Sources de l'Allier (Moure de la Gardille)

Chasseradès (Mont Lozère et Goulet)

The longest river of the Massif central rises almost unobtrusively. According to Wikipedia, the Allier gushes out in Lozère, in the commune of Chasseradès, on the flank of the Moure de la Gardille (1,503 m), in the Margeride. The sources of the Allier and the Chassezac are less than two kilometres from each other, but one flows off to the Loire, the other to the Rhône. One hiker describes it as a thin trickle running into a quiet pond, at the bottom of a ravine under old beeches; another booklet judges it ‘almost derisory’ for such a powerful river. The place nonetheless keeps memories of men. In 1992, three young people from Langeac followed the Allier up to its source in twelve days. An enamelled plaque recalls the feat, but it stands about a kilometre downstream, on a small cement dam that the mayor of Chasseradès inaugurated in 1995: the first development of the river. On a beech, an inscription painted in yellow, ‘ALLIR’, intrigued the same author. The GR 470 trail, about 200 km long from Brioude, ends here. As with other great watercourses, the exact location of the spring has been debated; no ancient legend was found in the sources consulted.

Getting there: From the ridge path (GR 7) at the foot of the Moure de la Gardille, a carved pine signpost indicates the spring about 150 m from the path, down a steep slope under the beech wood (hiker's account, etoile.fr). Coordinates: OpenStreetMap node ‘Source de l'Allier’; the ‘remarkable spring’ sign recorded by Visorando is at 44.5860 / 3.7945, about 500 m further west: exact position to be checked on the ground.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound