Séquoia Géant La hutte Vallée de l'Ourche

The Arboretum de La Hutte (3 hectares) is an

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

located in the Vallée de l'Ourche, variously described as within the towns of

Darney Darney () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. It is located in the Vôge Plateau, around the location of the source of the river Saône. Darney is known for its forest of oak and beech trees. History Darn ...

Hennezel Hennezel () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Hennezel is located near the Vallée de l'Ourche, as well as other scenic attractions (La Hutte, Droiteval). Points of interest * Arboretum de la Hutte Fauna ...

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...

Grand Est Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten; Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administrat ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is open daily without charge. The Ourche river flows across Darney forest to join the

Saône The Saône ( , ; frp, Sona; lat, Arar) is a river in eastern France. It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department and joining the Rhône in Lyon, at the southern end of the Presqu'île. The name deri ...

. One century ago Vallée de l'Ourche was an industrial country with forges, sawmills and glass factories. Only one glass factory still operates near the valley (La Rochére glass factory). La Hutte Chapel, near the arboretum, was built at the end of 19th century in Swiss style. The arboretum was created circa 1874 by forge-master Alfred Irrois, and contains mature specimens of ''

Liriodendron tulipifera ''Liriodendron tulipifera''—known as the tulip tree, American tulip tree, tulipwood, tuliptree, tulip poplar, whitewood, fiddletree, and yellow-poplar—is the North American representative of the two-species genus ''Liriodendron'' (the other ...

'', ''

Quercus rubra ''Quercus rubra'', the northern red oak, is an oak tree in the red oak group (''Quercus'' section ''Lobatae''). It is a native of North America, in the eastern and central United States and southeast and south-central Canada. It has been introdu ...

'', ''

Sequoiadendron ''Sequoiadendron'' is a genus of evergreen trees, with two species, only one of which survives to the present: * ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'', extant, commonly known as wellingtonia, giant redwood and giant sequoia, growing naturally in the Sie ...

'', and ''

Thujopsis dolabrata ''Thujopsis'' () is a genus of conifers in the cypress family (Cupressaceae), the sole member of which is ''Thujopsis dolabrata''. It is endemic to Japan, where it is named ''asunaro'' (). It is similar to the closely related genus ''Thuja'' (ar ...

''. It is now in some disrepair, but as of 2007 it was proposed that the ''Office National des Forêts'' (ONF) take responsibility for its rehabilitation. Just try to encircle the trunk of a giant Sequoia and try to find the hidden huge Douglas !

References

Culture.fr entry (French)

Vosges Itinerances description (French)

Les Journées Européennes du Patrimoine 2003 (French)

Hutte, Arboretum de la Hutte, Arboretum de la {{France-garden-stub

See also

References