Roche grande

Guidebook with maps/step-by-step

If you want to continue your discovery, you can combine this hike with the one entitled Puy de Mathonière and enjoy a magnificent view of Allanche and the Cantal peaks.

Start – From Place du Cézallier, walk down Rue de l’Abbé de Pradt. At the fountain, opposite the tourist office, turn right and cross the market square. Leave the street leading to the listed church on your right, and turn left down the short street for a few metres. Then turn right down the stairs to the ramparts. Follow the fitness trail to the right and pass under the bridge.

1- After a few metres, turn left onto the footbridge and cross the Allanche. Go up the grassy path, cross the village, take the small road opposite and reach the railroad. Cross it and turn left onto the right-hand track opposite. This rises to the plateau after a right-hand bend. View of Allanche and the Puy de Mathonière, at the foot of which runs the Allanche theme trail and the Cézallier pastoral civilization. After the buron, view of the Cézallier.

2- 500 m after passing the Roche Marchal buron, the trail veers to the left.

3- Leave the track and take a path opposite. The track becomes grassy and goes into the woods. At the crossroads, turn right onto the track that runs around Roche-Grande. Continue on the winding track to reach the foot of a hillock.

4- Climb to the top of Roche-Grande: view of the Cézallier, Margeride, Aubrac, Bois de la Pinatelle and Monts du Cantal. Pass to the left of the cairn and head downhill through the fir trees. Take several switchbacks to reach a large track.

5- Turn left and stay on this large forest track. At the crossroads, take the left-hand track. Continue straight ahead, ignoring the intersections.

Stay on the main track, which gradually descends into the fir forest. At the end of the wood, continue on this wide track, keeping the fence on your right.

6- Leave the track and take the small road down to the left of the retirement home. Go down the Roche Grande road and cross the Outrelaygues square, passing the fountain on your right. Continue to the Roman bridge. Cross it and immediately turn left onto the passage Saint-Jean between the houses, then back onto the chemin des remparts. At the crossroads, take the same path as before to get back to the starting point.