Ardeche canoe and kayak trips: our 6 routes from Salavas

For more than 20 years we have been putting families, groups of friends and adventurers on the water at the foot of the Salavas bridge, two kilometres from Vallon-Pont-d'Arc. Over 10,000 people paddle the Ardeche with us every season, and more than 800 of them have left us an average rating of 4.7 out of 5.

How an Ardeche canoe trip works

The principle is simple: you paddle downstream in one direction and never come back up. You set off from a launch point upstream, the current carries you, you land further down and a shuttle brings you back. No loop, no paddling against the current, and no particular fitness required.

How a day with us unfolds

• You arrive at our base in Salavas, at the hamlet of La Bouchette. We check your booking, we talk you through the route on the map, and the morning coffee is on us.
• We hand over the equipment: the canoe or kayak, one paddle per person, a life jacket in your size and a watertight barrel.
• An instructor shows you the basics: how to hold the paddle, steer the boat, line yourself up for a rapid and what to do if you capsize. Five minutes, and you are on the water.
• You paddle at your own pace. You swim, you picnic in the shade of a cliff, you let the children jump off a rock.
• You land and the shuttle brings you back to your car. It is included in the price on every route and runs every hour from 8 am to 5 pm. Everything is set out in our guide to parking and shuttles.

What we lend you, besides the boat

• A wetsuit, on request and depending on the season.
• A glasses cord, so you do not lose them at the first rapid.
• A life jacket for your dog, on the 5, 7 and 12 km routes, the only ones where dogs are allowed.
• The free shaded car park at the base, where you leave your car all day.

Canoe or kayak: which one?

In the Ardeche, both are paddled with a double-bladed paddle. That is a local peculiarity: everywhere else a canoe is paddled with a single blade. Here everyone makes the same stroke, which makes learning instant.

• The canoe is open, seats two or three, and lets you carry gear. It is what the vast majority of our customers choose, and the only option with young children.
• The kayak is closed and single-seat: livelier, more sporty, for solo paddlers who are comfortable on the water.

We offer both on every route. If you are hesitating, our guide explains the difference between a canoe and a kayak.

Compare our 6 routesThe table

Return shuttle and equipment included on every route. From age 7, or from age 4 on a guided trip.

The prices shown are the child rates, the starting point for each route. Expect €27 to €39 per adult for a day trip, and €59 to €89 per adult with a bivouac. Student rate −10%, group discount of 10% from 8 people. See all our prices in detail.

Map of the routes

Drag the map sideways to follow the river from Sampzon to Sauze. The current flows from left to right.

The 8 landmarks on the river

• 1. Our base, at Salavas. Start of the 7 km and 31 km, finish of the 5 km. This is where you park your car.
• 2. Sampzon. Start of the 5 km, 12 km and 36 km. Calm water and the chutes.
• 3. Châmes. Finish of the 7 km and 12 km, start of the 24 km. The last road access before the reserve.
• 4. Sauze. Finish of the 24 km, 31 km and 36 km, at the mouth of the gorges.
• 5. The Pont d'Arc. The 54-metre natural arch you paddle underneath.
• 6. The Gaud bivouac. The first official site, quieter and wilder.
• 7. The Gournier bivouac. The second site, halfway down, with toilets, showers and food in season.
• 8. La Cathédrale rock. Its limestone spires standing above the river.

The route colours

• Red, 5 km: Sampzon to our base.
• Green, 7 km: our base to Châmes, with the Pont d'Arc.
• Purple, 12 km: Sampzon to Châmes.
• Blue, 24 km: Châmes to Sauze, the full crossing of the reserve.
• Black, 31 km: our base to Sauze.
• Orange, 36 km: Sampzon to Sauze. This is the 31 km extended upstream to Sampzon.

Our 6 routes in detail

5 km · La Mini Aventure Toboggan

The shortest trip, and the one we recommend to families with young children or to anyone who has never held a paddle. A shuttle takes you to Sampzon, you get in, and you come back down to our base, which is to say back to your car, with no return shuttle to wait for.

