Le Lac d'Issarlès
Lake Issarlès is one of the jewels of the Ardèche Mountains. It fills an old maar crater and stretches over 97 ha at an altitude of 1000 m with an exceptional depth of 108 metres. Fishing lake. Water sports centre and supervised swimming in summer
It can be walked around in an hour and a half along a shaded, marked footpath of approximately 3,6 km. You can rent pedal boats to explore the site from the inside. Swimming in its clear waters is supervised in July and August. Lake Issarlès is also used by EDF to power the Montpezat-sous-Bauzon hydroelectric power plant.
It is connected via underground galleries to the reservoirs on the Loire (La Palisse dam) and two of its tributaries on the Ardèche plateau, the Gage (Moulin de Peyron dam) and the Veyradeyre (La Grange dam). The waters from the Atlantic side are thus diverted to the Fontaulière river, a tributary of the Ardèche (Mediterranean side). Outside the summer period devoted to tourism, hydroelectric production results in a significant tidal range at the lake level.
Location details
- In the countryside
- Lake or body of water within 300 m
- In forest
- Lake view
- In the mountains
Visit
Customers
Language(s) of the visit
Audio guide language(s)
Individual visit services
- Unguided individual tours permanently
- Guided individual tours on request
Group visit services
- Unguided group tours permanently
- Guided group tours on request
Opening
| Opening hours from January 01st to December 31st, 2026 | |
|---|---|
| Monday | Open |
| Tuesday | Open |
| Wednesday | Open |
| Thursday | Open |
| Friday | Open |
| Saturday | Open |
| Sunday | Open |
Prices
Paid parking.
Services
Equipment
Activities on site
- Fitness trail
