Flood meadows, hedged farmland, the banks of the Saône and Bresse villages: some twenty waymarked trails await around the campsite, several of them starting less than 5 km from your pitch.
Waymarked trails from the villages
The Pays de Bâgé et de Pont-de-Vaux tourist office lists some twenty numbered walking trails, waymarked in yellow with a coloured dot on the signposts. Each trail sheet gives step-by-step directions and can be downloaded from the tourist office website, together with the GPX track. The trails are open all year round, weather permitting.
Three ideas close to the campsite
- ‘L’île de la Motte’ (14.8 km, about 3 hrs 50) starts at Saint-Bénigne town hall and follows the Route des Ripettes before reaching the vast flood meadow and the banks of the Saône. The island, protected as a sensitive natural area, is home to heron colonies (black-crowned night heron, little egret, cattle egret), and beavers live there too.
- ‘Entre bois et rivière’ (about 15 km) starts outside Chavannes-sur-Reyssouze town hall: church, Bresse houses, fields, woods and the Besace mill near the Reyssouze.
- ‘La Nove’ (5.7 km, 1 hr 30) leaves from the Pont-de-Vaux tourist office, crosses the Saône meadow and returns along the old towpath beside the canal.
Further afield: the Seille and old stones
At Sermoyer, ‘Rendez-vous avec la Seille’ (10.3 km, 2 hrs 30) leads to the Vieille Seille, a former meander cut off in 1814, and on to the lock at La Truchère. From April, once the floods recede, the meadow turns purple with snake’s-head fritillaries. Nearby, the Dunes des Charmes offer a short loop of about 1.5 km through an unexpected sandy landscape. At Gorrevod, ‘Au bois rond’ (14 km) passes the 12th and 13th-century church on its hilltop and a farm with a Saracen chimney.
Before you go
The Saône valley meadow is home to nearly a hundred nesting bird species and around 400 plant species, 40 of them protected. Bring binoculars and tread quietly in spring, during the nesting season. Wear sturdy shoes, as paths can be waterlogged after the floods. With children, stop off at the Maison de l’eau et de la nature in Pont-de-Vaux, whose interactive exhibition brings these habitats to life.