones. The rivers thus suffered significant damage while creating imbalances: increased flow velocities, bank erosion, bed sinking, poor purification. This work is restoring the functionality of the rivers over a 4.6 km stretch by reconciling agricultural practices through the installation of various facilities: fences, drinking troughs and bridges.