Puy Mary and Salers: The Heart of the Cantal Volcano
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
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Pas de Peyrol Climber
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300
XP
+100 France
= 400 total
2 days
Puy Mary and Salers: The Heart of the Cantal Volcano
300 + 100 XP
The Puy Mary, 1,783m, is what the ice left of the largest stratovolcano in Europe - a horn with seven glacial valleys running out from it like spokes - and a Grand Site de France since 2012, the most visited place in Auvergne. The road over the Pas de Peyrol at its foot, 1,589m, is the highest road pass in the Massif Central; below lies Salers, the black basalt town of the red Salers cattle and their cheese.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Drive over the Pas de Peyrol, at 1,589m the highest road pass in the Massif Central
2
of 4
Climb the concrete stair-path from the Pas de Peyrol to the summit of the Puy Mary, an hour there and back and very steep in places, and from the top name the seven glacial valleys running out below you: the Impradine and Santoire, the petite Rhue, the Mars, the Maronne, the Aspre, the Bertrande and the Jordanne
3
of 4
Walk the Grande Place of Salers, one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France, with its Renaissance mansions of black basalt
4
of 4
Taste AOP Salers, a raw-milk cheese made only on the farm between 15 April and 15 November, the milk going straight from the udder into a wooden gerle whose timber carries the bacteria that give it its taste; look for the red plastic tab on the rind, and for the words Tradition Salers, which are only added when the herd is of the mahogany Salers breed with the lyre horns. A whole one weighs 35 to 55 kilos
Drive over the Pas de Peyrol, at 1,589m the highest road pass in the Massif Central
Climb the concrete stair-path from the Pas de Peyrol to the summit of the Puy Mary, an hour there and back and very steep in places, and from the top name the seven glacial valleys running out below you: the Impradine and Santoire, the petite Rhue, the Mars, the Maronne, the Aspre, the Bertrande and the Jordanne
Walk the Grande Place of Salers, one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France, with its Renaissance mansions of black basalt
Taste AOP Salers, a raw-milk cheese made only on the farm between 15 April and 15 November, the milk going straight from the udder into a wooden gerle whose timber carries the bacteria that give it its taste; look for the red plastic tab on the rind, and for the words Tradition Salers, which are only added when the herd is of the mahogany Salers breed with the lyre horns. A whole one weighs 35 to 55 kilos
Before you go
Salers cheese can only be made between 15 April and 15 November, while the cows are out at grass.
The Pas de Peyrol is completely closed to traffic from November to May and sometimes into June while the snowfield on the north side melts.
There are only 200 parking spaces at the col and on a summer day there can be 500 vehicles; take the shuttle minibus that has run each summer since 2016 from Le Falgoux, Le Claux or Mandailles rather than driving up.
The approach roads to the Pas de Peyrol are steep, narrow and hairpinned - hard work in a long motorhome and not a place to meet a coach.
The Puy Mary is one of the wettest places in France, about 2.5 metres of rain a year; cloud can close in on the summit within minutes, so take waterproofs even in August.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
300 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
400 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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