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Hiking in Puy-de-Dôme

963

routes

8.8 km

median distance

218 m

median elevation gain

You walk on volcanoes here. The Chaîne des Puys, a World Heritage site, lines up eighty cones over thirty kilometres: from Orcines, the climb up the Puy de Dôme by the Chemin des Muletiers remains the department's signature route.

Further south the Sancy massif changes the scale. Le Mont-Dore gives access to the highest point in the Massif Central, to broad ridges and glacier-carved valleys. Chambon-sur-Lac and Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise open onto the crater lakes — Pavin, Chambon — and the shepherds' huts of the Cézallier.

Median gain passes 200 metres, but the climbing is rarely brutal: volcanic slopes are steady, and you gain height without sudden efforts.

When to go — May to October for comfort; the Sancy ridges take snow early and the area is skied in winter, when snowshoes take over.

OpenRando lists 963 hiking routes in Puy-de-Dôme. The median distance is 8.8 km, and most routes fall between 4.2 and 17.2 km — from an afternoon loop to a full day out.

On the climbing side, the median elevation gain is 218 m, and the most demanding routes exceed 546 m. Enough range to pick your effort by season and by form.

The most common starting points cluster around: Mont-Dore, Orcines, Chambon-sur-Lac, Saint-Genès-Champanelle, Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise, Murol. Every route comes with its GPX track, elevation profile and interactive map.

Longest routes in Puy-de-Dôme

  • Boucle Vue sur le lac Pavin – Point de vue sur le lac Pavin au départ de Compains28.6 km
  • Boucle Le lac de Saint-Alyre – Lac de La Godivelle d’en haut au départ de La Godivelle28.6 km
  • Boucle Sommet du Puy de Dôme – Chemin des Muletiers au départ de Ceyssat28.4 km

All routes in Puy-de-Dôme