From the marsh to the lava flow

What makes this loop charming is the sheer contrast in landscapes over so few kilometres. You first walk with volcanoes as a backdrop, then step into a lava flow several thousand years old, that of the Puy de Côme, before finishing with your feet at the water's edge.

The cheire, this ground of dark stones colonised by moss, keeps a particular coolness even in midsummer. The Chazaloux camp adds its share of mystery: nobody really knows who lived there or why the place was abandoned. And the Paloux marsh, designated since 2010, shelters a discreet world where more than 130 bird species have already been recorded.

Our take: an ideal family walk, short and easy, but packed with curiosities. Perfect for a half-day if you like understanding what you are walking through rather than just swallowing up kilometres.

The start is at the foot of the Rey de Saint-Pierre, the volcanic hillock sitting near the level crossing on the D579. You set off along a wide path that climbs gently. Very soon the view carries far: the Massif du Sancy to the south and, on the horizon, the first cones of the northern Chaîne des Puys.

The loop then goes through the hamlet of Bannières. Along the way you pass a four banal (communal oven), a wash house, a drinking trough, a calvary (wayside cross), the setting of a village that has kept its stone walls. After the last houses, the path runs under the trees and passes a ruined building before heading into the wood.

Then comes the most surprising stretch: the Chazaloux camp. Information boards tell the story of this medieval site, still poorly understood: nearly seventy remains of low dry-stone walls, built without mortar, scattered over two hectares. All around, the Tournebise cheire spreads out its jumble of lava blocks covered in moss and lichen, a frozen flow that came out of the Puy de Côme.

The end saves the nature highlight: the Paloux marsh, an Espace Naturel Sensible (sensitive natural area) that you cross on a wooden boardwalk. Here water, reeds and birds take over again. All that is left is to follow the road for a few hundred metres to close the loop at the start. Allow two hours for the 7.5 km and 140 metres of climbing, with no difficulty.