Pont du Diable de Thueyts

Thueyts

On the edge of Thueyts, the Ardèche has cut its bed into a thick basalt flow from the Gravenne volcano, whose prismatic columns form a regular wall that the local people call the giants' causeway. A basket-arch stone bridge, completed in the 17th or 18th century according to the sources, crosses the gorge some fifteen metres above the water, without any proper parapet: the crossing was long feared. That is where its name comes from. Local tradition tells how the devil himself took hold of the structure and offered it to the villagers as a convenient shortcut to the other bank; many slipped into the chasm and never came back, their souls remaining the builder's property. It is said that on certain days of strong wind, their laments and cries of repentance can still be heard rising from the bottom of the gorge. The motif is the widespread French one of the devil's bridge: a structure judged too bold for human hands, and so attributed to the devil in exchange for a soul. At Thueyts, the surviving version dwells less on the original pact than on the trap set for passers-by, which fits the reality of a dizzying crossing above a torrent. The neighbouring basalt staircases, the Échelle du Roi and the Échelle de la Reine, complete the setting of a site where volcanic geology alone supplies the vocabulary of the marvellous: organ pipes, giants' causeway, chasm.

Pont du Diable (Thueyts) — Wikipedia ↗

Getting there : From Thueyts, set off along Rue du Pouget near the tourist office, cross the park of the Château de Blou towards the Pont de l'Aspic, then go down the giants' causeway: about 15 minutes. Two longer routes extend the walk, the Échelle du Roi (1 h 30) and the Échelle de la Reine via Fargebelle (2 h 30), staircases cut into the basalt flow. Free access year-round; the swimming spot below is very popular but dangerous, with currents and flash floods.

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

Ambient sound