Le Puy de Faux

Camping du Puy de Faux is in the centre of the village of Faux-la-Montagne, in the Creuse, within the Millevaches en Limousin regional nature park. It is run by the commune, in an area that touches the Creuse, Corrèze and Haute-Vienne departments and has been an International Dark Sky Reserve since 2021. Lac de Faux is 800 m away, Lac de Vassivière 7 km, and Eymoutiers about 25 minutes.

The site is described as a human-scale campsite: pitches are separated by small hedges, not all have electricity, and you can give the size of your tent, caravan, van or motorhome so that you are placed as well as possible. Next door, the commune rents seven equipped gîtes, including one for 9 people (Mélèze) and six smaller ones with a table for 6 (Perche, Sandre, Bruyère, Fougère, Girolles, Cèpes).

As for opening, the Binhata, which also serves as the tourist office, publishes gîte rates for the whole year, with an off-season that covers winter, from 10 December to 28 March, and autumn. The gîtes are heated with heating oil, charged by the day, and the booking calendars run for more than a year. Opening dates for the pitches are not given on the website: they should be confirmed with reception.

The village is very sparsely populated, with about 8 inhabitants per km², which guarantees quiet nights and clear skies.

Hiking all year, fishing on Lac de Faux, Monday market in the village and local events depending on the season; designated dark sky reserve.

The campsite remains simple and practical. One sanitary block has a cabin adapted for people with reduced mobility (toilet and shower); the women’s block has two showers and three toilets, the men’s one shower, two toilets and two urinals. Three dishwashing sinks and a laundry sink are available, along with a room with a fridge and freezer for campers. A washing machine is available for an extra charge. Every arrival must be registered, and departures are reported the day before.

The seven gîtes have an open, equipped kitchen (induction hob, oven, microwave, fridge-freezer, 12-place dishwasher), a living room with a sofa bed, a television and wifi. In the Mélèze gîte, two bedrooms have a 140 cm bed and a third has bunk beds and two single beds; the other gîtes have one bedroom upstairs and one on the ground floor. Heating runs on heating oil, bed linen can be provided, and a shared washing machine is outside.

The village provides the rest: bakery-pastry shop-grocery, restaurant-bar, tea room, health centre, pharmacy, a 24-hour petrol station and a market on Monday mornings. Takeaway pizzas are sold on Wednesday evenings from March to November. There is no pool on site: people swim in the nearby lakes, and the Eymoutiers pool is open in summer only.

People come here for nature and quiet. The hiking trails of the Limousin uplands can be walked all year, and the commune suggests walks on themes such as architecture, crafts, wildlife, flora or sport. Lac de Faux, a few hundred metres away, can be reached on foot; the lakes of Chammet, Lavaud-Gelade and Vassivière can be reached by bike along small, shaded roads, according to one visitor.

Fishing has a special place: the Mélèze gîte carries the Accommodation Pêche label, with a fridge and a tank for live bait, and the Creuse fishing federation has set up a fishing spot adapted for people with reduced mobility on Lac de Faux. The website also points out that the plateau, barely lit at night, is well suited to stargazing.

As for local life, the Binhata provides information on the cultural and sporting events held through the seasons; it houses the post office, the media library and the booking of the municipal halls. Off-season, you can count on the Monday market, the markets of Eymoutiers (Saturday, and the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month) and Felletin (Friday), or the cinemas of Eymoutiers and Aubusson, 25 and 40 minutes away. No entertainment programme is published for the campsite.