Millevaches Dark Sky Reserve
Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
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Millevaches Plateau Stargazer
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275
XP
+100 France
= 375 total
2 days
Millevaches Dark Sky Reserve
275 + 100 XP
The Parc naturel régional de Millevaches en Limousin was made an International Dark Sky Reserve on 30 November 2021, the fourth in France and the nineteenth in the world, with a core zone of nine communes over 194 square kilometres where the Milky Way is visible to the naked eye. Below it lies an empty upland of springs, lakes and peat bogs they call the water tower of France: the Vézère, the Vienne, the Creuse and the Corrèze all rise here, and the Longéroux, 255 hectares, is the largest peat bog in the Limousin.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Walk the 580 m up Puy Chabrol above Peyrelevade, one of the eleven night-sky viewpoints the park has set out, and photograph the Milky Way over a plateau where some communes hold fewer than three people to the square kilometre
2
of 4
After dark, walk the sculpture trail on the 70-hectare island at Vassivière with no torch and let your eyes adapt — the lake was filled on Christmas Eve 1950 and drowned eight hamlets, the old village of Vassivière among them, so there is not a light on the water from any of them
3
of 4
Walk the kilometre of boardwalk on the Sentier des Linaigrettes across the Longéroux, 255 hectares at 870 to 900 m and the largest peat bog in the Limousin, find round-leaved sundew on the wet moss, and read the interpretation post on will-o'-the-wisps; if you want the longer version, the nine-kilometre Sentier des Bruyères crosses the infant Vézère twice on wooden footbridges
4
of 4
Find the head of one of the four rivers that rise on this plateau and follow it on foot as far as you can — the Vienne starts under the signal d'Audouze at 953 m and the Corrèze under the mont Larfeuil at 941 m — then work out that the Vienne still has 180 km to run before it cools the reactors at Civaux
Walk the 580 m up Puy Chabrol above Peyrelevade, one of the eleven night-sky viewpoints the park has set out, and photograph the Milky Way over a plateau where some communes hold fewer than three people to the square kilometre
After dark, walk the sculpture trail on the 70-hectare island at Vassivière with no torch and let your eyes adapt — the lake was filled on Christmas Eve 1950 and drowned eight hamlets, the old village of Vassivière among them, so there is not a light on the water from any of them
Walk the kilometre of boardwalk on the Sentier des Linaigrettes across the Longéroux, 255 hectares at 870 to 900 m and the largest peat bog in the Limousin, find round-leaved sundew on the wet moss, and read the interpretation post on will-o'-the-wisps; if you want the longer version, the nine-kilometre Sentier des Bruyères crosses the infant Vézère twice on wooden footbridges
Find the head of one of the four rivers that rise on this plateau and follow it on foot as far as you can — the Vienne starts under the signal d'Audouze at 953 m and the Corrèze under the mont Larfeuil at 941 m — then work out that the Vienne still has 180 km to run before it cools the reactors at Civaux
Before you go
The long nights from October to March give the darkest skies.
The best skies are from October to March, which is also when the plateau gets heavy and sometimes late snow at 900 m; check the roads and carry warm layers, a red torch and a full tank. The park's eleven stargazing points are short walks from the road — Puy Chabrol above Peyrelevade is 580 m on foot, and the Maison du Parc at Millevaches is 90 m — so you do not need to go far in the dark. There is almost no mobile coverage on the high plateau.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
275 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
375 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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