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Circuit du Puy de Dôme - panneaux indicateurs - 001

Volcano·FranceFrance

Puy de Dôme

1,465m

Chaîne des Puys

Summit weather

Thesupermat · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation
1,465m
Prominence
485m
Isolation
18km
Relief
754mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope
40°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit
Nov–AprSee month by month ↓
Summit
45.7725°N, 2.9644°E

Volcano in France

Puy de Dôme is a volcano in the Chaîne des Puys (France). Its summit stands 1,465 m above sea level. Its prominence — how far it rises above the highest saddle linking it to a taller summit — is 485 m, and the nearest higher ground is 18 km away.

From the lowest point within 5 km (711 m), it rises 754 m. The steepest side is the south-east face: 26° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 40° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

The nearest town is Orcines, 4 km away at 822 m: 643 m below the summit.

Read more on Wikipedia

Scores

Puy de Dôme for skiers and climbers

Two scores out of 10, built only from open data — every part is shown. They describe what the mountain offers, not how safe it is.

Hiking & mountaineering

6.1/10

Difficulty to the top

Hike

Most path sections around the top are T1 on the SAC hiking scale.

Indicative only — never a safety assessment. Conditions change: ask local guides and check the forecast.

  • 2.5/2.526 waymarked routes and 25 path sections nearby
  • 0.0/1.50 huts and shelters
  • 0.6/2643 m of ascent from the valley
  • 1.2/1.5485 m of prominence
  • 1.5/1.512 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
  • 0.3/1via ferratas, climbing and glaciers

Ski score

—

No ski runs within 12 km in OpenStreetMap.

How these scores are made

Ski (where OpenStreetMap has skiing within 12 km): up to 4 points for the length of downhill runs (300 km or more = 4), 1.5 for the number of lifts (40+), 1.5 for the vertical between lift stations (1,500 m) and 3 for the snow season — a month counts when the estimated mean temperature at the height of the ski area is −1 °C or lower and snow falls or lies there (NASA POWER, 2001–2020). Hiking & mountaineering: up to 2.5 for waymarked routes and paths, 1.5 for huts, 2 for the ascent from the valley (2,000 m), 1.5 for prominence (3,000 m), 1.5 for the season (months with summit afternoons above −5 °C) and 1 for via ferratas, climbing and glaciers. OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: where few things are mapped, a score can be lower than reality.

Plan your visit

Stay, climb and get there

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

Snow

When there is snow on Puy de Dôme

At the summit, snow from November to April. Month by month below, at different heights on the way up.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Summit1,465 msnow from November to April
Snow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all monthNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowSnow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all month
Orcines822 moccasional snow from December to February
Snow some of the timeSnow some of the timeNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowSnow some of the time
  • Snow on the ground all month
  • Snow some of the time
  • No snow
  • This month

Estimate for a normal year: average temperature and precipitation from NASA POWER, carried to each height, in a simple model of snow building up and melting. In a given year snow can come earlier or stay longer. It does not replace the local snow and avalanche bulletin.

Summit weather

Puy de Dôme, month by month

Not a forecast: long-term averages (1991–2020), carried up to the summit. The orange line is where an average afternoon reaches 0 °C; above the dashed blue line it freezes even at dawn.

On an average July afternoon the summit reaches about 20 °C; on February nights it falls to about -8 °C. In 2 months of the year it stays below freezing at the top even in the afternoon. In July the 0 °C line climbs to about 4,510 m, above the summit: the top thaws on an average afternoon. Across the region, February is the driest month (33 mm) and May the wettest (80 mm).

