Ardèche (river)

The Ardèche () is a  long river in south-central France, a right-bank tributary of the River Rhône. The river gives its name to the French department of Ardèche.

Geography
The Ardèche river has a length of  and a drainage basin with an area of approximately .

Its average yearly discharge (volume of water which passes through a section of the river per unit of time) is 64.8 cubic metres per second at Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche in the Gard department.

Course
The Ardèche river starts in the Massif Central, within the Parc naturel régional des Monts d'Ardèche ("Regional nature park Mountains of Ardèche"), in the commune of Astet (Ardèche department), at an elevation of about .

It then flows roughly to the southwest and, after the towns of Aubenas and Ruoms, it gets into its famous gorge (or canyon) below Vallon-Pont-d’Arc.

The valley of the Ardèche is very scenic, in particular a  section known as the Ardèche Gorges (or the Canyon of Ardèche). The walls of the river here are limestone cliffs up to  high. A kayak and camping trip down the gorge is not technically difficult and is very popular in the summer. The most famous feature is a natural  stone arch across the river known as the Pont d'Arc.

Finally, the river flows into the Rhône river, on the right side, near the commune Pont-Saint-Esprit, Gard department.

Communes
The Ardèche passes through the following regions, departments and communes:

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
 Ardèche : 

 Astet
 Mayres
 Barnas
 Thueyts
 Pont-de-Labeaume
 Fabras
 Lalevade-d'Ardèche
 Vals-les-Bains
 Labégude
 Ucel
 Aubenas
 Saint-Privat
 Saint-Didier-sous-Aubenas
 Saint-Étienne-de-Fontbellon
 Vogüé
 Lanas
 Saint-Maurice-d'Ardèche
 Balazuc
 Chauzon
 Pradons
 Ruoms
 Labeaume
 Saint-Alban-Auriolles
 Sampzon
 Vallon-Pont-d'Arc
 Salavas
 Labastide-de-Virac
 Saint-Remèze
 Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche
 Saint-Just

Occitanie
 Gard :
 Aiguèze
 Saint-Julien-de-Peyrolas
 Saint-Paulet-de-Caisson
 Pont-Saint-Esprit

Main tributaries 
The main tributaries of the Ardeche river are:

Left tributaries:
 Fontolière - 21 km
 Volane - 21 km
 Sandron - 18 km
 Luol - 19 km
 Auzon - 26 km
 Ibie - 33 km

Right tributaries:
 Lignon - 21 km
 Ligne - 23 km
 Beaume - 44 km
 Chassezac - 85 km

Gallery

Related pages
 List of rivers of France

References

Other websites

Banque Hydro - Station V5064010 - The Ardèche at Saint-Martin-d’Ardèche (Sauze St. Martin) - (option Synthèse)  

Category:Ardèche
Category:Rivers of Occitanie
Category:Rivers of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes