Top 10 Facts about the Verdon Gorge

Photo by Jens Peter Olesen on Unsplash

Top 10 Facts about the Verdon Gorge

The Verdon Gorge is Europe’s most beautiful river canyons. This glorious gorge is found in Provence South-eastern France.

It got its name from the turquoise-green colour of the water flowing through Verdon River. The entire length of the river is 16 miles and 700 metres deep.

This gorge attracts millions of tourists from all over Europe. Several activities make this place popular.

Hiking, rock climbing, kayaking, swimming are some of the top activities to do here. The gorge is close to the French Riviera.

The Verdon River empties its waters to lake Sainte-Croix-du-Verdon which is man-made.

There is a lot of fascinating facts about this gorge and I have the top 10 listed below.

1. The gorge used to be underwater

The entire area where the gorge is right now used to be underwater. This is about 250 million years ago.

After years of the compressed seafloor, seashells and coral built up limestone rocks were formed.

The seafloor rose after plate movements forming the alps, this was followed by the ice age that caused glaciation.

As the glaciers moved and melted, the soft limestone was worn away thereby creating the valleys, rivers and rock formation of Verdon Gorge.

2. Many rock climbers enjoy cliffs along the gorge

Verdon Gorge is a popular tourist destination where millions visit each year.

Because of the beautiful limestone cliffs, it is a rock climbers paradise. There are about 1,500 courses to choose from.

The cliffs are hundreds of metres high and are a destination for multi-pitch climbing. It is considered to be technical with several cracks, pillars and walls.

3. The colour of the water is caused by rock flour

By Joseph Plotz – Wikimedia

Verdon Gorge has striking turquoise-green water. This is caused by the tiny rock particles known as glacial flour.

When it mixes with microscopic algae in the water, it gives out that colour. The river got its name from the green colour of the water.

This beautiful colour makes the gorge a natural wonder because of the white limestone and green cool waters.

These features make the gorge attractive and capture the attention of hikers, climbers, and swimmers.

River Verdon empties its waters into the lake of Sainte-Croix-du-Verdon.

4. Verdon Gorge is the deepest in Europe

By Noah Baslé – Wikimedia

After the natural movements of plates that birthed Verdon gorge, continuous erosion of the limestone has made the gorge deeper.

This gorge is about 25 kilometres long and is 700 metres high. Sunlight does reach the entire base of the gorge.

The distance between the rims ranges from 200 metres to 1,500 metres. This gorge form part of the Regional Natural Park of Verdon.

River Verdon’s source stands at an altitude of 2,819 metres above the sea level.

5. Verdon Gorge is a hiker’s paradise

By Rikly – Wikimedia

There are several hiking routes to choose from when you visit Verdon Gorge. Hikers can choose shorter routes or longer ones.

The longer hiking trails may take about 3 days and this is often preferred by rock climbers who love challenges.

Many visitors love the gorge because of its beauty and challenge it poses through physical exercises.

Other popular activities at the gorge include bungee jumping, white water rafting, and paddle boating.

Tourists enjoy the geological creations and explore incredible caves at the gorge.

6. Napoleon’s route has the best views of the gorge

The Route des Cretes or Ridge Road is an unbelievable 24-kilometre circuit.

It offers beautiful panoramic views of the majestic gorge. Along the route, one gets to see remarkable views of River Verdon, its gorges, plants and animals.

This route has a viewing point of about 700 metres. One can get up there by car, bike or a motorcycle.

There are bird species to look out for like peregrine falcons and the golden eagle.

For the best view of the circuit, the historic route of Napoleon is preferred.

Napoleon used the route back in 1815 from Elba on his way to the capital to regain power. It is considered to be the most beautiful routes in France.

7. The gorge is surrounded by picturesque towns

There are beautiful towns and cities close to Verdon Gorge. The Provence, Alpes, Côte and d’Azur surround the gorge.

The French Riviera has some of the well-known cities in France like Nice, Cannes and Monaco.

While visiting the gorge, there are several accommodation options to choose from. The nice city is about 2 hours away from Verdon Gorge.

8. There are five hydro-electric dams in the gorge

By Rikly – Wikimedia

Verdon Gorge has five different hydro-electric dams that were constructed between 1929 and 1975.

These hydro-electric dams are between Castellane and Gréoux-Les-Bains. Reservoirs were built too to hold excess water and control flooding.

Lac de Castillon reservoir was created after flooding occurred in the village of the same name.

The other reservoir was built Lac de Sainte-Croix after flooding happened in des Salles-sur-Verdon.

The Lac d’Esparron-Gréoux changes its colours nearly every day. It is a tourist destination, as well as being the largest reservoir in France;

9. Verdon Gorge has plenty of water sports

Fans of water sports love visiting Verdon Gorge.

It is popular for water activities like riverboarding, canoeing bungee jumping, rafting, full-day aquatic hiking and electric boating.

Swimmers and diving off cliff tops are popular too. There is something for everyone whether young or old, experienced or a novice.

Other in the Verdon Gorge Kayaking Rafting

10. The most notable feature in this gorge is the Styx

Wikimedia

This feature in Verdon Gorge is associated with river Styx of the Greek mythology.

It was discovered by Martel during an expedition when, together with his team, found more passages in the gorge as well as an interesting rock formation.

They had a successful expedition of Verdon Canyon after arriving at Pas de Galetas.

The Styx vanishes underground below massive rock structures, before re-emerging above ground.