Saugues › Le Sauvage

🗺️ Stage Map

📖 Stage Description

Leaving Saugues, the path changes in character. Villages become scarce. The plateau climbs gently, steadily, through landscapes of moorland and granite swept by a constant wind. The Margeride.

You walk for a long time without meeting much. That is precisely the point.

The hospice of Le Sauvage appears at the end of a long straight track — an isolated silhouette of stone at 1,340 metres altitude. It has stood since the 12th century, built to shelter pilgrims lost in the snow. In winter, you quickly understand why it was necessary. In summer, it is simply beautiful and silent. Sleep there if you can — the evening atmosphere is worth the detour.

This stage crosses the Haute-Loire / Lozère region over 19.4 km with 700 m of ascent. Main villages: Les Estrets / Fontans (km 7, 1080m) — former commandery, Saint-Alban-sur-Limagnole (km 13, 1080m).

🌄 Walking Conditions

Sun exposure and terrain type over 19,3 km

☀ Sun Exposure

🥾 Terrain

⏱️ Your Estimated Duration

Estimez votre temps de marche selon votre profil — calcul basé sur la règle de Naismith et le dénivelé de l’étape.

📍 Villages and Waypoints

• 0km

  Saugues · Start

  Starting point of stage 3. Altitude: 960 m.

  💧 Water🏕️ Accommodation
• 8.1km

  Les Estrets / Fontans — Ancienne commanderie

  Village on stage 3.

  💧 Water🏕️ Accommodation
• 14.2km

  Saint-Alban-sur-Limagnole

  Village on stage 3.

  💧 Water🏕️ Accommodation
• 19.6km

  Le Sauvage · End

  Arrival point of stage 3.

  💧 Water🛒 Shops🏕️ Accommodations

⚠️ Practical Information

• ⚠️
  Difficulty

  Gradual climb onto the Margeride plateau — max altitude 1,300 m.

  Open terrain, very exposed to wind — warm clothing essential even in summer.

  Fog and storms possible at any time on the plateau.
• 💧
  Water Points

  Saugues (start)

  Fontans-Estrets (km 7)

  Saint-Alban (km 13)

  Le Sauvage (km 19.4)
• 🛒
  Supplies

  Le Sauvage km 19.4 · Supermarket · Bakery
• 🏕️
  AccommodationGîtes, chambres d'hôtes and campsites available on arrival.
• 🌿
  Monuments & Heritage

  Plateau de la Margeride km 5 · Granite plateau at 1,200–1,300 m, gorse moorlands and Scots pine forests, wild landscape

  Village de Chanaleilles km 6.4 · Granite village with fountain and wash houses, rural architecture of the Margeride

  Commanderie hospitalière du Sauvage km 19 · Former 12th-century commandery of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, historic halt on the Via Podiensis

  Croix de granite de la Margeride km 19.3 · Carved granite wayside cross, pilgrim gathering point since the Middle Ages
• 🚕
  Taxi / Bail-out

  Taxi Saugues — 04 71 77 83 25

  Taxi Pinols/Saint-Flour (30 km) — 04 71 60 20 20

  Your accommodation can call a local taxi