The route takes its name from the four purpose-built water chutes along it: Chute 1, known as le Moulin, then 2, then 3, then 4 at the Salavas bridge. The canoe accelerates sharply over a few metres, to shrieks from the children. Between the chutes the water is calm and wide, with pebble beaches to stop on.

What you see

• The Sampzon rock overhanging the start.
• The valley opening up and the first cliffs.
• The four water chutes.

Who it suits

• Families with children aged 7 to 10.
• Complete beginners.
• Anyone who wants a taster before committing to a full day.

See all our half-day trips

7 km · La Petite Aventure

Seven kilometres starting straight from our base, and above all the passage under the Pont d'Arc. It is the shortest route that takes you beneath the 54-metre natural arch, the one on every photograph of the Ardeche. You paddle under it, you look up, and you understand why the site is listed.

Immediately afterwards the river enters the scenery of the gorges: the cliffs close in, the water turns greener, the road disappears. You land at Châmes and the shuttle brings you back.

What you see

• The Blachas, Branches and Charlemagne rapids.
• The Pont d'Arc from underneath, and its beach.
• The entrance to the nature reserve and the first big rock walls.

Who it suits

• Anyone who wants to see the Pont d'Arc without giving up a whole day.
• If you are torn between this and the Mini Aventure: same price, slightly longer, with the Pont d'Arc thrown in.

12 km · L'Aventure Signature

This is our best-selling route, and for good reason: it adds the two previous ones together. You launch at Sampzon, run the chutes, pass our base, go under the Pont d'Arc and land at Châmes. In half a day you have seen everything there is to see before the reserve.

It is also the best ratio of effort to reward. The distance stays within reach from age 7, but the outing has the density of a full day: two or three swimming stops, a picnic on a beach, the chutes at the start, the Pont d'Arc in the middle.

What you see

• The Sampzon rock and the four water chutes.
• The Blachas, Branches and Charlemagne rapids.
• The Pont d'Arc and the entrance to the gorges.

Who it suits

• Families, groups of friends, couples.
• This is the default choice if you do not know which to pick.

24 km · La Grande Aventure

Here the nature of the trip changes. The 24 km links Châmes to Sauze, which is to say the full crossing of the Ardeche gorges nature reserve. Between the two: no road, no village, no way out. Cliffs 300 metres high, amphitheatres, caves and deserted beaches, where the only people you meet are in other canoes.

The current helps, and the rapids are numerous but all passable by attentive beginners. The atmosphere has nothing to do with the short routes: from the moment you enter the reserve, you are alone with the river.

The sights along the way

• The Cirque de Gaud and its stretch of calm meanders.
• La Cathédrale rock and its limestone spires standing above the river.
• The Cirque de la Madeleine, the largest meander in the gorges, where the cliff turns a full half-circle around you.
• The Cadière cliffs and Castelvieil rock, just before the finish.
• Eight rapids: Les Trois Eaux, Les Champs, La Dent Noire, Le Figueras, the Gué de Guitare, the Toupine de Gournier, La Pastière and La Cadière.

Look up as well

The limestone walls of the reserve are protected nesting sites. You can see Bonelli's eagles, vultures and peregrine falcons. The stretch of calm meanders around the Gaud site is the best place on the route to watch wildlife: that is where you stop paddling and look.

See our full-day trips

31 km · La Super Aventure

Thirty-one kilometres from our base to the mouth of the gorges: the Pont d'Arc, then the whole of the reserve. This is the complete descent, the one people mean when they say they have "done the Ardeche".

There are two ways to take it on.

• In a single day, for the sporty: 7 hours of paddling, an early start, arrival late afternoon, few stops. It is physical, especially if the wind funnels up the gorges in the afternoon, which it often does.
• Over two or three days with a night at a bivouac site, for everyone else, and this is the version we recommend. You split the trip in two, you sleep in the heart of the reserve, and a hard day's effort turns into a real adventure.

