Distance 8.2km
Elevation 370m
Duration 3:15
Difficulty Difficult
Balcony path above the gorges in a pretty larch forest and view of the Saut de la Pie waterfall. The Lower Triassic terrains are rare, the quartzites represent ancient quartz sands and gravels carried by rivers.
Description
The Verdaches gorge, where the "Bès" torrent flows, presents a landscape in two shades. Near the torrent, we observe dark and black rocks, and above, an enormous light gray rock bar that draws vertical walls. The layers of the lower part of the gorge contain a large proportion of organic matter transformed into coal, hence its black color. Plant fossils are numerous there. We find all kinds of tree ferns, giant horsetails related to those of our current wetlands or even large trees that no longer have any equivalent today. These fossils make it possible to date the rocks to -305 million years, or to the Upper Carboniferous (primary era).
Type : Marked loop
Distance : 8.2km
Elevation : 370m
Duration 3h15
Difficulty : Difficult
Average altitude : 1100m
Max altitude : 1225m
Marking details
Yellow (PR)
Cartographic references
Hike No. 27 on the hiking map around Seyne-les-Alpes, Lake Serre-Ponçon and the Bès Valley. Hike No. 21 on the map of the Monges massif. TOP 25 IGN 3439ET