Puy de Sancy

At one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six metres the Puy de Sancy is the highest summit in the Massif Central and in mainland France outside the Alps and Pyrenees. It is what remains of a stratovolcano active until roughly two hundred and twenty thousand years ago, worn down by glaciers into a jagged ridge of dikes and cirques rather than a cone. The Dore and the Dogne meet just below the north side and become the Dordogne. A cable car climbs most of the way from Le Mont-Dore and a long wooden stairway covers the last stretch, which keeps walkers off the fragile summit soils.

What you actually see

• The eroded volcano - ridges and cirques rather than a cone.
• The summit stairway - a boarded climb protecting the fragile ground.
• The Dordogne source - two streams joining below the north face.
• The Monts Dore panorama - volcanic summits across Auvergne.

When to go

June to October for walking; the area works as a ski resort in winter with the cable car running. Cloud sits on the summit often, so a clear forecast matters.

Honest expectations

The summit is frequently in cloud with no view at all. The final stairway is long and exposed to wind. Cable car queues build on fine weekends and it closes in high wind.

Nearby

Le Mont-Dore lies below; Lac Pavin is southeast.