Rochebaron Castle

Description

(on the left) and the road leading directly to the Rochebaron Castle (on the right). Here you will find a cross.

(S/F) From the car park, head 50 m down and out of the village by taking Route de Valprivas (D12) to the right in a westerly direction. After 400 m, leave the road that veers to the left and take the right track. We immediately follow alongside Bas-en-Basset Castle and its park (not interesting).

(1) 400 m further on, leave this Yellow-marked trail to take the track to the right.

(2) After about 600 m, the path forks anew: turn right onto the grassy track that winds along the same level curve.

(3) Find the route that, from Bas-en-Basset, leads directly to the Rochebaron Castle and take it heading left. Soon, the altitude lowers and the road is no longer paved. Keep to this track to get to the castle.

(4) Arrival at Rochebaron Castle (opening hours below under “During the walk...").
In front of the castle facing the gate, take the small path on the left marked in yellow that climbs the hill. We will follow these markings to the hamlet of Thézenac on the plateau. 100 m further on, at the small fork, continue to follow the narrow right path.

(5) Around 300 m after the castle, at another fork, continue on the right path still marked in yellow. 600 m further up the hill, take the track that heads left.

At the entrance of the hamlet of Thézenac take the street to the left and cross the village. Reach the road down towards Valprivas Bas-en-Basset near the communal oven located on the right.
Take this road to the left for about 50 m (Yellow markings).

(6) Leave the road to follow the trail that goes left towards the south-east, marked in yellow. This track goes to Suc Péchaud, pass this by to the left, along the plateau with beautiful views on the Meygal and its run-offs (cones or domes of volcanic origin).

Around 1 km from the village of Thézenac, reach a crossroads of tracks and continue straight down to the 2nd hamlet of the hike, Montméat. In Montméat, continue straight towards the south-east.

(7) At the fork located on the edge of the hamlet, continue on the left no markings passing by a pylon on the right. At the last house on the left (mobile home), take the small path to the right of the gate, which becomes increasingly steep and narrow, but well-marked by visible ruts caused by motorcycles.

(8) At the edge of the forest, the trail leads to a larger trail to be taken to the left.
200 m further on, the track makes a hairpin right turn. It is possible to take a short detour by taking a path to the left in the middle of the hairpin bend to take a look at the Devil's Bridge (9) located 150 m upstream (see "During the walk..." below).

Retrace your steps back to the path and go past the crossroads taken on the way out (1) and then continue along the same path to quickly reach the entrance of Bas-en-Basset. Reach the car park (S/F).