Riols

Start from the car park and follow the path to the right. At the crossroads of 4 paths, climb straight ahead to reach a road. Take it to the left and, 100 m further on, turn right onto the path that enters the wood.

(1) At the junction, turn left. 50 m further on, at the fork, take the path ahead. At the next one, climb the path on the right. Then keep going straight on along the main path. At the junction with another path, turn left (view of the Monts du Forez). At the wooden cross, carry straight on along the path and go down to the tarmac road.

(2) Follow it straight ahead and cross the bridge. 100 m after the bridge, climb the path on the right. Then keep climbing straight on along the main path. At the top of the climb (view of the Monts du Forez and the Col des Pradeaux), at the junction, turn left and go down to the hamlet of Faillargues. At the wooden cross, at the crossroads, take the road on the right. At the fork, take the tarmac road on the left (view of the Monts du Forez).

(3) 100 m after leaving the village, take the path that goes down on the left. Keep going down the main path. At the hairpin, continue to the right, still on the main path (view of the Monts du Forez and the Col des Pradeaux). At a meadow entrance, at the end of the path, take the footpath ahead. 150 m further on, at a fork, continue left on the path that goes down into the woods (a really lovely descent through woods carpeted with moss, a lovely shaded footpath). At the junction of 3 paths, go straight ahead; the path makes a hairpin to the left. Just after the hairpin, follow the small stream on the right and cross it 50 m further on.

(4) At the next junction, go down the path on the left and go through a sawmill. Carry straight on then, 50 m after the sawmill, fork left onto the small road. The road becomes a path; take the leftmost one. 70 m after the last house, take a small footpath on the right between 2 meadows and go down towards the Riols pond. At the pond, continue straight ahead on the forest track to the D205. Then follow the road on the left.

(5) At the first houses of Fourcheval, fork left onto a gravel path. At the tarmac road, take it straight ahead. Go past the chapel and the bridge, keep going straight on along the road to the last houses, where the road becomes a path (view of the Monts du Forez and the Col des Pradeaux).

(6) Then take the first path that climbs gently on the left. 150 m further on, in the middle of a copse, take the footpath on the right that enters the wood. On leaving the wood (view of the Monts du Livradois and the Monts du Forez), continue on the main path to the road and take it to the left. Keep following the road. At the junction, go down to the right. Continue on the road that goes round the block of houses to get back to the car park.