The Neck of Belvezet

Start at the Croix du Triadou. Park in the small car park on the side of the D987, on the right-hand side when coming from the village of Aubrac.

No signposting

(S/E) Return to the road and follow it to the left (east) towards Aubrac. Follow this road as it climbs gently and steadily for about 2.3 km (take care; the road is not very busy but there is some traffic).

(1) As you come out of a left-hand bend, leave the road and turn onto a path on the right at an acute angle.

Red and white markings

You’ll soon come out onto the^GR®65; follow it to the right. Walk down this stony path through the shade. Continue across open ground and ignore all side paths.

(2) At a junction (cross), carry on straight ahead (south-west) and you’ll soon reach another junction.

(3) Carry on straight ahead (south-south-west). Take several sharp bends and you’ll reach a crossroads at the edge of a meadow.

No signposting

(4) Head straight ahead into the meadow and easily climb the clearly visible Neck de Blevezet.

(5) Retrace your steps back to the crossroads.

Red and white markings

(4) Follow the^GR® again, turning left (west), and head down to the village of Belvezet.

Yellow markings

(6) Head up a small road on the right.

(7) After about 800 m, leave the road and take a track on the right. Walk along the undulating path through the pastures until you reach a junction you passed on the way out.

Red and white markings

(3) Join the^GR®65again and follow it to the left for about a hundred metres.

Red and yellow markings

(2) At the next junction (cross), turn left. Climb gently, heading north-north-west. At the end of the track, rejoin the D987 road, follow it to the left and you will soon reach the car park where you started (take care when crossing the road) (S/E).

Hiking boots recommended.

No water sources were identified along the route. There is a bar and restaurant in the village of Aubrac.

A detailed map is useful (at the very least the one accompanying this description).

Hike undertaken by the author on 27 August 1993.

The Neck de Belvezet is in itself a geological curiosity well worth a visit (an ancient volcanic vent exposed by erosion). From its summit, where traces of an ancient keep can be seen, there is a lovely panoramic view, including a bird’s-eye view of the village of Belvezet.

Between (1) and (6), the^GR®65follows an old drovers' road (a transhumance track).

The return journey between (7) and (S/E) takes you along a pleasant path through the pastures of the Aubrac plateau, where, from May to October, the cows of the same name graze.

Nearby, the small village of Aubrac is well worth a visit, with the historic buildings of the Dômerie d’Aubrac and the Tour des Anglais (14th century), a former keep converted into a stopover lodge.