0 m1,000 m2,000 m3,000 m4,000 m5,000 mSUMMIT · 1,465 mORCINES · 822 mJanuary: 1,300 mFebruary: 1,460 mMarch: 2,130 mApril: 2,760 mMay: 3,330 mJune: 4,100 mJuly: 4,510 mAugust: 4,460 mSeptember: 3,790 mOctober: 3,030 mNovember: 2,020 mDecember: 1,400 mJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit
MonthSummit high °CSummit low °COrcines high °C0 °C line (m)Rain & snow (mm)Wet daysSun h/day
January-1-831,30044112.2
February0-841,46033103.6
March4-582,13045105.4
April8-2132,76063126.5
May121163,33080147.0
June176214,10068128.4
July208244,51068118.7
August207244,46069107.9
September153193,79055106.7
October100143,03064124.4
November4-482,02061132.7
December0-741,40050121.9

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 495 m), adjusted to the summit by −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Rain, wet days and sunshine are those of the region. Mountain weather changes fast — always check a local forecast. ★ = mildest months at the top.

Relief

The mountain in profile

Two cuts through the summit, 16 km long, from the 30 m Copernicus elevation model. Heights drawn 4× taller than lengths, so the shape can be seen.

West – east
1,465 m421 m0 km2 km4 km6 km8 km10 km12 km14 km16 kmWE
South – north
1,465 m947 m0 km2 km4 km6 km8 km10 km12 km14 km16 kmSN
Steepness by direction
30°N: 16°NNE: 18°NEE: 26°ESE: 26°SES: 24°SSW: 20°SWW: 22°WNW: 20°NW

Average slope of the first kilometre from the summit. The orange petal is the steepest side.

Around the mountain

Huts, lifts and trails around Puy de Dôme

Counted around the summit in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. The satellite plate shows 14 × 14 km.

Puy de Dôme seen from above (Sentinel-2) N 5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 14 × 14 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

  • —mountain huts and shelters
  • —cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
  • —ski areas
  • 26waymarked hiking routes

    Les Gorges de l'Artiere, Boucle des Dômes, Les Puys Chopine et des Gouttes, La Croix de Ternant and 22 more

  • —via ferratas
  • 5climbing crags and routes

    Champeaux, Ceyrat, La montagne percée and 2 more

  • —named glaciers
  • 29viewpoints

    Rocher du Salut, Tour de guet and 27 more

  • 7campsites

    Aire de service de camping car d'Orcines, Aire de campings-cars de vulcania, Camping de la Haute Sioule, Camping Le Chanset and 3 more

  • 45hotels, B&Bs and chalets

    Holiday Inn, Logis Hotels, La Calèche, Hôtel des Négociants and 41 more

  • 314restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

25 path sections within 5 km, by SAC hiking scale (T1 easy walk … T6 difficult alpine).

T1T2
  • T1 hiking
  • T2 mountain hiking

Towns at the foot

  • Orcines4 km · 822 m
  • Royat7 km · 506 m
  • Saint-Genès-Champanelle7 km · 878 m
  • Durtol7 km · 518 m
  • Chamalières8 km · 421 m
  • Nohanent8 km · 447 m
  • Ceyrat9 km · 568 m
  • Sayat9 km · 448 m

OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: a low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. Places © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Photos

Seen by climbers and visitors

Le Puy de Dôme (3)
PIERRE ANDRE LECLERCQ · CC BY-SA 4.0
Le Puy de Dôme (4)
PIERRE ANDRE LECLERCQ · CC BY-SA 4.0

Recent years

How each month compared at the summit

Afternoon high at the summit (estimate). The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years show only the difference.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
1991–2020 average-104812172020151040
2020+2.4+4.3+0.8+3.4+1.8−2.1+1.6+2.4+2.2−2.5+2.7+0.7
2021−1.4+3.7+0.5−1.1−2.2+0.3−3.0−1.4+1.3−0.9−2.6+0.9
2022−0.7+2.7+2.1−0.2+4.1+2.7+1.8+2.8+0.5+5.0+2.5+1.0
2023+0.2+1.7+1.2−0.7−0.2+2.3+1.7+2.1+6.1+4.4+0.5+1.9
2024+1.4+3.4+1.9−0.3−1.2−1.9−0.5+2.0−2.5+1.3+2.0+0.7
2025+1.3+2.6+0.9+1.9+2.5+5.6+1.7+3.7+0.1−0.1+1.3+2.6

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominenceWikidata (Q607372) · CC0
Relief, 3D view, profilesCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020 · CC BY 4.0
Around the mountain© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

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