Trail de l'Aubrac

The Trail de l'Aubrac is a 55-kilometer trail race with 2,000 meters of elevation gain starting from Laguiole, in Aveyron. This event crosses the Aubrac plateau, one of the last great wild expanses in France, a territory of high volcanic lands, immense pastures, and altitude lakes where wind and light reign as absolute masters.

The Aubrac is a basaltic plateau situated between 1,000 and 1,400 meters altitude, spanning Aveyron, Cantal, and Lozere. Its expanses of pastures, punctuated by dry-stone walls and basalt burons, stretch to the horizon under an immense sky. This landscape, often compared to the highland plateaus of Scotland or Iceland, possesses an austere and captivating beauty, marked by solitude and silence.

The Trail de l'Aubrac course crosses these expanses in their entirety. Runners set off from Laguiole, a town renowned for its knives and cheese, and quickly reach the transhumance paths that crisscross the plateau. The trails wind between pastures where Aubrac cattle graze, recognizable by their tawny coats and dark-rimmed eyes, before crossing beech forests, skirting glacial lakes, and traversing high-altitude peatlands.

The 2,000 meters of elevation gain accumulate throughout the course, with progressive climbs to the plateau's high points and descents into the valleys cutting its flanks. The terrain is varied: dirt paths between pastures, mountain trails on ridges, peatland passages, and crossings through stone hamlets. The wind, omnipresent on the Aubrac, can be a major difficulty factor, sometimes blowing with considerable force on exposed sections.

Laguiole is the beating heart of the Aubrac. The Laguiole cooperative dairy produces aligot and AOP Laguiole cheese, two treasures of Aveyron gastronomy. The Laguiole forge, where the famous knives with Aubrac horn handles are crafted, is an essential visit. The bronze bull adorning the village square recalls the importance of livestock in this territory's identity.

The Trail de l'Aubrac crosses remarkable natural and heritage sites: the lakes of Soulages and Bonnecombe, classified peatlands, millennia-old transhumance drailles, and granite crosses that have marked the paths since the Middle Ages. Passing the burons, those former high-altitude cheese dairies where buronniers made fresh tome during the summer months, is a highlight of the course.

Aid stations celebrate Aubrac gastronomy: aligot, dried sausage, fouace, and Aubrac tea. The atmosphere is that of an open-spaces race, where the plateau's austere beauty and the generosity of the welcome create a deeply memorable trail experience. The Trail de l'Aubrac is an invitation to discover a territory outside of time, a land of silences and light where trail running takes on an almost contemplative dimension.