The most beautiful natural sites to discover Chaudeyrolles

Below Chaudeyrolles, there is a marsh covered with a giant cauldron called "the Narces". In south Velay, narce means wetland, swamp. Instead, the term. is used. Until the end of the Second World War, the inhabitants of Chaudeyrolles had accustomed themselves in the early summer to pick up peat, a mixture of rotten wood, plants and land. This peat was shaped into small bricks that were drying in the sun so that they lost their water. In winter, these small, light and porous peat bricks used fuel to fuel furnaces (as in Ireland). Chaudeyrolles was probably the only commune in the department to use peat as a means of heating. The peat bog is now reduced due to the exploitation of peat and drainage to allow grazing.

By entering Chaudeyrolles (from Saint-Julien-Chapteuil), take the first road on the right after the church and continue to descend until you have a magnificent view of the so-called Chaudron de Chaudeyrolles (where still "Les Narces"). Then you will find an explanatory panel on Lignon trout on the left. You are there. Along a meadow where cows and bulls graze in peace, a trail rises in the middle of the grass. Follow it and climb a gorge carved in basalt, it will take you to the bottom of the Cascade waterfall or Salin waterfall. From between two rocks, Lignon makes a stop in the middle of the cliff (a shallow "pot" about three metres in diameter was shaped by the water) before pouring down to the bottom of the cliff to quietly regain its bed. Nice waterfall. You can go back to the right bank to reach the upper level. This part is more rugged. A cable shakes or, it is not a hand for hiker but it is used in winter for climbing the ice walls!