As a single day, keep it for fit adults. With a bivouac, it is within reach of the whole family from age 7. See the bivouac section below.

36 km · La Maxi Aventure

Our longest route, and the only one that takes the river from the very beginning: the Sampzon chutes, the Pont d'Arc, then the entire reserve down to Sauze. Available only over 2 or 3 days with a bivouac, and that is deliberate: doing it in one push would mean missing the point.

Over three days, the Maxi Aventure becomes something other than an activity: two nights under the stars in a protected canyon, mornings putting the canoe on the water through the mist, beaches where you are the only ones. It is our finest package, and by far the one customers still talk to us about years later.

2-day trip · 3-day trip

Guided trips with an instructor

On request, we run your trip with a state-qualified instructor.

• It is the only option that allows children from age 4 on board.
• The instructor leads the way and shows the lines through the rapids.
• They know where to stop, swim and picnic.
• It is also what groups choose when they want to learn to paddle properly rather than simply drift.

More about guided trips

The rapids and the water chutesGrade II max

This is the question we get asked most across the counter: are there rapids? Yes, and that is good news, they are what makes the trip come alive. But let us be clear: our routes do not exceed grade II in normal conditions, the most accessible level on the international scale. These are not falls, they are accelerations.

A rapid on the Ardeche looks like this: the river narrows, the bed rises, the current speeds up over twenty to fifty metres, there are waves and rocks to avoid, then the water goes calm again. It lasts ten seconds.

The 4 golden rules

• Look before you go. Wait until the way is clear, both for your own sake and so you do not get in the way of the boats ahead of you.
• Keep paddling. This is the least intuitive and the most important reflex. Speed gives you stability and lets you steer. A boat that stops becomes a boat that gets pushed around.
• Stay in line. Keep the bow facing the current, in the middle of the main tongue of water. It is turning sideways that pins you on a rock.
• If you end up in the water, do not panic. Get on your back, feet pointing downstream, and let yourself float on the surface until the current eases. Do not try to stand up in the middle of the rapid: that is the one genuinely risky move, because a foot can jam between two rocks.

Capsizing happens, including to regulars, and it is not serious. You are wearing a life jacket, you recover the boat on the bank, you empty it and you set off again. Most people are laughing about it within a minute. All of this is covered in the briefing before every launch.

The 4 water chutes, between Sampzon and Salavas

On the upper section the river runs through four purpose-built chutes. They are canoe slides: the bed rises, the boat accelerates sharply over a few metres, and everybody screams.

• Chute 1, known as le Moulin.
• Chute 2.
• Chute 3.
• Chute 4, at the Salavas bridge.

They are on the 5 km, 12 km and 36 km routes, the only ones that launch at Sampzon.

The 3 rapids between Salavas and the Pont d'Arc

They are on the 7 km, 12 km, 31 km and 36 km routes.

• Les Blachas. Keep the boat straight in the line of the current, stay in the middle of the main tongue of water, go into the waves head-on and paddle steadily. Speed is what gives you stability.
• Les Branches. This is the first real rapid most of our customers meet. The current speeds up and threads between the rocks: it is the one that teaches you to look far ahead rather than at the side of the boat.
• Le Charlemagne. Right beside the Pont d'Arc, and by far the best known on the river. It is loud, it splashes, and for a lot of people it is their very first rapid. Keep your speed and your line and it goes fine.

