Saint-Genès bourg - Laschamps via the pass between Mercœur and Lassolas

Start from the Saint-Genès Centre TAD stop, D52, in front of the school, in Saint-Genès.

(S) With the school on your left, follow the road up towards the village centre (northwards). Pass the church on your right and the town hall on your left, leave the village and carefully follow the bend in the road to the right, then take the first road on the left. Pass the cemetery, continue straight on along the path that runs alongside the road and you will come to a road, the D5.

(1) Cross the road and continue straight on towards Chatrat. Stay on the road until you reach a Fork in the road a few metres from a cross. Then turn left onto the dirt track, Chemin de la Croix de Beaune. Ignore a road on the right, then a path branching off to the left.

(2) Walk past the Croix de Beaune, set back slightly to the left, and continue straight on along the path to descend and reach the village of Beaune le Chaud.

(3) Feel free to leave the route for a while to explore the village further. Leave Rue de l’Église on your right, continue straight on along Rue de la Cote, pass a drinking fountain on your right, follow the bend in the road to the left, then turn left onto the next street, Rue du Four, at the wash house. Ignore the side streets and you’ll come out onto a road, the D52, at a drinking fountain. Cross the road and head right, passing the bus shelter, then take the first street on the left. At the fork in the road immediately after, continue straight on, passing a fountain on your right, and at the next fork in the road, keep right. You’ll soon reach another fork in the road, near some farm buildings on the right.

(4) Follow the path to the left and leave Beaune le Chaud. Further on, ignore a path to the right.

(5) Just after this, ignore a path on the left (signposted Les Palles Hautes), then three more paths on the left, and you’ll reach a crossroads with four paths.

(6) Continue straight on, then head up into the forest as the path becomes a trail, which is rutted in places and somewhat steep. You will reach the pass between the Puys de Mercœur and Lassolas.

(7) Continue downhill to reach the junction with the path forming part of the^GR®®4(red and white markings).

(8) Follow it to the right and arrive at an open area, a crossroads of several paths, some of which are private.

(9) Continue straight on along the^GR®, ignoring all side paths, and arrive at Laschamps, at a car park for walkers with picnic tables.

(10) Continue straight on to join the D52 road, cross it and follow the street opposite. You will come to a street; follow it to the left to reach the church and the Laschamps Église TAD stop (E).

Difficulty: Moderate, no particular difficulties except for a slightly steep climb, standard hiking equipment required.
I recommend the Visorando app

Outward journey: Jaude, line A (La Pardieu Gare) => CHU Montpied then TAD to Saint-Genès Centre.
Return: Laschamps Église, TAD => Royat Place Allard then line B (Stade Marcel Michelin) => Jaude.
TAD.

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

With this stage, we leave the villages of the Clermont-Ferrand metropolitan area’s green belt—all former wine-growing hamlets—to head for the mountain villages of the Plateau des Dôme. We discover a beautiful architectural heritage in Beaune le Chaud, including a church, old village houses and farmhouses, as well as numerous fountains, often paired with drinking troughs.
From the church, situated on the heights of the village, you can see the landscape that the route follows from there, through the meadows and common land, before reaching the forest that covers the slopes of the Puys de la Mey, Lassolas and Mercœur.
The lovely little climb, steep in places, towards the pass between Mercœur and Lassolas is good training for the next stage!
After a descent, also a bit steep in places, the^GR®®, on which you’ll start to meet a few more people than since the start of this journey—again, a sort of preparation for the next stage—leads gently to Laschamps. This village also retains a fine architectural heritage, despite a tragic fire in 1865, which you can explore at your leisure at the end of the hike. In particular, walking round the church via Rue des Fontaines, you’ll come across a lovely fountain.
A little geological curiosity in Laschamps, not to be missed if you have a compass (which I strongly recommend, by the way!): at (10) in the hikers’ car park, after passing the water intake on your right, look for a path that branches off to the right. Follow it (watch your step) until you come across rocks pierced with small round holes. These are not natural but were drilled to allow an ancient magnetic field to escape from the rock. Hold your compass close... it loses its north!