Le Puy de Monténard and Saulzet-le-Froid

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A beautiful hike between the Chaîne des Puys and the Chaîne du Sancy. Gentle slopes and lovely views of both mountain ranges.

Details

n°761589
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 11.88 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 4h 05 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 246 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 246 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 1,166 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 986 m
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Description of the walk

In Zanières, parking is available near the start. Follow the blue markings to (5).

(S/E) Head south-west to walk along the woods on your right, then immediately turn left onto a wide, straight farm track. At the T-junction, turn right.

(1) Leave the farm track and enter the forest on the right, following a beautiful forest path that climbs to the top of the hill. Immediately pass a path on the right, then turn right at the next two junctions.

(2) Do not continue straight ahead (and descend without climbing to the summit) but take the hairpin bend on the left.

(3) Summit of Puy de Monténard (1173m). Beautiful viewpoint with the Chaîne des Puys to the north, the Chaîne du Sancy to the south and the Banne d'Ordanche to the west. Descend to the previous fork.

(2) Turn left and follow the blue markings down the other side of the hill. Go straight ahead at the first crossroads, turn right at the next hairpin bend (poorly marked path) then left to descend towards a T-junction.

(4) Turn right onto a wide forest track and continue until you leave the forest and arrive at a logging track.

(5) Leave the blue markings on your right, which lead directly back to Zanières, and take the farm track on the left, leaving the forest and the hill on your left.

(6) At the crossroads, take the path on the right (PR® yellow markings) and follow it to Saulzet-le-Froid.

(7) At the entrance to Saulzet-le-Froid, you will find theGR®441branch ofthe GR®4(white and red markings). Continue straight ahead, cross Saulzet-le-Froid, a mid-mountain village with, it seems, more lodges than permanent dwellings, and follow theGR® to a four-way crossroads.

(8) Follow theGR® straight ahead (possible variation at this point: see the Practical Information section). Cross a small stream and you will reach a three-way junction.

(9) Leave theGR® trail, which branches off to the right, and thePR® trail, which branches off in the centre, and take the path on the left towards a wooded cirque.

(10) Walk to the bottom of this cirque along the edge of a peat bog, part of the protected biosphere area of "La Narse d'Espinasse". Above on the right, at the top of the cirque, is the Puy de l'Enfer. Continue to a path, the Chemin des Morts, which you take to the left towards Espinasse. Then take the second left to cross the hamlet and reach a crossroads at the exit.

(11) Leave the road that turns right and take the farm track on the left that passes under a very large cattle shed. Descend to the stream and go straight up.

(8) Leave theGR® andPR® and continue straight ahead on a partly tarmac road. Take the road opposite at the next crossroads.

(12) Leave the road that turns right and continue straight ahead on the path. Join the D74, turn left and return to the starting point in Zanières (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 1,041 m - Zanières
  2. 1 : km 0.93 - alt. 1,059 m - Forest path on the right
  3. 2 : km 2.13 - alt. 1,142 m - Turn left towards the summit.
  4. 3 : km 2.53 - alt. 1,166 m - Puy de Monténard
  5. 4 : km 3.7 - alt. 1,093 m - T-junction, right
  6. 5 : km 4.11 - alt. 1,066 m - Farm track, on the left
  7. 6 : km 4.81 - alt. 1,073 m - Crossroads, right towards the - Labadeau (cours d'eau) - Affluent de la Veyre
  8. 7 : km 5.97 - alt. 1,045 m - Saulzet-le-Froid, straight ahead
  9. 8 : km 7.2 - alt. 1,016 m - Crossroads of the circular
  10. 9 : km 7.86 - alt. 991 m - Three-way junction, take the path on the left
  11. 10 : km 8.34 - alt. 992 m - Narse (cours d'eau) - Affluent de la Veyre
  12. 11 : km 9.64 - alt. 1,027 m - Espinasse, crossroads, left
  13. 12 : km 11.25 - alt. 1,000 m - Straight ahead
  14. S/E : km 11.88 - alt. 1,041 m - Zanières

Notes

This hike is not difficult despite its 12 km length.
It is described here as starting from Zanières, but you can also start from Saulzet-le-Froid.
The advantage of starting from Zanières is that you begin with the climb to the puy and can decide whether or not to do the circular towards the end of the route.
However, in hot weather, if you set off in the morning, it may be better to start from Saulzet and finish the route with the section in the forest.

Alternative route:

(8) At this crossroads, you can shorten the hike by 3.3 km by taking the path on the right, which leads directly back to Zanières. In this case, go to point (12). However, it would be a shame not to do a circular route to pass by the "Narse d'Espinasse".

