Gorges de la Bourne (Les Grands Goulets)

The Grands Goulets are a narrow defile in the Drôme, in the west of the Vercors massif, carved into limestone by the Vernaison torrent. The site lies in the communes of Échevis, La Chapelle-en-Vercors and Saint-Martin-en-Vercors, at the foot of Mont Allier, which peaks at 1,271 metres.

For a long time, only a muleteers' path linked Die to Pont-en-Royans. The Drôme general council decided to open a road in 1834, and this corbelled work, clinging to the wall above the torrent, was completed in 1854 to allow horse-drawn vehicles to pass. Closed today because of the risk of falling rocks, this old road remains the emblematic image of the gorges. A modern tunnel of 1,700 metres, drilled from 2005 and opened in 2008, now carries traffic. The defile keeps its atmosphere of damp, mossy cliffs, where water trickles in cascades. The neighbouring hamlet was destroyed in a Resistance fight on 22 January 1944.

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