Chaîne des Puys - faille de Limagne

Indissociable from the image of the Auvergne region, the Chaîne des Puys - Limagne Fault is a very recent group of 80 peaks representing all forms of volcanism. The eruptions that formed these cones, domes and maars took place between 95,000 and 8,500 years ago. The highest peak is the Puy de Dôme at 1465 meters, classified as a "Grand site de France", which can be climbed aboard the Panoramique des Dômes cogwheel train.

Largely made up of so-called monogenic volcanoes (formed in a single, brief eruption), the Chaîne des Puys - faille de Limagne is a veritable open-air encyclopedia, bringing together all the basic forms of volcanoes:
- domes: puy de Dôme, puy Chopine, Grand Sarcoui, Cliersou ;
- cones: puy de Vichatel, twin craters of La Vache and Lassolas, puys de Jumes and de Coquille;
- maars: narse d'Espinasse (to the south), maar de Beaunit (to the north).
The variety of these lavas is due to the different depths of the magma chambers.

Aligned parallel to the Chaîne des Puys, the fault is almost 30 km long, stretching from Enval through Sayat and Royat to Ceyrat. A sort of 700-metre-high wall of vegetation, it marks the separation between the Dômes plateau and the Limagne plain, where the city of Clermont-Ferrand is located.
The Limagne fault, a major geological and tectonic feature of the application, originated some 300 million years after the Plateau des Dômes, and is also linked to continental movements.

Take care on your winter outings in the Chaîne des Puys: due to the meteorological events of recent weeks (strong winds, heavy snow), many trees and branches have fallen on the hiking trails in the volcanoes of the Chaîne des Puys - Limagne fault.
Successive phases of freezing and thawing have made the paths slippery and muddy. Before setting off on your hike, make sure you're properly equipped and plan your routes in advance, giving priority to the foot of the volcanoes. The paths will be gradually cleared by the technical teams.

Free access.

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