This route passes through a protected area, which may be subject to special regulations:

Always be cautious and plan ahead when you're outdoors. Visorando and the author of this route cannot be held responsible for any accidents occurring on this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

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Reviews and comments

4.1 / 5
Based on 13 reviews
Reliability of the description
3.7 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.2 / 5
Route interest
4.4 / 5
Francois_Cournon
Francois_Cournon

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 20, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hello,
Actually, I had my hiking team do a shorter, "simplified" version to stay within 11 km.
Everyone really enjoyed it.
The only difficulty is walking the "official" hike backwards at the beginning, but it's all good fun.
Thank you.

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jpbr31
jpbr31

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 01, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

I thought there would be more steep climbs
But it was a pretty landscape and there were quite a few herds preparing for the summer pastures.

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jpll63
jpll63

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 11, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant, peaceful route with superb views of the Sancy massif. The pretty village of Saulzet le Froid
However, do not follow the blue markings at the start of the hike as indicated in the route description.
There are a few logging tracks that make the climb to Puy de Monténard difficult. You need a good sense of direction to find it.

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Jpcbarbe@gmail.com
Jpcbarbe@gmail.com

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 01, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Poor signposting. Nice, especially the climb up the hill. More difficult to follow in the second part.

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Dalla Zanna Maryse
Dalla Zanna Maryse

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 22, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A magnificent hike with no difficulty, but do not follow the blue markings as indicated at the start.

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Les Randonnées du Cerisier
Les Randonnées du Cerisier

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 25, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Easy route without steep slopes, offering magnificent views of the Sancy and Monts Dômes.
Please note that on the descent from Monténard, the route follows a short section of an old path that is disappearing, replaced at a hairpin bend by a good path visible on the map, which cuts across this bend.

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elisabeth maury
elisabeth maury

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 13, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Beautiful views

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elisabeth maury
elisabeth maury

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 13, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Pleasant lake

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compostellestjacques
compostellestjacques
• Edited:

Thank you for the information about the "Puy de Monténard/Saulzet le Froid" hike via the Narse d'Espinasse.

When we found ourselves in front of the sign indicating that we were at Narse d'Espinasse, we didn't know where to go next. Espinasse was on our left (not indicated) and Zanières was on our right, also not indicated. We couldn't imagine going to Espinasse and then coming back to Zanières.
We were completely confused and disappointed because the hike around the Corent plateau was PERFECTLY INDICATED IN THE DESCRIPTION.

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nerim
nerim

Hello
I can confirm that it is 2 km between Espinasse and Zanières (to be precise, 2.2 km from the Espinasse exit to the start of the hike in Zanières). We did this hike on 30/08/2017, specifically between 4:54 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. I apologise if the inaccuracies in my description led you to take unnecessary detours.In March, I redid part of this hike (we did not climb Puy de Montenard because some rather drastic tree cutting made the climb difficult and even dangerous, so we extended the hike to Puy de Combregrasse). However, the description from Saulzet to Zannières via Narse d'Espinasse seemed to match the terrain.
Best regards

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compostellestjacques
compostellestjacques

Overall rating : 2.3 / 5

Date of your route : May 19, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

Up to the summit of Puy de Monténard, your explanations are fine, but to get to Saulzet le Froid, on the other hand, it's complete chaos! And as for returning from the Espinasse waterfall via the hamlet of Espinasse, which is supposed to be 2 km from Zanières, did the person who wrote the explanations actually do this hike???
We had to cross meadows, follow the Veyre river, etc. to reach Zanières. While other hikes are well described, this one = OOOOOOO.

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yamasakura
yamasakura

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 16, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

Please note: at point 6, the PR trail is no longer marked in yellow but in green until Saulzet.

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jeffjob
jeffjob

Same thing for me, I ended up in Mareuge by following the blue signs for +2.5 km, which is fine because the detour is worth it, but in reality, you have to do the opposite of the blue route, so I recommend changing the mileage by sticking to the blue route but going through Mareuge, which is 15 km.

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raffio
raffio

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 05, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Be careful at the start! Don't miss the path on the left and DO NOT follow the blue markings (as you suggest for our route up to point 5) because they indicate the PR Puy de Monténard route in the other direction! This takes us to point 5, leaving the Puy de Monténard on our left.
From 6 to 7, the markings are green, not yellow!
A lovely walk.

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jeffjob
jeffjob

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 25, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

At the start, the blue markings are in the wrong direction compared to the actual route, so the first circular does not end at the same place. To catch up with the route, I had to walk an extra 2.5 km.

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