The 8 rapids in the reserve, between Châmes and Sauze

This is the richest part of the trip, reachable only from the 24 km route onwards. In order:

• Les Trois Eaux. Just after the hamlet of Châmes. A tight passage where the river splits into three arms between cliffs and rocks. Read the current from upstream, pick the arm carrying the most water, and keep straight so you do not get stuck in the shingle.
• Les Champs. Straight afterwards, it completes the opening of the reserve.
• La Dent Noire. An easy to moderate passage before the Gaud bivouac, recognisable by the big dark rock planted mid-river. Facing this rocky step, keep a good paddling rhythm and let the current guide you.
• Le Figueras. It marks the exit from the Cirque de Gaud, and it is the most playful of them all: strong current, rocks that stir up the water, narrow passages and big splashy waves. Hold your paddle firmly. Around it, tall limestone cliffs and pebble beaches to catch your breath on just afterwards.
• The Gué de Guitare, level with the Gournier bivouac.
• The Toupine de Gournier. A circular whirlpool, spectacular to watch, which simply asks you to hold your line through the waves.
• La Pastière. Just after the Cirque de la Madeleine. A turning movement of water often compared to a baker's kneading trough, hence the name. Nothing nasty, but the water does not go where you expect it to: hold your line and your speed.
• La Cadière. The last rapid of the trip, downstream of the Passage de la Fève and just before Castelvieil rock. Winding and technical: its line shifts with each flood, so read ahead and keep your speed. Once you are through it, Sauze is in sight.

A rapid in June is not the same as a rapid in August

• Early in the season, the flow is high, the current carries you, the waves are cleaner.
• In high summer, the water drops, some passages become shallow and you occasionally have to get out and drag the boat a few metres.

Neither is better than the other, but it is worth knowing before you go. We publish the water level of the Ardeche and we check it every morning. If the flow is too high, the prefecture can close the river to navigation: in that case we let you know and we postpone or refund your trip.

To go further: our canoeing safety guidance for the Ardeche.

The 2 or 3-day trip with a bivouac

Sleeping in the gorges is the only way to really see them. After 6 pm the day boats are off the water, the cliffs catch the low light, and all that is left are the people who are staying.

The 2 packages with a night on site

• La Super Aventure, 31 km. Over 2 days (€59 adult, €45 child) or 3 days (€79 / €55). The best compromise: a good half day of paddling, the night at the bivouac, a relaxed morning.
• La Maxi Aventure, 36 km. Over 2 days (€69 adult, €48 child) or 3 days (€89 / €62). The long version, and over three days the most contemplative of all our packages.

The 2 bivouac sites

• Gournier, halfway down: toilets, showers and a food area in season.
• Gaud, at the first third: quieter and wilder.

We explain how to go about it on our page on booking your bivouac, and our complete bivouac guide covers the kit and everything you need to plan for.

How much does an Ardeche canoe trip cost?

What the price includes

• The canoe or kayak, and one paddle per person.
• A certified life jacket and a watertight barrel.
• The shuttle, on every route and at no extra cost.
• The departure briefing and the morning coffee.
• The shaded car park at the base.
• On request: wetsuit, glasses cord, dog life jacket on the short routes.

What you pay for yourself

• Your picnic.
• Your bivouac pitch, on the 2 and 3-day packages.

See all our prices in detail, along with student and group discounts and payment methods.

The best time of year to paddle the Ardeche

The season runs from April to September. Each period has its own feel.

When to go canoeing in the Ardeche: the complete month-by-month guide

How to prepare

The essentials are provided. There is very little left for you to plan.

Navigation rules and kit in detail: canoeing safety on the Ardeche, what to know before you go.

Families, groups and companies

Which route by age

Under 4 we do not take children. Not out of excessive caution, but because a three-year-old in a boat for three hours is not having a good time. Our article on canoeing in the Ardeche with children goes into the detail.

The third seat for a child

A two-seater canoe takes two adults, or two adults and one child in the middle seat.

Over 12 the seat becomes too cramped to be comfortable. The more experienced of the two adults takes the back seat, and steers.

Groups and companies

Depending on the occasion, we have a dedicated guide:

• Organising a company seminar in the Ardeche
• Outdoor team building by canoe
• Stag and hen parties in the Ardeche

For any other group, get in touch for a free tailored quote.

Frequently asked questions