Tour of the Pourcharet and Montjuger peaks

Park in the car park at the Maison du Parc des Volcans, accessible via the D5.

Signposting: yellow disc and orange signposts

(S/E) Head towards the car park entrance, at the Montlosier signpost, and follow the signs for Fontfreyde (also signposted Puys de Lassolas and La Vache by a wooden sign) along the path that runs alongside the D5 on your right. At the end, go down a few steps to reach a path. Turn left, go through a gate and continue to a crossroads.

No signposts

(1) Leave the signposts and follow the path on the left.

Green^PR®® signposting

(2) At the crossroads with the signpost marked 998 m, turn right towards Puy de Montjuger, following a green^{PR®® sign}. Ignore the side paths. You will come to a T-junction at the Puy de Montjuger signpost. This wooded hill rises up on your right. Opposite are the pastures of Puy de Pourcharet.

^{GR®®30-GR®®441B}red and white markings and orange markings

(3) Leave the green markings and follow the^GR®® on the left towards Recoleine. Ignore any side paths. Further on, the path becomes tarmac.

No markings

(4) After about 200 m of tarmac, when the road turns left to descend towards Recoleine, leave the markings and turn right towards Chapelle de Recoleine. Soon after, leave this unassuming chapel and its pretty orientation table on your left and continue straight ahead, ignoring the path on your right. Further down, join a path at another sign indicating the chapel.

Green signpost in the opposite direction

(5) Turn right. Continue to the edge of the forest covering the western slope of Puy de Pourcharet, where you will find a crossroads.

(6) Follow the path on the left. Shortly afterwards, at a fork with a path created by forestry work in 2023, keep left. Then ignore all the paths leading left towards the clearing, which are remnants of previous forestry work.

(7) The path veers left and exits the woods into a meadow. At the intersection 100 m further on, turn right. Continue to a^GR®® intersection at the marker marked 1044 m.

^{GR®®4-GR®®30-GR®®441}red and white markings and orange markings

(8) Follow the^GR®® straight ahead towards Montlosier. The path runs along the foot of the Puy de Montjuger on your right. Further on, at a beautiful beech tree, leave the path climbing towards the summit of the Puy de Lassolas on your left, then ignore an old path on your left that leads to the same summit. Reach the Puy de la Vache signpost. (Note: shortly before this marker, an orange-marked shortcut branches off to the right but is difficult to see as the markings are set back.)

Yellow disc signposting and orange signposting

(9) Turn right, leaving the^GR®®, towards Montlosier. Shortly afterwards, rejoin the orange markings (which have taken the shortcut) and follow the path on the left. Return to the intersection you passed at the start of the hike.

(1) Turn left, in the opposite direction, and follow the same route you took on the way there to return to the car park at the Maison du Parc des Volcans (S/E).

Hike of moderate difficulty, leaning towards easy, standard hiking equipment required.

The Pourcharet and Montjuger peaks are reserved for cows and foresters; it is not possible to climb to their summits.

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

Photo album here

From the chapel, there is a view of the Plateau des Dôme and some of the peaks of the Sancy massif.

The "Sur les traces de Montlosier" discovery trail, which also starts from the Maison du Parc des Volcans, is available here

Information about the Maison du Parc des Volcans here