Nature and wide open spaces in Auvergne

🌋Volcanoes

Ceyssat

• 1 h
• Free
• Outdoors

The largest Strombolian cone in the Chaîne des Puys, with its nested double crater, and a 6 km waymarked forest loop to go round it.

🏞️Gorges

Monistrol-sur-Loire

• 1 h to 1 h 30
• Free
• Outdoors

Waterfalls, giants' kettles and a legend of a petrified devil: a small granite canyon in the heart of Monistrol-sur-Loire.

💦Waterfalls

Cheylade

• 30 min to 1 h 30
• Free
• Outdoors

A 16-metre drop on the Petite Rhue d'Eybes, 5 minutes' walk from the road, in the glacial valley of Cheylade.

💧Lakes

Saint-Bonnet-Tronçais

• Outdoors
• With the family

A forest pond in the heart of Tronçais, at Saint-Bonnet-Tronçais. A circuit of the pond, angling, the history of the forges.

💦Waterfalls

Le Falgoux

• 20 min to 2 h
• Free
• Outdoors

The Mars tumbles down through the Falgoux forest in a series of drops. The upper part is easy to reach from the D12, or by a waymarked path from La Chaze.

💦Waterfalls

Vèze

• 30 min to 2 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A trickle of water slides down big basalt columns, between Pradiers and Vèze, at the end of a shady path in the Cézallier.

💦Waterfalls

Marcenat

• 30 min to 1 h 30
• Free
• Outdoors

In the Cézallier, the Bonjon falls more than 20 metres over basalt columns, and the fall is easy to reach from the hamlet of Le Saillant.

💧Lakes

Menet

• Outdoors

A low-key glacial lake between Riom-ès-Montagnes and Salers. Unsupervised swimming, banned in summer 2026 from 18 June (cyanotoxins): check the notices before you come. Fishing, an interpretation trail and picnics.

🌋Volcanoes

Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise

• 30 min to 40 min
• Free
• Outdoors

1 hour 30 there and back from the shore for the view straight down onto Lac Pavin, with the Sancy in the background.

💦Waterfalls

Saint-Alyre-ès-Montagne

• 20 min to 45 min
• Free
• Outdoors

Two falls on the Couze d'Ardes, in the heart of the Cézallier, ten minutes' walk there and back from the hamlet of Jassy. Cool in summer, generally frozen in winter.

🌲Nature reserves

Pignols

• Free
• Outdoors

The largest lowland oak wood in Auvergne, near Vic-le-Comte: themed trails over volcanic hills, ponds and salamanders.

💦Waterfalls

Chambon-sur-Lac

• 15 min to 45 min
• Free
• Outdoors

A waterfall beside the D637, between Lac Chambon and the Chaudefour valley. You park nearby, take a look, and move on.

🌋Volcanoes

Saint-Ours

• 2 h
• Free
• Outdoors

At Saint-Ours, a trachyte needle rising inside the open crater of the neighbouring puy: a 2-hour loop with 176 m of elevation gain, views over the whole Chaîne des Puys from the crater rim.

💧Lakes

Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise

• Outdoors

A glacial lake at 1,168 m, ringed by protected peat bogs. No beach, no crowds: an hour's walk there and back and the silence of the plateau.

💧Lakes

Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise

• Outdoors

The lake at Super-Besse with supervised swimming in summer, an alternative to Lac Pavin, where swimming is forbidden.

💦Waterfalls

Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise

• 45 min to 2 h 30
• Free
• Outdoors

A string of waterfalls along the Couze Pavin, with giants' kettles carved into the lava, a stone's throw from Besse.

🏞️Gorges

Thiézac

• 45 min to 1 h 30
• Free
• Outdoors

A walk under the trees to the waterfall and cliffs of the Pas de Cère, at Thiézac.

💦Waterfalls

La Tour-d'Auvergne

• Free
• Outdoors

On the way out of La Tour-d'Auvergne, the Burande goes over a large rock in the middle of the meadows. The waterfall is seen from above: the foot is reserved for campsite guests.

🌲Nature reserves

Picherande

• Free
• Outdoors
• With the family

High-altitude peat bog in the Sancy at 1,200 m: boardwalks, sundews, cotton grass, and almost nobody around.

💧Lakes

Aydat

• Outdoors
• With the family

Auvergne's biggest natural lake, 25 minutes from Clermont. Supervised beach in summer, sailing, fishing and a walk round the lake in 1 hour 30.

