Get your fill of Diois vitamins by the river
Between the Bâtie des Fonts and Pontaix, the Drôme river, the spine of the Pays Diois, is one of the wildest in France. It offers white pebble beaches and excellent water quality. Tempting and not far from the road network, it attracts kayakers and swimmers. Off the beaten track, the Escharis gorge in the Roanne valley, between St Nazaire-le-Désert and St Benoît-en-Diois, follows a rocky course and features sculpted pools of tumbling water which invite the swimmer.
in this fragile natural environment avoid noise and disturbance, for the sake of the heron population; refrain from building dams and allow free circulation for ‘fario’ brown trout; eat a zero-waste picnic; use a natural sun cream and don’t bivouac on the river banks, to avoid interfering with the nocturnal activities of the beavers.
To avoid disappointment, note that the last few years of particularly dry summers have considerably affected the flow of our rivers. In the event of drought, this can even lead to bathing being prohibited. In the completely opposite situation, beware of the rapid rise in water levels in the narrow gorges with heavy rainfall.
