Sources de l'Yonne et tourbière du mont Préneley

Glux-en-Glenne

The Yonne rises in a peat bog of Mont Préneley, at 738 metres above sea level, in the heart of the forest of La Gravelle, in the Haut-Morvan, in the commune of Glux-en-Glenne (Wikipedia). The Département de la Nièvre describes a site of 116 hectares: a montane beech wood of 100 hectares and a peat bog of 16 hectares, listed for its landscape, included in Natura 2000 and protected by a biotope order. The Département has owned it since 1999. The path crosses the peat bog on a wooden boardwalk, then the beech wood, before reaching the source, which appears “under your feet”. The Département also states that, for more than 2,000 years, people successively exploited then abandoned Mont Préneley and the sources, traces of this past remaining visible. The Yonne is 292.3 kilometres long. At its confluence with the Seine, at Montereau-Fault-Yonne, its flow is greater, but the Seine has covered more distance since its source (about 305 km against 292 km according to the Sandre). From the Morvan, the Yonne long served for floating firewood to Paris. No legend was found.

Getting there: The sentier des Sources starts at the car park of the place called “Port des Lamberts” (46.9648 N, 4.0102 E), after the bridge on the RD 300; the source is then found in the peat bog. Coordinates of the entry: source according to Wikidata (approximate position, to be verified on site).

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound