La Min-sú de Terrasson: Active exploration, hike, bike, horse ride and kayak

Ecotourism

Through this page we give you some general information help exploring our castle-strewn riverlands, the causse, gardens, forests and mesmerising prehistoric cave paintings.

Find out more about the ecotourism highlights through our pages:

We grouped the ways to actively explore the landsape:

>	Walking	Light strolls around town or villages
>	Hiking	Longer trails away from the pavement and into the countryside
>	Long distance hiking	Hiking trails consisting of several section taking several days to complete
>	Cycling	Reasonably flat and paved surfaces provided by dedicated 'voie vertes' or cycling paths
>	Biking	All terrain trails often shared with hikers or horse riders
>	Kayaking

Most of the walks are based on hand-out leaflets of the local tourism-office or government. The hiking (and biking) trails are public trails signposted and maintained by the departmental government. A number of private companies provide services on kayaking and biking.

Public hiking trails

Villages that are the starting point of public hiking trails do normally provide a public parking space with an information panel. You can follow the sign posts and direction indicators. Though, sign posts and indicators are often quite a challenge to find and follow, so it would be smart to bring along a guide map as back-up.

Public hiking trails normally make 'boucles' (literally 'belt'; indicating they start and finish at the same spot) and are coloured yellow, designated horse riding tracks are orange, and trails 'linking' different boucles are indicated in green (these are not circular). The sign of a triangle with two circles indicates an all terrain biking trail; colour green means very easy, blue for easy, red for difficult and black for very difficult. Long distance hiking trails are indicated with a white and red line.

Most indicators are wooden poles and to define the direction of the trail you have to look at its position relative to the path. Straight on, straight on, follow the direction indicated on the pole. Directions are indicated as: straight on, turn right or turn left. If you get to a crossed out one, it means you are on the wrong path and should go back.

indication
Go straight-on.

indication
Turn in the direction of the pole.

Directions are indicated as follows:

indication
Go straight-on.

indication
Turn right.

indication
Turn left.

If you get to a crossed out one, it means you are on the wrong path and should go back.

Actively exploring Terrasson without assistance
>	Walks (promenades) around Terrasson
>	Hikes (randonnées) around Terrasson
Walking, hiking and biking in the Coly valley (drop-off & pick-up)
>	Walk, hike or bike around Saint Amand de Coly
>	Walk or hike around La Cassagne
>	Walk or hike around Saint Geniès
>	Hike around Ladornac
>	Walk or hike around Salignac-Eyvigues
>	Walk or hike around Condat sur Vézère
Other hikes (drop-off & pick-up)
>	Hike around Aubas
>	Walk and hike around Montignac
>	Hike around Le Saillant
>	Hike around Cublac
Long distance hiking trails Find more information through these external links
>	In the footsteps of the Men of Lascaux
>	La route des canons
>	Chemins de Compostelle: Bergerac - Rocamadour
>	GPR Gorges de la Vézère
>	GPR Le Causse corrézien
>	GPR Midi Corrézien

Public cycling trails

The Dordogne department has a large number of All-Terrain-Biking trails that are not for the faint of heart. The Grands itinéraires a vélo en Dordogne Périgord, are build on european and national véloroutes. V90 Isle Valley connects Périgueux with Libourne (Gironde) and on to Bordeaux. La flow vélo connects the Île d'Aix/Rochefort on the Atlantic coast with Terrasson through Saintes - Cognac - Angoulême - Nontron - Thiviers - Hauteforte can be accessed through the VR Périgueux / flow vélo et Miallet. The long distance cycling route Dans la Roue de Lawrence d'Arabie follows the trail of the young Laurence. Plans to connect Brive and Limeuil through the Vézère valley, and Terrasson with Sarlat are on the drawing boards.

Cycling
>	Cycling around Terrasson
>	Voie verte Dordogne
>	Voie verte Isle
>	Cycling around the Vézère valley
Longdistance cycling routes Find more information through these external links
>	Flow velo; VR Périgueux / flow vélo et Miallet
>	VR Val de Dronne; VR Isle - Dronne
>	V90 Val de Isle;
>	V91 Val de Dordogne
>	Dans la Roue de Lawrence d'Arabie

Kayak down the Vézère

An interesting, active and adventurous way to explore the Vézère valley is by kayak. A number of Kayak companies operate on the Vézère offering a number of drop-off and pick-up locations, sadly the kayak base of Terrasson did not re-open after COVID. Choose a route of a few hours (reserve half day) or a day depending on your interest and condition.

Pull your kayak from the water to have lunch at picturesque Saint Leon, or a number of sights to visit. The following map and table give an indication of the possibilities and average time needed.

Route	Km	Hours
Montignac – Saint Leon	12	3
Thonac - Tursac	12	3
Montignac – Les Eyzies	30	7

Kayak companies drop you, your kayak and equipment at the agreed starting point, and pick you up from the agreed end of your trip. In between you are pretty much ‘on your own’. Kayaking is easy and fun, though might be challenging if this is your first experience. It is advisable to have at least one experienced person to help.

Alternatively find out more about white water rafting opportunities in the Corrèze.

La Min-sú de Terrasson

retreat, reflect, refresh

Ecotourism

Public hiking trails

Public cycling trails

Kayak down the Vézère