Gouffre de l'enfer

The Gouffre d'Enfer owes its name to the dam built on the Furan between 1862 and 1866, under Napoleon III, to supply drinking water to the fast-growing industrial city of Saint-Étienne and to control the river's floods.

The site, in the commune of Rochetaillée on the edge of the Pilat Regional Nature Park, combines the reservoir held back by the dam, wooded gorges and several waterfalls along paths cut into the rock. Thrill-seekers can take the Planfoy via ferrata, which runs along the rock face above the gorge and ends with a zip line over the dam.

← Other sites in Loire