Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The National Nature Reserve of the Chaudefour Valley (RNN105) was created in 1991 in the heart of the Volcans d'Auvergne Regional Nature Park in the commune of Chambon-sur-Lac. It extends over 820 hectares in the Dore Mountains, close to the Chastreix-Sancy Nature Reserve. Its landscape is the result of a violent volcanic eruption 600,000 years ago, which caused the lateral collapse of the Sancy Massif, forming a natural amphitheatre where a lake was established and where some 30 volcanic devices, such as the Rancune tooth, were built.

The valley, shaped by glacial erosion and then fluvio-torrential erosion, has a elevation of 700 meters between the House of the Reserve and the Puy Ferrand. Its diverse ecosystems include grazing meadows, beech forests, lawns, moors, peat bogs and hot mineral springs. The flora has more than 1,600 species, four of which are protected at national level (such as the Willow of Lapons) and rare endemics such as the Auvergne Crepue Jasione, limited to the Sancy massif above 1,500 metres.

Wildlife includes more than 1,200 animal species, including introduced mammals such as the Mouflon or the Chamois, and rare birds in Auvergne, such as the Peregrine Falcon or the Chelion Tichodrome. A subspecies endemic to the Apollo butterfly is also present. The reserve is managed jointly by the Auvergne Volcans Regional Nature Park and the National Forestry Office, with strict regulations to preserve its ecological balance.

The site offers a marked tourist and educational interest, especially for climbing (on the tooth of the Rancune, the ridge of Coq or the needle of the Moine) and hiking. The Russian painter Konstantine Savitski immortalized him in 1872 in a work now exhibited at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. Traditional agro-sylvo-pastoral activities are maintained, while gathering, camping or motor vehicles are prohibited.

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