💦Waterfalls

Saint-Nectaire

• Free
• Outdoors
• With the family

A 7 m waterfall where the Couze Chambon crosses a lava flow, in Saint-Nectaire, a few minutes from the car park. Free access, strong flow until spring.

🏞️Gorges

Brioude

• 1 h to 2 h
• Free
• Outdoors

The river of the Livradois, from La Chaise-Dieu to Lavaudieu: a wooded valley, waymarked paths and stone villages.

💧Lakes

Chavagnac

• 1 h to 2 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A mountain lake at 1,142 m between Cézallier meadows and the Pinatelle forest. An easy walk round the lake, trout fishing, a bird observatory.

🌄Viewpoints

Le Mont-Dore

• 15 min to 45 min
• €€
• Outdoors

The restaurant at the top of the Sancy cable car, at 1,780 m: truffade, tartiflette and a terrace facing the massif, no reservations.

💦Waterfalls

Saint-Priest-des-Champs

• 1 h to 1 h 30
• Free
• Outdoors

A 10 m fall deep in the woods of Saint-Priest-des-Champs, at the end of a waymarked path (about 3 km of walking in all). We take you through the route step by step.

💦Waterfalls

Collandres

• 15 min to 45 min
• Free
• Outdoors

The Véronne plunges into a small basalt cirque near the D63, between Apchon and Collandres. A purpose-built viewpoint puts you in the front row.

💦Waterfalls

Arfeuilles

• Free
• Outdoors

The Cascade de la Pisserote, in the Barbenan gorges upstream of Arfeuilles: a private site, in the heart of the Montagne Bourbonnaise.

🏞️Gorges

Enval

• 1 h 30 to 3 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A wooded cleft where the Ambène tumbles down in rapids and waterfalls, a stone's throw from Riom. Shaded, green and properly wild.

💦Waterfalls

Cheylade

• Free
• Outdoors

Thirty metres of drop into a basalt cirque at the foot of the Puy Mary, a few minutes' walk from the car park.

💦Waterfalls

Nébouzat

• 1 h to 2 h
• Free
• Outdoors

At Nébouzat, the Gigeole forces its way through an old lava flow and breaks into three falls. Twenty minutes' walk there and back.

💧Lakes

Saint-Front

• 45 min to 2 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A volcanic crater filled with water at 1,236 m, the highest lake in Haute-Loire. A walk round it in an hour, with the Mézenc massif as a backdrop.

🏞️Gorges

Saint-Floret

• 1 h to 2 h
• Free
• Outdoors

The river that runs down from the Monts Dore to the Allier: just under fifty kilometres, through Besse, Saurier and Saint-Floret, a village tucked against the rock by the water.

🌲Nature reserves

Pérignat-sur-Allier

• 1 h to 3 h
• Free
• Outdoors

Former gravel pits turned bird refuge on the edge of Clermont: ponds, hides and 227 recorded species along the Allier.

🌄Viewpoints

Saint-Paul-de-Salers

• 15 min to 45 min
• Free
• Outdoors

A ridge summit above the Maronne and Aspre valleys, reached on foot from the Col de Néronne. Almost no one up there.

💧Lakes

Trémouille

• Outdoors

A 125-hectare lake on the Artense plateau, at Trémouille in the Cantal. Blue Flag beach, water sports base, supervised swimming in July and August. The quiet swimming spot of the northern Cantal.

💧Lakes

Trémouille

• 30 min to 2 h 30
• Free
• Outdoors

The largest natural lake of glacial origin in the Massif Central, sitting on the Artense plateau. Swimming is not allowed: you come for the walk round the lake, fishing and picnics.

💧Lakes

Compains

• 1 h 30 to 3 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A crescent-shaped volcanic lake, curled up against its cone, at the end of a Cézallier path. Swimming is not allowed: it is a drinking water reserve.

🌄Viewpoints

La Bourboule

• 2 h to 4 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A forest plateau above La Bourboule: a view over the valley, forest walks, a Nordic area in winter, and the memory of a water-counterweight funicular.

💦Waterfalls

Le Fau

• 45 min to 1 h 30
• Free
• Outdoors

In the Aspre valley, the Pissa del Coin drops 15 metres in one go, in the woods above La Bastide. A wide waterfall with a strong flow, reached via the GR400.

💦Waterfalls

Gelles

• 30 min to 1 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A staircase leads down the right bank of the Gelles stream, which leaps over the rock between the village and La Miouze. Twenty minutes' walk, signposted access.

