Lac d'Issarlès

Lying at an altitude of 1,000 metres on the Ardèche plateau, the Lac d'Issarlès fills a maar, a crater formed about 80,000 years ago by a violent explosion when magma met water. More than 1.5 kilometres across and 138 metres deep, it is the largest lake in the Massif Central and the third deepest natural lake in France, after the Lac du Bourget and Lake Geneva.

The lake has been a protected site since 1935 and its banks are a listed site. Since 1954 its water has supplied the Montpezat hydroelectric plant. The lake gave its name to the commune of Le Lac-d'Issarlès, created in 1929. A path runs around its wooded shores, and a beach allows swimming in summer.

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