Ardèche River

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Ardèche
Pont d'Arc over the Ardèche River.
Pont d'Arc over the Ardèche River.
Origin Massif Central
Mouth Rhône River
Basin countries France
Length 120 km
Avg. discharge 65 m³/s
Basin area 2,430 km²
Ardèche River near Aubenas
Ardèche River near Aubenas
Ardèche River Panorama
Ardèche River Panorama

The Ardèche (Occitan: Ardecha) is a 120 km long river in south-central France, right tributary of the Rhône River. Its source is in the Massif Central, near the village of Astet. It flows into the Rhône near Pont-Saint-Esprit, north-west of Orange. The river gives its name to the Ardèche département of France.

The valley of the Ardèche is very scenic, in particular a 30km section known as the Ardèche Gorges. The walls of the river here are limestone cliffs up to 300m high. A kayak and camping trip down the gorge is not technically difficult and hugely popular in the summer, so much so that control of numbers is becoming a headache for park authorities.[citation needed] The most famous feature is a natural 60m stone arch spanning the river simply known as Pont d'Arc (arch bridge).

Contents

[edit] Towns along the river

The Ardèche flows through the following départements and towns:

[edit] Tributaries

Tributaries include:

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Coordinates: 44°23′24″N, 4°24′08″E

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