Lac de Lastioulles

On the Artense plateau, in the north of the Cantal, Lac de Lastioulles spreads its 125 hectares at about 800 m altitude. It is a hydroelectric reservoir: since 1970, it has fed the lake at Bort-les-Orgues and the Auzerette and Rhue power plants. It sits on a plateau that glaciers sculpted thousands of years ago. The real glacial lake of the area is its neighbour, Lac de la Crégut, a few kilometres away.

The Artense plateau is an old granite peneplain carpeted with peat bogs, scattered with erratic boulders left by the Würm glaciers, straddling the Cantal and the Puy-de-Dôme. The landscape is gentle, not mountainous, with fir woods, wet meadows and these scattered lakes.

The Lastioulles beach has held the Pavillon Bleu (Blue Flag) label since 2015. Swimming is supervised in the summer season (July and August). The water sports base hires out pedalos, catamarans, Optimist dinghies, kayaks, windsurfing boards and stand-up paddleboards. Sailing courses are run for adults and children.

Getting there

• From Clermont-Ferrand: about 80 km, allow 1 hour 20 to 1 hour 30.
• From Aurillac: about 90 km, allow 1 hour 30.
• From Bort-les-Orgues: about 18 km, about twenty minutes.
• From Trémouille (village centre): about 5 km on the D 47.
• Parking: large free car park at the foot of the beach.

Good to know before you go

• Season: in 2026, the water sports base is open every day from 13:30 to 19:30 in July and August, then on Wednesdays and weekends in September (14:00 to 19:00), depending on the weather and the water level.
• Supervision: supervised swimming in the afternoon, from 1 July to 31 August. Public toilets, lifeguard post, picnic tables, children's play equipment and a beach volleyball court on site. Dogs are not allowed in the swimming area.
• Food and drink: snack bar open in season. For a proper meal, head back to Trémouille or Champs-sur-Tarentaine.
• Activities nearby: hiking on the plateau, cycling, fishing.
• Municipal campsite Les Bruyères very close to the lake, and several rural gîtes in the area.
• Accessibility: “Tourisme & Handicaps” label on the beach.

For hikers

You go round the lake by road, by bike or by car. On foot, a 2.8 km waymarked path links the Lac de la Crégut car park to the Lastioulles beach. More broadly, the Artense plateau suits days out on a bike: quiet roads, gentle elevation, low-key hamlets.

Nearby places to combine it with

• Bort-les-Orgues dam: about twenty minutes by road.
• Orgues de Bort: about 25 minutes by road, pipe-shaped phonolite lava flows above the town.
• Saut de la Saule (waterfall): about twenty minutes, on the Rhue.
• Château de Val: about twenty minutes, a medieval castle on its peninsula above Lac de Bort.

Our take

It is one of the most welcoming swimming spots in the northern Cantal: Blue Flag beach, a full water sports base, and 125 hectares to explore by kayak or paddleboard.