Surroundings

Walking

The Montagne Bourbonnaise offers endless possibilities for all kinds of sporting activities, both in summer and winter. For example, there are some beautiful climbing rocks in St. Nicolas des Biefs (10 minutes from Le Pré-Châtel). In St. Clement at the Plan d’Eau reservoir, you can canoe and pedal boat. There is also a climbing park, with a spectacular zip line over the lake.

But the simplest activity remains walking. Whether you like short or long walks, the forests of the Montagne Bourbonnaise invite you for a good dose of fresh air. There are many marked walking routes with accompanying walking maps. Simple routes from a few kilometers to day trips. The area is so vast that you can easily plot routes yourself. With or without the help of a topographical map of the region.

We are happy to help you select suitable routes, including one of the longer routes that can be found via the free Wikiloc app.

A new way of walking is “Geocaching”. It is a combination of walking and a kind of treasure hunt. The goal is to find a “treasure” that is hidden. The search can begin using GPS coordinates and possibly some clues. Geocaching is fun for children, but certainly also for adults. Every year, a large international Geocaching event is organized in the Montagne Bourbonnaise, attracting hundreds of Geocachers.

In the video below you can see an impression of some activities including geocaching and climbing here in the Montagne Bourbonnaise.

surrounding

Cycling

The Montagne Bourbonnaise is a mid-mountain range that starts at an altitude of 500 meters and ends at the top of the Puy de Montoncel at 1287 meters. The Montagne is enclosed on both sides by the rivers Allier and Loire. On the west side of the mountain range lies the Allier valley, and on the east side the Loire.

The area is still relatively unknown to Dutch cyclists, but it is time for this to change quickly. The region is ideal for both road cyclists and VTT riders. Challenging climbs with significant gradients, or races on flat roads with some false flats.

There is a wide variety of different routes for road cyclists. Because the landscape is very varied, many varied routes are within easy reach. As a holidaymaker or in preparation for the high mountains, the Montagne Bourbonnaise has a lot to offer.

Various routes are available or can be downloaded via openrunner, wikiloc or strava.

What applies to road cyclists certainly also applies to VTT cyclists. The wooded and hilly area is the setting for hundreds of kilometers of paved and unpaved paths. Something for everyone.

To convince you, here is an impression of this region by bike.