The Pont d'Arc: how it formed, its history, and what it feels like to paddle under it

Millions of people have photographed the Pont d'Arc from the bank. It's a beautiful photo: a majestic arch, a blue sky, the green river below. But that photo says something essential: you're on the outside. You're looking on.

Paddling under the Pont d'Arc in a canoe is the opposite. You're inside it. You're living it. The experience is nothing like the photo from the viewpoint, and it's the first of a long list of surprises that paddling the Ardèche gorges from the water has in store.

This guide tells both stories:

The figures and the geology.
What no viewpoint can give you: the feeling.

The Pont d'Arc: the figures, and what they don't tell you

The arch measures 59 metres wide and 34 metres high at the top of the opening.
It has been listed as a natural monument since 1931, is a Grand Site de France, and falls within the buffer zone of the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc UNESCO site.

These figures are correct. But they don't prepare you for what you experience when you pass beneath it. 34 metres is roughly the height of a ten-storey building. As your canoe glides under that mass of limestone, and you look up to see the walls rising on either side, the figures stop being figures. They become a sense of scale.

124,000 years in the making: how a river bored through the rock

The Pont d'Arc formed around 124,000 years ago.

The mechanism is that of a meander cut-off:

As it carved through the Jurassic limestone plateau over millions of years, the River Ardèche gradually bored through the base of a loop rather than going around it.
The current chose the shortcut.
Karst erosion did the rest.

The water rushed into the natural fissures in the limestone, widening them into channels, and then the ceiling gradually collapsed. What remained is what you see today: a vault some 15 metres thick, a river flowing beneath it, and the old abandoned meander lying dry alongside.

This phenomenon is unique in France: nowhere else does a natural arch of this scale span a river that is still active.
It's what earns it its status as a geological wonder of global significance.

Before the tourists: 36,000 years of human presence

The Pont d'Arc isn't only a geological site

It lies 2 kilometres from the Chauvet cave, whose rock paintings date back to 36,000 BC : the oldest known wall paintings in the world.

Prehistorians agree on this point: the arch was a landmark.

In a land with no maps or signposts, an arch 59 metres wide spanning the only river around was visible from afar, guided people's movements and marked out a territory. The people of the Upper Palaeolithic probably knew it as well as today's tourists.

From the Romans to the first tourists

The Romans knew the arch as "Pons naturalis".
In the Middle Ages, the Pont d'Arc served as a crossing point for livestock: shepherds drove their animals from one bank to the other through this natural corridor.
The first detailed scientific descriptions date from the 18th century.
The 19th century saw the first visitors arrive, at first by boat : so the tradition of passing through by water is a long-standing one.

What you experience under the Pont d'Arc arch: what the viewpoint will never show you

Here's what can be written about the Pont d'Arc

As your canoe approaches the arch from upstream, you first see it as a dark silhouette against the light, a rectangle of brightness cut out of the rock.
The current speeds up slightly in the narrowing
The sound of the river changes in tone.
The air cools by two or three degrees.

At the moment you pass through:

Your head tips back instinctively.
The limestone is pale, almost white in its greyish-beige tones, streaked with dark fissures where the water has worked away for 124,000 years.
The 59 metres of width pass by in a few seconds.
The light returns, the cliffs close in on both sides, and the gorges open up.

This is the moment most people fall silent. Not out of politeness. By reflex.

The difference between seeing it and passing through it

From the viewpoint, you see an arch in a landscape. You're outside.
From a canoe, you're inside the structure: you're beneath the 34 metres.

The balance of power between people and rock isn't the same. That's why the canoeists who come back to talk about it always do so differently from those who photographed it from the road.

Before the arch: the open river

You put in at Salavas, a little under 7 kilometres upstream.
You first paddle along a wide, calm river, the plateau above and the sky wide open.
Then the banks gradually draw closer.
The first trees lean out over the water.
The cliffs begin to appear.
And suddenly, rounding one last meander, the arch is there, without warning.

After the arch: the canyon begins

Past the Pont d'Arc, the river enters the national nature reserve.

The cliffs rise.
The sky narrows.
The temperature drops further still.

What you saw from the viewpoint, the canyon seen from above, you're now inside it. It's the difference between looking at a map and walking the land.

Paddling under the Pont d'Arc: everything you need to know

Open access from the bank

The Pont d'Arc is free and accessible all year round from the riverbank.
A car park (with a charge in season) gives access on foot to the beach upstream and the viewpoint downstream within a few minutes.
In July and August, free shuttles from Vallon-Pont-d'Arc ease the pressure on the car park.

From a canoe: choosing your route

To pass under the arch from the water, you have a choice between:

A half-day or full-day trip starting from Salavas: the Pont d'Arc is your first emotional landmark.

Full-day trip from Salavas

To experience all 32 km of the gorges and sleep under the stars in the canyon, the 2-day trip with a bivouac remains the most complete option.

2-day trip with bivouac

Rates, availability and shuttle logistics: see our rates

Practical tips

The crossing is in the direction of the current only. Going back upstream under the arch is prohibited.
In July and August, set off before 9 am: the site gets very busy in the middle of the day with people coming from the beaches.
The beach downstream of the arch is popular (and packed in summer). Opt instead for stops further into the gorges.
Camera in hand before you arrive: the crossing lasts a few seconds, with no chance to turn back.
Swimming is permitted in the immediate surroundings of the arch.

Experience the Pont d'Arc from the inside
Aventure Canoës organises your trips departing from Vallon-Pont-d'Arc/Salavas.
1-day or 2-day options.
Book your trip : limited places in July and August.

Book your trip !

Frequently asked questions about the Pont d'Arc

If the arch formed by a meander cut-off, is it at risk of collapsing?

No. The active erosion process stopped thousands of years ago.
The arch is now a stable structure, listed and geologically monitored.
No sign of instability has been recorded since it was listed in 1931.

Prehistoric people frequented the arch : are there traces in the gorges themselves?

No rock paintings in the gorges as such.
However, several rock shelters and worked-flint sites have been recorded along the banks, evidence of continuous human occupation over thousands of years.

Do you need to lie down in the canoe to pass under the arch?

No. The opening is 34 metres high: the equivalent of a ten-storey building.
You pass through sitting up, arms raised if you want to feel the cool air beneath the vault.

We'd like to pass under the arch early in the morning : what time are your first departures?

The morning departures are the best placed to experience the crossing before the influx of groups in July and August.
Check the available slots directly on our booking page.

We're a group of 8 : can we book several canoes together?

Yes. Group bookings are made through the same system, with the option to synchronise departures.
For groups of more than 10 people, get in touch with us directly for a tailored arrangement.