The Gorges de l'Ardèche is made up of a series of gorges in the river and locally known as the "European Grand Canyon", Located in the

Ardèche Ardèche (; , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche (river), Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Ardèche Ardèche (; , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche (river), Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Vallon-Pont-d'Arc Vallon-Pont-d'Arc (; ) is a village in southern France in the Ardèche Department. The village is a gateway to one of the most beautiful tourist sites in France, the Ardèche Gorges, where the Ardèche river has carved a dramatic canyon thro ...

to Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche. The lower part of the gorge forms the boundary between the Ardèche department and the

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;Pont d'Arc The Pont d'Arc (French language, French ''pont'' = bridge) is a large natural arch, natural bridge, located in the Ardèche ''departments of France, département'' in the south of France, 5 km from the town of Vallon-Pont-d'Arc. The arch, f ...

at the beginning of the canyon, a

natural arch A natural arch, natural bridge, or (less commonly) rock arch is a natural landform where an arch has formed with an opening underneath. Natural arches commonly form where inland cliffs, Cliffed coast, coastal cliffs, Fin (geology), fins or Stack ...

60 m wide and 54 m high. Much of the canyon is inaccessible except by water, and canoeing and kayaking are popular sports on the river. Overnight camping is not allowed, except for at two

bivouac shelter A bivouac shelter or bivvy (alternately ''bivy'', ''bivi'', ''bivvi'') is any of a variety of improvised camp site or shelter that is usually of a temporary nature, used especially by soldiers or people engaged in backpacking, bikepacking, sco ...

s. The cliffs offer habitat to rare birds such as the

Bonelli's eagle Bonelli's eagle (''Aquila fasciata'') is a large bird of prey. The common name of the bird commemorates the Italian ornithologist and collector Franco Andrea Bonelli. Bonelli is credited with gathering the type specimen, most likely from an expl ...

. ( there were only two pairs in the Ardèche, and no more than thirty in all of France.) Humans have lived in caves in the area for over 300,000 years. Over 2,000 caves are found in the gorge, some of them painted; the best-known painted cave in the gorge is the

Chauvet Cave The Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave ( ) in the Ardèche department of southeastern France is a cave that contains some of the best-preserved figurative cave paintings in the world, as well as other evidence of Upper Paleolithic life.Clottes (2003b), p. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorges de l'Ardeche Ardeche Landforms of Ardèche Landforms of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes