Presentation
The micro-adventures of the Beaujolais Geopark guide you through wide open spaces and introduce you to local producers. On this cycling route, discover the Saône Valley starting from Belleville in Beaujolais.
On this cycling route, discover the Saône valley starting from Belleville in Beaujolais.
The Saône appears to be a calm, unchanging river. Yet it possesses a natural dynamic that, for hundreds of thousands of years, has contributed to shaping its bed and alluvial plain, resulting in this vast expanse. The river's morphology has changed considerably throughout history, and it continues to evolve today. For example, former disconnected meanders have allowed the creation of marshes like the Boistray marsh in Saint-Georges-de-Reneins. The backwater of
Taponas is an old branch of the river that is gradually filling with sediment. It is an interesting environment for fish.
The Saône Valley features a landscape mosaic typical of the banks of large waterways, including wet meadows, alluvial forests, backwaters, islands, and ponds teeming with biodiversity. Numerous species of fauna and flora inhabit the area, such as the European beaver, the Eurasian curlew, the marsh spurge, the great crested newt, the large copper butterfly, and the snake's head fritillary.
Loose sedimentary soils are also of interest for activities
human activity. Thus, the annual floods fertilize the farmland along the banks of the Saône. The older deposits (composed of sand, gravel)
and pebbles) are extracted from gravel pits to make basic materials for construction (concrete, aggregates).
When abandoned, the bodies of water created are often used as recreational areas, for water sports or fishing (like the body of water of the
Sablons in Belleville).
Stop producers: the Ferme en Ville store in Belleville brings together 14 associated producers, who sell products from their farms.
Type : Marked loop
Distance : 22km
Elevation : 70m
Duration : 2h
Difficulty : Easy
Marking details
Green Geopark