Mountain bikingHardBoucle

160 - The Devès foothills (waymark no. 9)

Start: Etang du Péchay (Costaros)

This route is a fine way to discover the Devès plateau, with its traditional-style houses, fields of green lentils and cattle and sheep farms, and also the village of Arlempdes in the Loire gorges.

Distance: 37.3 km
Elevation gain: +838 m
Elevation loss: -838 m
Duration: 3 h

Route on the map

Base map © OpenTopoMap (CC-BY-SA): route licensed under ETALAB-2.0 via Données : Comité Départemental Randonnée Pédestre Haute-Loire · FFRandonnée · sportsnature.hauteloire.fr — sous licence ETALAB 2.0.

The feel of the route

The greenway between Costaros and Landos: Taken over from the SNCF in the 2000s by the Communauté de Communes du Pays de Cayres-Pradelles (the local group of communes), the old railway line between Le Puy and Langogne now supports a range of tourist activities. The Langogne-Landos section is reserved for rail biking, and since 2022 greenway works have been carried out on the section between Costaros and Landos where the rails had already been lifted. With the backing of the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Region, the Communauté de Communes du Pays de Cayres Pradelles has built a new stretch of the V73 on the Costaros-Landos section. This route gives the V73 continuity from Le Puy-en-Velay and links up with the V70 Via Allier near Landos. In all, 6.75 kilometres of greenway and two rest areas have been laid out along it. The backbone of the area, this greenway serves several walking and hiking trails and also several mountain-bike routes that outdoor lovers will enjoy. It also gives locals and visitors a safe, pleasant space with plenty of viewpoints over the Mézenc or the Margeride.