The Archiane Cirque | Inspiration Vercors

It's one of the ten most beautiful cirques in France!

Its walls, over 400 meters high, stand among the highest in the Vercors. Here, the minerality explodes in your face, and the vertical, sovereign, imposes its lines on the site. Wherever you look, cliffs display their nuances against lacework of limestone... Archiane is the southern limit of the Vercors High Plateaux, also the gateway to the largest Nature Reserve in Europe. It is also a tiny, picturesque hamlet, nestled beneath steep cliffs, part of the commune of Châtillon-en-Diois.

The Great Return of Mountain Wildlife

The Archiane cirque is the cradle of two successful reintroductions by the Vercors Regional Natural Park! The verticality, expanse, limestone nature, and southern exposure of this site provide an exceptional habitat for species dependent on cliffs. In the 1990s, 28 ibex, originally from Vanoise, were released and now number more than 400 offspring! The cirque is ideal for observing this cliff-climbing high-wire act, particularly in December during the rut. Equipped with a telescope, it is even possible to observe it on the ledges, from the village.

Since 2010, thanks to exceptional aerology, confirmed by the arrival of griffon vultures, and a strategic position in the Alps/Pyrenees corridor, the Bearded Vulture has made a comeback. Young birds were fed at the nest by eco-guards, so that they would return to nest here, to save this species in great danger of extinction.

A must-see for hikers

The Vulture Trail, starting from the hamlet, allows you to observe the host of these places. Thanks to the explanatory panels along the trail and the telescope placed in front of the nesting site, you can gain an intimate insight into this king of the sky, with a 3-meter wingspan.
Find the route at vercors-rando.

The Vercors is one of the rare areas to be home to the four European vultures: the black vulture ("the arboreal one"), the Egyptian vulture ("the migratory one"), the bearded vulture ("the bone-breaker"), and especially the griffon vulture ("the gregarious one"). reintroduced on the Chamaloc site via the Vercors Regional Natural Park and which has made the Archiane cirque its stronghold.

A major site for climbers

The Archiane cirque also boasts more than fifty large, little-used wild adventure routes on its high limestone walls. Climbing them requires a very good level of skill and a high degree of autonomy. Manu Ibarra, a lover of the Diois cliffs, says of the Levant route: "This route remains a beautiful piece of alpine climbing, which is better viewed with the eyes of an adventurer rather than a rock climber, if you don't want to be caught off guard!" This is something to be taken into account before setting out!
Due to the nesting of birds of prey on this site, climbing is regulated according to the season, but the Rocher d'Archiane is accessible year-round.