The Chavade plateau and the Nité rock

Étape 1

Take the road (RD 26) towards Courgoul as far as the Route du Prat. Turn left, cross the Couze and follow the farm track to Le Vernet, which you cross. Continue along this path, which rises up the hillside. Cross a small meadow and join the road leading to Marcenat.

Étape 2

Turn right onto the road leading down into the valley (beware of confusion, another green PR goes off to the left). After approx. 400 m, turn left onto a path that winds its way down to the valley floor. Cross back over the Couze and rejoin the road.

Étape 3

Pass through the village of La Valette and climb a steep, winding track. 100 m after two ruined farmhouses, cross the first fence, then the second on the right (step ladders). Pass under a high-voltage power line (view of Pic de Brionnet and Cézalier). Continue uphill through beech forest, cross a clearing and enter the Chavade plateau at a chicane in a fence.

Étape 4

After the chicane, turn left onto the wide path running alongside the fence (wide views of the Cézalier, Sancy massif, Chaîne des Puys and Lembron). In the middle of the meadows, take the first track on the right, then the first track on the left. Follow the edge of the plateau (view of the Valbeleix glacial valley). Join the route de la Chavade (RD 641).

Étape 5

Turn right for 400m. After the right-hand bend, turn left onto the track leading to Roche Nité (belvedere). Find a carriage road. At the intersection, turn right. Cross a fence using a stepladder and immediately turn right, following the fence. Turn left to follow the edge of the plateau. Continue along the edge of the plateau for 200m to a new fence, which you cross using a stepladder.

Étape 6

Descend through the meadow on a faint path towards the hamlet of Vauzelle. Cross a first fence (stepladder), then a second at the bottom of the meadow. Continue through the meadows, staying alongside the fences, reach a gravel path, turn left and cross the hamlet of Vauzelle. Take the road to the right. Shortly after a sign indicating “socle hercynien”, turn left onto a path which begins with a staircase and winds down through the beech forest. Then, skirting the meadows, join a road which you take to the right as far as Valbeleix.