Lac de la Crégut

Can you swim in Lac de la Crégut?

No, swimming is not allowed at Lac de la Crégut. No beach and no lifeguards: here, you walk, you fish, you picnic. For a swim, the fallback is obvious: the beach at Lac de Lastioulles, very close by, with supervised swimming in July and August in 2026, a water sports base and the Pavillon Bleu (Blue Flag) label.

The glacial giant of the Artense

Considered the largest natural lake of glacial origin in the Massif Central, the Crégut spreads 36 hectares of dark water at an altitude of 860 metres. The Artense glacier carved out the basin about 13,500 years ago, and the site has been on the list of protected sites since 1973, in the Parc des Volcans d'Auvergne.

But the lake leads a double life: since 1969, part of the water diverted by the Haute-Tarentaine hydroelectric complex (Tarentaine, Eau Verte) has passed through its basin. A local association, created in 1992, is fighting the silting up that it attributes to this transit.

The walk round the lake follows PR 2 “Histoire d'eau”: 5 km waymarked in blue, no difficulty, allow less than two hours. Picnic tables await you along the route. Anglers hunt zander, pike, perch and carp (second category in the French fishing classification, boating limited to 6 km/h).

Our take

You don't visit the Crégut in a swimsuit, you walk it. Indented shores, dense forest, an almost Scandinavian feel. If you want a beach and pedalos, head straight to Lastioulles. If you want two hours of walking between lakes and peat bogs, this is the place, and carry on to Lac du Tact, right next door.