Sources of the Vienne from Millevaches

In Millevaches, park in the Maison du Parc car park ^(a).

Please note! This hike is not marked as such, nor is it marked in its entirety.

(S/E) Head east on a small road (with your back to the village), ignoring a road on your right. The road offers unobstructed views of the surrounding countryside. At the fork in the road, take the left-hand path. Continue straight ahead on this wide path until you reach a road.

(1) Follow it to the left for a few metres, then turn right onto a small road towards Le Longy. This road runs alongside a former uranium mining site ^(b). You will reach the hamlet of Le Longy at a beautiful 15th-century fountain.

(2) Continue straight ahead for a few metres, then take the first street on the left (towards a computer repair shop). Shortly after the house, the street ends. Ignore a path on the left and continue diagonally to the right. Continue straight ahead on this path until you reach a small road.

(3) Follow it to the left for a few metres to reach the D36, at a wooden cross, the Croix Labarre. Cross the D36 (with caution, as it is a busy road!) and follow it to the right until you reach the intersection with the D21. Take this road to the left for a few metres until you see a sign for the Sources de la Vienne ^(c).

(4) Follow the path to the left. You will soon see information panels in the form of an orientation table. Continue along the path that descends to the edge of the meadow.

Ignore a path on the right and you will soon come to an information sign. Cross the stream that flows from the spring on the left. At the next intersection of paths, continue left, following the blue signs. The path follows the stream, then veers away from it and ends at a track.

Follow it to the left. Further on, follow the arrow to the left to find an information panel overlooking a bog (another spring). Continue along the path for a few metres, then ignore a path on the right but turn right onto the path just after it. Further on, ignore a path on the left and you will come to a wide path.

(5) Follow it to the right and, a few metres further on, cross a footbridge on the right. Follow the path that passes near a kind of sandstone bell. Further on, a sign invites you to make a round trip to a shepherd's hut. Then continue to the left to quickly reach an information sign at the "official" IGN source. Retrace your steps to the footbridge, cross it and then turn left, leaving the path you came on shortly after on your left.

(5) Continue straight ahead on the wide path, following the blue markings, which are no longer the same as the markings on the discovery trail. Follow this path, ignoring the paths branching off to either side, until you reach a road.

(6) Follow it straight ahead until you reach the junction with the D164, at the entrance to Millevaches.

(7) Follow the D164 to the right, leaving the blue markings and following green markings for about 100 metres, then take the first road on the left.

(8) Further on, leave the road and take a path on the left, following the green markings and also red and yellow markings. The path is quite grassy in places. At the T-junction, turn left, leaving the green markings and following the red and white^GR®® markings.

(9) At the entrance to the hamlet of La Brugère, turn immediately left in front of a beautiful lodge (with an outbuilding bearing a sign for Huchier)^, following the^GR®® markings^. Continue along this path, ignoring a path on the left further on. Shortly before reaching a road, note a spring on the right-hand side of the path.

(10) At the road (D36), turn right for about 20 metres, then turn left onto a path, still following the^GR®® markings (which are fading). Shortly afterwards, ignore a path on the right, then, at the T-junction, leave the^GR®® markings and ignore a path marked VTT44 on the left, turning right to join a road. Follow it to the left.

(11) At the end of the road, at a fork in the path, turn right. The path is marked in dark pink, but the markings are not always very clear. At the top of Puy des Pouges, pass an information panel about birds, then arrive at a T-junction with a small road.

(12) Follow it to the left (marked "Chouette", Pink, VTT20). Continue straight ahead on this road (note a beautiful beech tree) until it turns left at a path on the right.

(13) Continue along the road for about 100 metres, then follow all the signs and turn right onto a path.

(14) At the intersection with a path on the left, ignore all the markings and continue straight ahead on a small road that climbs up and joins Millevaches at the Maison du Parc (S/E).

(S/E) Continue to the crossroads, then turn left for a round trip through the village.

(15) Take the first street on the right, following the red and white^GR®® markings (throughout this small circular loop), and continue to the church. Note the beautiful oak tree known as the Arbre du Renard(Fox Tree). Follow the first street on the right to a beautiful thatched cottage. Return to the intersection, turn right, then take the first street on the left to reach the main street. Follow it to the left to return to the Maison du Parc (S/E).

Moderate difficulty hike, standard hiking equipment required. Grass paths not necessarily well maintained. Trousers recommended.

Many small roads and wide paths.

We noticed a lot of polystyrene pollution on the way up to Puy des Pouges, where someone, whose stupidity is shocking, had attempted to fill in a pond. The material, which is light and highly polluting, is of course scattered everywhere. I sent an email to the Park Office, but received no reply...!!

Discover more hikes in this area with descriptions or the Visorando app here

Some photos here

^(a) The Maison du Parc du Plateau de Millevaches is mainly home to the administration and, in June, there was no tourist office open. However, on the gable of one of the buildings (follow the sign), there are information sheets for three hikes (to be returned after use) starting from Millevaches.

^(b) There have been several uranium mining sites on the Plateau de Millevaches. Although they are now closed, they are not inactive, as explained in this link.

^(c) Discovery trail of the Sources of the Vienne. The most obvious sources have been developed by man to water livestock and are marked by granite markers bearing the inscription "Source de la Vienne" at the bottom. In fact, the real springs are the peat bogs (see the video at this link), as is the case for the Vézère.