Les Vouas du Lyaud

Park in the Vouas du Lyaud car park (hiking map), located on the small road that connects the village of Les Moulins d'Amphion to the village of Armoy.

From the car park, there are four routes to choose from, which overlap to a greater or lesser extent and are marked with different colours: yellow, green, red and blue. This hike follows the first three routes in their entirety and leaves out part of the fourth, which goes around a locally controversial quarry. The signposting is one-sided, in the direction of this description.

Yellow + Green + Red + Blue signposting

(S/E) Facing the hiking map, start to the left of it (west) on a gravel path parallel to the road and separated from it by a fence. Ignore a steep wooden staircase that descends to the right and leads to a viewpoint over Voua Bénit (information panel). Continue along the path and pass a chicane. Ignore two shortcuts on the right and take a hairpin turn with the gravel path. Descend to a crossroads under the fir trees at the edge of the pond (picnic table).

Green + Red + Blue signposts

(1) Then take a path on the left between a fence on the left-hand side and a hedge on the right-hand side.

(2) At the end, follow a stony path to the right and climb gently up alongside a field on your left. Turn sharply into the^first path on the left (arrows on the ground).

Green arrows
On the signpost, the red and blue arrows are incorrectly positioned (they should point to the right).

(3) At the intersection, continue straight ahead. Pass a ruined wall and then, at the corner of a small ruined building, descend to the left onto a narrow path surrounded by vegetation (caution: the slope is steep). You will arrive at the edge of Voua Beudet (Voua des Splos on the map).

Retrace your steps. At the top of the path, turn right: on the left, the path leads to the quarry, which is closed to the public.

Red + Blue signposts

(3) At the intersection, turn left and follow a path between two fields for about 50 metres.

Red signposts

When the path reaches the quarry fence, take a path on the left (not shown on the map) that starts at the foot of a marker post (do not follow the blue sign for "Retour parking"). This path runs along the edge of the field on the left and then quickly moves to the edge of the meadow on the right. After a metal post, turn right, follow a track downhill through the meadow and head towards a metal gate.

You will come out onto a track. Follow it to the right for about 150 metres, skirting the Lyaud quarry. At the crossroads at elevation 597 (rock blocks), turn left and go uphill along a path that enters a wood. Descend gently, pass a metal barrier and then walk along a meadow on your left. Then walk along the fence on the right-hand side of the Praquemont spring catchment site.

(4) When you reach a large building, turn sharply left (discreet arrow, be careful) and go back up into the woods. Ignore a vague path on the left and walk along a meadow on your right. Pass a gate on your left (no. 242) and continue along a stony track. Return to the tarmac road and continue straight ahead until you reach the "give way" sign. Then follow the Route du Moulin d'Amphion (D233) on the left, using the wide pavement on the left-hand side.

(5) At the crossroads (cross), turn left onto the D233 towards Lyaud. After about 50 metres, before the sign indicating the end of the built-up area, turn left onto Chemin de Plain Bois, which is the road to the quarry, lined with small rocks.

In a left-hand bend, leave the road and take a stony track on the right (red arrow). Climb gently through a young plantation (looking back, you can see the two Châteaux d'Allinges). Pass a chicane made of rock blocks and continue through the undergrowth, then along a meadow on the right-hand side.

Green + red + blue arrows

(2) At the intersection, turn right onto the path you took on the way there between the hedge and the fence.

Yellow signpost

(1) At the crossroads, turn left and walk along the Voua Bénit on your right. At the corner of a fence, go up and ignore a path on the left. Join a wider path and follow it to the right, which is fairly flat. Pass an old plastering business (information sign). About twenty metres further on, before a sign, turn right into the gap in a small wall (arrow on the wall).

Descend into the undergrowth. At the bottom, ignore an access to the pond on the right and climb gently at first, then more steeply. As you approach a small building, turn right (ignore the track that leads towards this building). Immediately ignore a path descending to the right and climb with a wire fence some distance to your left. Go through a chicane and you will immediately find the starting car park on your left (S/E).

Good sports shoes are sufficient for this short hike on well-maintained paths.

No water sources identified along the route.

Warning:
This hike runs alongside the Lyaud quarry and partly follows its access road. Consequently,
- It is bestto plan this hike on weekends and public holidays to avoid the inconvenience of heavy machinery in operation (noise, dust, danger, etc.).
- As indicated on the hiking map in the car park, the route may be modified depending on the movement of the areas operated by the quarry.

Detailed map useful (at least the one accompanying this description).

Hike completed by the author on 13 July 2019.

The vouas (ponds), with their specific flora and fauna, are the destination of this hike:
- Voua Bénit is the largest and best equipped (several benches). It is also the most popular with fishermen.
- Voua Beudet (Voua des Splos on the map) is the wildest and offers a truly peaceful setting. You can reach the edge of this pond, but the vegetation is too dense to walk around it. Not very comfortable for a picnic.
- Voua de la Motte is not accessible and, unless the author is mistaken, cannot even be seen...

Views of the Mont d'Hermone ridge (to the south) and the two Châteaux d'Allinges (to the west).