The Monts Dore massif is a patchwork of different environments and landscapes, like in this photo where a snow-capped rocky ridge neighbours a coniferous forest. There are deep valleys, cirques and defiles cut into volcanic rocks, such as the Chaudefour valley where this photo was taken, as well as dykes, basalt organs and peaks, but also plateaus devoted to pasture where lakes lie in natural depressions or at the bottom of old volcanic craters.