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The Sioule Valley
Description
From Saint-Gal-sur-Sioule, discover the church of St-Gal, the views from the heights and the banks of the Sioule.
Technical Information
Altimetric profile
Starting point
Steps
Additional information
Tips
Saint-Gal-sur-Sioule: The Sioule gorges
Open period
All year round daily.
Contact
Location complements
Saint-Gal-sur-Sioule is 54 km north of Clermont-Ferrand. Car park next to the church.
Updated by
Office de Tourisme des Combrailles - 03/06/2026
www.combrailles-auvergne-tourisme.fr/
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Reception complements
For your own safety, always take a bottle of water, a hat, warm clothing and footwear suitable for walking.
Depending on the weather conditions, some routes are not recommended in bad weather (fog) or are not practicable, or even forbidden, during the winter season.
Some sites are fragile, so stay on the marked paths. Avoid picking wild flowers and disturbing wildlife. Pick up your rubbish.
Animals are not allowed on some roads
Guidebook with maps/step-by-step
Start: From the start sign, pass between the church entrance and the war memorial, then take the impasse des Drigoux. After the houses, go down a grassy path to a stone cross. Turn right up the track. At the road, turn left, then right on the first hairpin bend. At the T junction, go left. At the next crossroads, go right up to the road.
1 - Follow it to the left. At the crossroads (pressoir), take the road furthest to your left, which continues downhill. Ignore a track on the right and climb up to the road at the entrance to Chaux (view over the valley).
2 - Go left through the village, leaving the Christianized well on your right, and continue downhill. Take the first asphalt road on the right (Sioule valley and Saint-Gal). Stay on this path, leaving a stone Maltese cross on your left. Continue downhill to the village entrance.
3 - Take the Route des Bois to the right, then the Chemin du Bateau to the left, towards the Pont de Saint-Gal campsite, as far as the Sioule. Turn left, follow the river, pass under the bridge and go straight back up. At the crossroads, turn right onto Chemin du Moulin. Continue left to reach the starting point.
Animals
Yes. Dogs must be kept on a leash due to the presence of herds.
