Saint-Julien-Boutières' basalt quarry
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Saint-Julien-Boutières' basalt quarry
SAINT-JULIEN-BOUTIERES

Saint-Julien-Boutières' basalt quarry

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Among the gorgeous, rolling and wooded landscapes of the Boutières, this hike's central theme is the impressive basalt quarry. It bears witness as much to the volcanic nature of the Monts d'Ardèche as to their industrial past.
When coming from the Eyrieux valley, Saint-Julien-Boutières and Intres (which were one village barely a century ago) are the last villages of the Boutières and the high Eyrieux Valley before the Saint-Agrève plateau, where the landscape is altogether different. Here we are still on the slope, as you will soon realize during this beautiful walk. From the town center, it will take you to the banks of the Rimande and the Eyrieux, along the former Vivarais railroad, today transformed into a pleasant path. Among the rolling and wooded landscapes of the Boutières, the impressive basalt quarry, that you will glimpse during this walk, bears witness to this area's industrial past as much as to its volcanic nature.

Description

  1. From the parking lot behind the church of Saint-Julien-Boutières, take the road D120 on your right for 20 m, then turn left on the path that goes uphill after the last house of the town.
  2. You will soon come to a secondary road, take it on the right up to a cistern that you will skirt. The road becomes a track.
  3. At the intersection, turn left on the track up to the "carrefour des Traverses". Then  follow the sign "Chambonnet Haut 1.6 km - Lachapelle-sous-Chanéac 7.9 km".
  4. After 1.5 km, at the intersection with the road D101, turn left for 20 m then right on the tarmacked way that goes down to another road to the Rimande.
  5. At the Cross, turn right towards the hamlet, cross the bridge and take the road on your left for 10 m, then go down towards the river, following the direction "Signe Bernard 2.2 km - Lachapelle-sous-Chanéac 6.4 km".
  6. Cross the bridge on the Rimande to get out of the hamlet. After the bridge, the track goes uphill on the left, across meadows, then into the forest up to a narrow road after 1 km. Be careful : in the forest, the markings can be difficult to follow.
  7. After the forest, take the secondary road on your right for 500 m and follow it to Signe Bernard. Follow the winding road uphill with a few houses on its sides and carry on to the Signe Bernard crossways.
  8. Go straight ahead on the path that goes downhill to "Chambonnet Bas 2.6 km, St-Julien-Boutières 3.6 km" and leave the road. Don't forget to close the barrier. The path goes downhill and offers beautiful sights on the Eyrieux valley and the Boutières.
  9. After 1.5 km, at the hamlet of Tabuant, turn left on the path that goes downhill after the parking lot. After the last house on your left, carry on down to the narrow Tabuant road that then joins the D120.
  10. Cross it with caution and continue on the narrow road in front of you that goes steeply downhill to the Eyrieux. Cross the bridge, turn right and follow the road up to the hamlet of Chambonnet Bas.
  11. After 300 m, and a house on your right, turn left on a road lined with a low wall up to a small cluster of houses.
  12. At the end of the road, after the last house, follow the narrow path that goes along a wall. After 50 m, the path leads to a track. Skirt the ruined farm on the right, ford the river, and then keep well on the track.
  13. At the crossways, turn left to carry on up to the former railroad just before the Sauverzac viaduct.
  14. On the former railroad, converted into a walk (Dolce Via), turn left in the direction of "La Jallat 2.4 km- Saint-Julien-Boutières 3.6 km". Follow the Dolce Via for 2,6 km and pass under the impressive basalt quarry of Saint-Julien-Boutières.
  15.  At the Jallat crossways, leave the Dolce Via and go down the narrow path on your left that takes you back to the Eyrieux (Direction "Saint-Julien-Boutière 1.2 km"). Cross the Eyrieux and head past the factory.
  16. Just after the factory, turn left to the village. At the road sign "zone 30", at the crossways, take the road downhill (Route de la Fabrique) on the left. It will take you along the Eyrieux and then to the center of the village.
  17. At the end of the road, take the stairs on the left (la Calade de la Bastioune) that will bring you back to the parking lot behind the church of Saint-Julien-Boutière, your starting point.
  • Departure : Saint-Julien-Boutières, in front of the church
  • Towns crossed : SAINT-JULIEN-BOUTIERES and INTRES

Altimetric profile

Access and parking

From Saint-Martin-de-Valamas or Saint-Agrève, take the road D120 to the town center of Saint-Julien-Boutières

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