The Artière gorges

Guidebook with maps/step-by-step :

Étape 1 : From the start sign at the end of the parking lot, go through the barrier and take the path shared by the two circuits. At the fork where the circuits separate, keep to the right along the stream. Ford the Artière and head into the gorge (Samson dolmen). Cross the stream a second time on a wooden footbridge. The path rises to a crow’s-foot.

Étape 2 : Take the leftmost path. Leave the undergrowth at a T-junction and turn right onto a wide track on the side of the plateau. At the first Berzet chalets, the path becomes a road (180° view of the Gergovie plateau, the Comté, Livradois-Forez and Sancy). Ignore streets and side paths (stone archway housing a ferry) until you reach a T-junction near the parking lot. Turn right. Ignore all crossed streets, including Chemin de Boudonne on the right. Continue through the village (view of the Butte de Montrognon) to the junction with Chemin du Champ d’Issart on the right.

Étape 3 : Go downhill towards the last houses in Berzet, turn right at the first intersection where the road becomes a footpath. At the fork, turn right, then right again at an intersection in a pine glade. Continue along the wide, steep path to a tarmac road.

Étape 4 : To the right of the parapet in the hairpin bend, descend the narrow wooden steps of the path which leads to the dead end of a tarmac road. Proceed to the intersection with Avenue de la Châtaigneraie, turn right and then right again on Avenue de la Libération to return to the starting point.