Sur les pas des Chartreux

Guidebook with maps/step-by-step :

Étape 1 : With your back to the start sign, turn right into rue des Bruyères. Turn right in front of the transformer, then take the left-hand path, cross the road and continue straight ahead. At the crossroads, fork left; the path passes under a high-voltage power line and descends through the woods to the Mazière mill. Cross the stream and climb back up to the D 418 road.

Étape 2 : Cross the road and take the path opposite. At the summit (viewpoint over the Sancy), go straight on until you reach a crow’s-foot. Turn right onto the road and follow it for 150 m. At the crossroads, leave the road and take the path on the right. At the next crossroads, turn left, pass under the high-voltage power line and continue as far as the village of Triolet. Take the track on the right and follow it to the edge of the wood. Turn left onto a track that descends gently for 1.8 km to a crossroads (off the route, 100 m to the right are the ruins of the Chartreuse de Port-Sainte-Marie).

Étape 3 : Turn left and when you reach the road (don’t take it), continue on the track immediately to your left, which winds its way up the Sioule for about 3 km until you reach a junction of tracks (signposts).

Étape 4 : Leave the track on the right (another PR) and go straight up, parallel to the high-voltage power line. Pass under it and turn right towards the village of Les Bouchauds. Take the road to the left (viewpoint over the Chaîne des Puys) as far as a crossroads. Turn right, then at the next crossroads, in front of a farmhouse, turn right onto a road for 200 m and then left onto a path as far as the village of Rioux. Cross the village and, opposite the last house, turn left onto the path between the hedges. Follow the path down to the road and continue straight ahead. At a track junction, keep right and join a tarmac track in a wide bend.