💦Waterfalls

Charbonnières-les-Varennes

• 45 min to 2 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A low-key waterfall at the end of a shady forest path, in the Sans Souci valley near Châtel-Guyon and Volvic.

💦Waterfalls

Le Mont-Dore

• Free
• Outdoors

A waterfall at Le Mont-Dore, 1 km above the Cascade du Queureuilh, on the three-waterfall circuit.

💧Lakes

Aydat

• 45 min to 2 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A 14-hectare volcanic lake about twenty minutes from Clermont: fishing, family picnics and a water level that does what it likes.

🏞️Gorges

Mazirat

• 1 h to 3 h
• Free
• Outdoors

The Cher squeezed into wooded gorges, a century-old dam and a lake that has stayed wild between Allier and Creuse, 12 km upstream of Montluçon.

💦Waterfalls

Saint-Front

• 1 h to 2 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A little-known waterfall near the hamlet of Souteyros, in Saint-Front: a 45-minute loop, doable with children from age 6.

💦Waterfalls

Saillant

• 1 h to 4 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A waterfall of nearly 20 metres in the forest, at an altitude of 1,000 m above the Ance valley. An hour there and back from the car park.

🌄Viewpoints

Chouvigny

• 15 min to 45 min
• Free
• Outdoors

A granite rock on the banks of the Sioule, a steep staircase, and up top the view over the Chouvigny gorges and the perched castle.

💦Waterfalls

La Tour-d'Auvergne

• 30 min to 2 h
• Free
• Outdoors

The Burande plunges about fifteen metres into a granite basin, a stone's throw from the village of La Tour-d'Auvergne. Short, easy access.

💦Waterfalls

Alleyras

• 1 h 30 to 2 h 30
• Free
• Outdoors

A waterfall of about fifteen metres on the Séjallières, close to where it meets the Malaval, reached on foot from the village of Alleyras, in the Haut-Allier gorges.

💦Waterfalls

Aurec-sur-Loire

• 1 h 30 to 3 h
• Free
• Outdoors

Suspended walkways above the Loire to get past the Saut du Chien rock: the gorges walk from Aurec-sur-Loire.

💦Waterfalls

Mazet-Saint-Voy

• 30 min to 1 h 30
• Free
• Outdoors

In a wooded valley at Mazet-Saint-Voy, the Surenne stream drops over a waterfall between the hamlets of Le Petit Crouzet and Le Grand Crouzet, about 400 m from each as the crow flies.

💧Lakes

Picherande

• Outdoors

An almost round crater lake at an altitude of 1,166 m: 63 m deep, 600 m across. The lake is private (no swimming), but the path under the beech trees is more than enough for a good walk.

💦Waterfalls

Chastreix

• 1 h 30 to 2 h
• Free
• Outdoors

The Gagne leaps off basalt columns in a cool woodland at Chastreix. An easy 4.6 km loop, waymarked from the village church.

💧Lakes

Monlet

• 1 h to 2 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A 22-hectare lake at 1,025 m altitude, designated a regional nature reserve. A walk round the lake in 1 hour 30 among otters, dragonflies and migrating birds.

💦Waterfalls

Vic-sur-Cère

• 30 min to 1 h 30
• Free
• Outdoors

Fifteen minutes' walk from the church in Vic-sur-Cère, the Iraliot slides over the rock and fills a natural basin, the famous conche.

🏞️Gorges

Valbeleix

• 45 min to 2 h 30
• Free
• Outdoors

A small road follows the Couze de Valbeleix at the bottom of wooded gorges: a restored bridge that seems to date from Gallo-Roman times, the pailhats of Courgoul and an easy 2.5 km loop.

💦Waterfalls

La Tour-d'Auvergne

• 15 min to 45 min
• Free
• Outdoors

A stone's throw from the D47, the waterfall drops over a 15-metre granite step before breaking on big blocks, among the trees and mossy rocks.

💦Waterfalls

Mandailles-Saint-Julien

• 30 min to 1 h 30
• Free
• Outdoors

A fall of about 40 metres in the forest, 800 metres on foot from the village of Mandailles. An easy family walk in the Jordanne valley.

💦Waterfalls

Saint-Victor-la-Rivière

• 15 min to 45 min
• Free
• Outdoors

A little-known waterfall near Courbanges, in the Sancy. Steep path, cool atmosphere, strongest flow after rain.

💦Waterfalls

Chadron

• 2 h to 3 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A drop of nearly 15 m on the Cros stream, a pool steeped in legend and a 7.5 km loop starting from Le Crouzet, in Chadron.