Puy de Montoncel, Mountain summit in Bois Noirs, France

Puy de Montoncel is a forested summit at 1287 metres, the highest point of the Bois Noirs massif and of the Montagne bourbonnaise, at the northern end of the Livradois-Forez regional nature park. Its rounded crest, covered in dark conifers, was cleared in 2019 to reopen the former summit grassland. Five communes share the top: Lavoine, Saint-Priest-la-Prugne, Arconsat, Celles-sur-Durolle and Palladuc.

The summit lies at the meeting point of three departments: Allier, Loire and Puy-de-Dôme, and five communes share its slopes. In 2019 the top was cleared to restore the former summit grassland and reopen the view west to the Chaîne des Puys and the Monts Dore, and east to the Mont Blanc massif.

The summit lies at the meeting point of five communes in three departments: Lavoine (Allier), Saint-Priest-la-Prugne (Loire), Arconsat, Celles-sur-Durolle and Palladuc (Puy-de-Dôme). Since 2019 the crest has been cleared to restore the former summit grassland, reopening a view that reaches the Chaîne des Puys and the Monts Dore to the west and the Mont-Blanc massif to the east.

The summit can be reached through marked trails from Col de la Charme, Col des Planchettes, or the villages of La Lizolle and Les Cros. Each route offers different levels of effort and duration, with all paths clearly marked for walkers.

The slopes of this summit contain the sources of the Besbre River and tributaries of the Durolle and Credogne that feed the La Muratte dam. These hidden water sources make the mountain an important watershed for the region.