The imaginary adventure> Shapes and colors
Day 2: Shapes and colors on the Azure Alps meadow side
alt_route Stage 2 / Sublime Point of the Daluis gorges
The Daluis gorges offer a landscape that looks like canyons, carved out of pelite, a rock deposited at the end of the Primary era, 270 million years ago in a huge crack, in a humid tropical climate. It owes its "wine lees" color to the oxidation of the iron it contains.
https://www.gorgesdedaluis.fr/
Nicknamed "Little Colorado of Nice", the gorges have up to 300 m of sheer drops before reaching the Var river at their bottom. Their narrowness transforms the stream into a veritable torrent with a sometimes violent current.
Facing the sublime point, observe the entrance to the mines of Roua. To find out more, read the “Mines de Roua” thematic sheet.
Level: Easy
Duration: 1h30
Type: Round trip
Length: 4 km
Difference in height: 150 m
Departure / Arrival: Parking just after the Berthéou bridge on the D2202
Vigilance: Keep your dog on a leash / it is not allowed to leave the trails, to pick up rocks and plants
Learn more
Mines of Roua
The Daluis Gorges Regional Nature Reserve represents an exceptional place from an archaeological and mineral point of view, in particular with the presence of old copper mines, exploited until the beginning of the 20th century.
The old copper mines of Roua are located in the layers of the Permian (- 298,9 to - 252,2 Ma). There are 70 different mineral species including copper, silver, iron and a very small amount of gold. Recently a new mineral has been discovered there which has the shape of flattened hexagonal crystals and is of intense blue color, transparent: barrotite.
While the animal and plant kingdoms number hundreds of thousands of species, the mineral kingdom numbers around 5. The discovery of a new mineral is therefore a relatively rare event, hailed by the scientific community. The discovery of barrotite brings to 000 the number of new minerals found in the mines of Roua.