Les Noës: Peat bog, hiking trails and heritage

Les Noës is located in the Tâche Valley between the Croix du Sud and Croix Trévingt passes. With the Font blanche peat bog, hiking trails and the history surrounding Jean-Marie Vianney, the area offers a range of highlights for your stay: nature, outdoor activities and religious heritage.

Scenery, viewpoints and peat bog

Hiking trails in Les Noës wind through forests and meadows, past rocks and streams. Several viewpoints offer impressive views of the Rouchain Dam and the Roannaise Plain. This means the landscape along the trails and the sweeping views of the dam and plain provide different perspectives on the area.

The Tourbière de Font blanche is located at Hameau de la Verrerie, 42370 Les Noës. The 4,000-year-old peat bog is shaped like a domed mound. It can be reached from Hameau de la Verrerie via the RD 478. As access regulations may change, check them before your visit. Work carried out in 2020 enabled the bog to once again support the flora and fauna characteristic of this unique habitat.

A roadside optical curiosity

La route magique is a natural curiosity on a 300 m stretch of road just after Les Noës, between the D42 and the hamlet of Les Robins. The road appears to go uphill, although it actually goes downhill—or vice versa. Unlike the peat bog landscape, this phenomenon is based on the impression of a slope that seems to run in the opposite direction.

Comparing hikes

L’Avoine is a marked circular hiking route in Les Noës. It is rated difficult, is 9.0 km long, involves 310 m of ascent and takes 2 hours 30 minutes. La Grande Borne is also a marked circular hiking route in Les Noës and is rated difficult. It is 13.0 km long, involves 550 m of ascent and takes 3 hours 45 minutes.

By comparison, La Grande Borne is 4 km longer, involves 240 m more ascent and takes 1 hour 15 minutes longer. Both routes have the same difficulty rating; the difference is in distance, ascent and time required. Route details may change. Before setting out, check the information, trail markers and trail conditions.

Local religious history

The Oratoire des Noës is a granite oratory built by residents of Les Noës in 1888. It bears an image of the Curé d’Ars, Jean-Marie Vianney. Vianney stayed in Les Noës in 1810–1811 and later became known as the Curé d’Ars. His stay gave the area a special place in the veneration of the saint.

Marymbe is also part of this history: this prominent hamlet on the ridge of the Rouchain Valley was the starting point of the great pilgrimage route to the Madeleine. On the first Sundays in August, Les Noës commemorates the Curé d’Ars at the Oratoire des Noës and at the statue at the entrance to the village from the direction of Renaison. If you would like to plan your trip around this annual commemoration, check the dates in advance.

Another leisure activity

Archery is one of the leisure activities available in Les Noës. Check local arrangements before you set off.

Discover more destinations: Notre-Dame-De-Boisset, Sury-Le-Comtal, Briennon, Saint-Paul-en-Jarez, Verrières-En-Forez, Belmont-De-La-Loire, La Grand-Croix, Pélussin.

Go to the main travel overview: Loire.