Arboretum de Royat

Royat, France, France

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The Arboretum de Royat is a remarkable 41-hectare forest arboretum located at the top of Royat along the Route du Puy de Dôme in the Auvergne region of central France, nestled within the state-owned Royat forest at 700 meters altitude.

Established in 1934 to test the acclimatization of exotic tree species in the Massif Central, this nationally classified arboretum contains over 600 species of century-old trees, including more than 40 different essences primarily consisting of conifers from North America, Europe, and North Africa such as Douglas fir, larch, and Lawson cypress.

The site played a crucial role in France's 19th-century mountain reforestation efforts, originally housing a 4-hectare nursery that produced up to 2 million plants annually for reforesting the Limagne fault and the Chaîne des Puys to protect against erosion. Today recognized as one of France's 15 arboretums of national interest by the Office National des Forêts (ONF), it serves as a living laboratory for studying forest adaptation to climate change, with ongoing collections including Mediterranean spruces and oak planted in 2015 and Algerian cypress added in 2024.

The arboretum features walking paths through its diverse tree collections, offers free access to visitors year-round, and can be reached by a 30-minute walk from the Breuil stadium via the "chemin des écoliers" or by bus T2C to the AvanC-Breuil stop.