Col du Marchand

5 points of interest

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  Panorama

  Viewing point

  Viewing point

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  Flora

  After the fire

  In 2003 a great fire destroyed a large part of the forest in le Serre des Vernes area. Around ten years later nature took over again and vegetation enabled the mountain to restore its colours. Here we explain the different stages of how nature came back to life :- the pioneering stage : moss and lichen appeared – the blooming stage : after a few years the grass and plant cover became more dense. – the bush and shrub stage : after the appearance of brambles and broom other bushes began to develop (blackthorn, hawthorn, dog rose…) to form a very dense “bushy moorland” – The woodland stage : It took at least 30 years (and even more) for well-established trees to grow naturally again ( hazelnut, oak, Sylvester pine…) It took even longer for the area of Serre des Vernes to see its forest again.

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  Flora

  A short tale about Ardèche woodland today

  At the beginning of the 20th century there was no more than 100,000 hectares of woodland in Ardèche. Many farmers were always searching for more land even on steep slopes (terraces). Following the two world wars and a huge rural exodus much of this land was abandoned. Some was transformed into woodland and other became wilderness or moorland. The forest now covers 250,000 hectares, almost a third of the size of Ardèche and is constantly gaining ground. The forest belongs to many private owners, many of them farmers. They own 90% of the total surface of woodland, however, the division of these forest areas causes complications for its management..

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  Panorama

  Viewing point

  Splendid views of the Daronne Valley and the French Alps

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  Geology

  The Daronne river and its ?????

  The village of Pailharès is situated on the higher part of the Daronne catchment area. The catchment area is the entire zone that collects water and directs it towards a river and its tributaries. It is a sort of bottleneck that swallows up all the streams coming into the river. It therefore has its own boundaries : divides that naturally follow the mountain ridges. Rainfall falling on one side of the slope accumulates, running into the streams that finally go into the river Daronne that then flows into the river Doux, a tributary of the river Rhône. This same rainfall may also filter into gaps in the rock forming groundwater then coming out in spring forms and feeding various streams. On site, these many streams can be seen thanks to the presence of a specific vegetation (particularly water absorbing plants) such as bullrushes, birch, easily noticeable with its white bark, alder and willow , only to mention a few.

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