Puy de Côme via the Comet Route

On the D941, at the Vulcania roundabout, take the D559 towards Masaye. Ignore the Prés de Côme car park. At the second left-hand bend, park in a small car park on the right-hand side of the road, with information signs about the solidified lava flow of Côme. See alternative parking in "Practical Information".

The first part of the route, on the solidified lava flow of Côme, is mostly marked in yellow. The tour of the Puy de Côme is only marked with a few signs indicating directions. Follow the description carefully.

(S/E) In the car park, note the "Prés de Côme" sign on the left and head in the direction of "Grand-Chambois", then take the path between the information sign for Cheire de Côme and the Balirando "Cheire de Côme" hiking sign. Follow the yellow markings until otherwise indicated.

(1) At the 947m signpost, continue straight ahead towards "les Roches". Continue in this direction until you come to a track.

(2) Continue straight ahead. The path crosses a man-made solidified lava flow, between many small plots surrounded by rough, mossy walls. You will come to a T-junction at a yellow "^PR®®" sign. Take the path on the left and then immediately turn right.

(3) About 250m further on, look out for the yellow "^PR®®" sign indicating a left turn, leaving the path that continues straight ahead (not shown on the IGN map). You will arrive at the outskirts of the village of Les Roches. Walk along a field with horses and then, at the T-junction, turn left.

About 200 metres further on, at a fork, leave the path and turn left. The low walls become less frequent and the path regains its wild appearance. Pass to the right of a small tin caravan ^(a), a former shepherd's shelter.

(4) At the next intersection, continue to the left. The path then crosses the most chaotic part of the solidified lava flow, with large piles of stones and a few chasms. A few low walls reappear a little further on. When you reach a track, follow it to the right. At the fork just after, turn left and you will immediately see the Pierre Signée on the right of the path.

(5) Continue along the path that winds through the beech forest, between the chaotic rocks. Further on, you will see chasms on the left, one of which contains a vintage car wreck. You will arrive at an intersection at the 820m marker.

(6) Leave the yellow markings for now and continue straight ahead towards Grand-Chambois. Ignore a path on the left further on, then continue along a track to leave the forest and the solidified lava flow. Ignore a path on the right and continue straight ahead between large meadows. On the left, you will see the Puys de Dôme and Côme. You will come to a small road.

(7) Follow it to the left for a few metres, then immediately turn onto a path on the left, ignoring the white and green cross. Pass to the right of a private property and arrive at the edge of the forest and solidified lava flow. Ignore a path on the left and continue along the edge.

(8) Ignore a sort of turning on the left and continue straight ahead on the path, which becomes narrower and grassy, between low stone walls, and which veers left to enter the solidified lava flow again. At a fork, continue left.

(9) Further on, ignore two paths on the left and follow the yellow markings on the right, which you will find here and which you will follow to the car park and the end of this first part of the hike on the solidified lava flow of Côme. Further on, ignore a path on the left that is not shown on the IGN map. Further on, forestry operations have widened and damaged the path.

(10) Ignore a path on the right, which is not shown on the IGN map, at a point where the small tree bearing the yellow markings has been cut down and left on the ground. Further on, ignore another path on the right. You will come to an area where tree trunks are stored and continue to the left. At the next intersection, turn onto the path on the right and you will come to a wide path opposite an electrical cabinet.

(11) Walk a few metres to the right, then, at the yellow "^PR®®" sign, follow the path that branches off to the right. Now take care to follow the yellow markings through the forest, as the path is not always obvious. Leave the path that continues straight ahead (not shown on the map, yellow cross) and turn left. Further on, turn sharply right just before reaching the track. You will eventually arrive at an intersection you already passed at the start of the route, at marker 947m.

(1) Keep right towards Prés de Côme to return to the car park and finish this first part of the hike on the solidified lava flow of Côme. Leave the yellow markings to continue this hike around the Puy de Côme.

(S/E) Follow the road to the right and then, as it begins to curve to the right, take the path to the left. You will arrive at an intersection near large pastures, the Prés de Côme. Follow the wide path to the right and then, shortly after, turn onto a trail to the right to begin circling the Puy de Côme on the left (yellow cross on the path that continues straight ahead).

(12) At the "Chabanne Vieille" signpost, follow the direction of Col de Ceyssat to the right and the fairly discreet red and white^GR®® markings. About 200m further on, you will reach the "Pied du Puy de Côme" signpost and turn right, still on the^GR®®.

(13) At the 1026m marker, stay on the^GR®® which veers to the left. At the intersection, leave the GR® markings and continue straight ahead. At the next intersection, continue to the left. You will arrive at the "Puy de Côme" marker.

On the right, the path leads up to the first crater of Puy de Côme. However, access to the second crater (and a view of the surrounding area) is prohibited because the path is too eroded. Continue straight ahead towards "Bac de Ceyssat".

(14) About 200 metres further on, you will find the "980m" signpost on the right, slightly hidden by branches. You should then follow the direction of "Prés de Côme", but when we passed through, the path was blocked by fallen trees. If this is still the case when you visit, continue straight ahead for a few metres, then take a passage on the right to rejoin the path downstream from the dam of branches. Ignore what looks like a path starting on the right further on, then 100 metres further on, you will come to a path.

(15) Follow this path to the right and, after about 150 metres, turn onto a path that branches off to the right (blue markings, not shown on maps). Continue until you reach a road and cross it (see alternative parking in "Practical information").

(16) Continue straight ahead and find a path to continue in the same direction. Note a yellow marker on a tree on the right, then arrive at a crossroads of paths. Go left and after a short descent, turn right. You will find the car park (S/E) at the end of this path.

Moderate difficulty hike, standard hiking equipment

Starting car park: if the car park is full, you can find a few spaces a little further along this road. Continue for another 200 metres after the right-hand bend, and there are a few spaces available on the right. The route passes through here at the end. To start, begin the description at (16).

Between (13) and (14) at the entrance to the large meadow, in good weather it is possible to find signs inviting hikers to follow a detour on the left. This was the case in the summer of 2018, but the following winter the signs had disappeared. This detour goes around the meadow without straying too far from it. If the meadow is open, continue straight ahead as described. If it is closed, follow the detour but be careful to find the route of this hike at the exit of the meadow, perhaps with the help of the app.

Discover more hikes in this area with a description or the Visorando app here and more generally in the Puy-de-Dôme here

Photo albums here and here

Comet tail on the solidified lava flow of Côme.

^(a) Caravan, or shepherds' mobile hut. See document 4 at this link.

(5) The Signed Stone remains enigmatic.

Between (S/E) and (12), the path crosses a field of horsetails in the undergrowth. These plants always grow on land with a water table, but this can be deep because horsetail roots grow very deep.