Nothing but green between Lyon and Saint Etienne

On my right, small valleys of greenery, meadows and on my left, fir trees and slopes...

And on one side like on the other, in the middle of the summer, abundant sunshine, enough to satisfy city folk, neighbours of Pilat (and others...) and thank it, even tacitly, each day, for providing them with a good part of the fresh air they breathe.

Because Pilat, despite its - only - 700 km², is one of the lungs of the Rhône-Alpes region and the water tower of all its agglomerations.

But you won't be satisfied to only travel with your rucksack and to leap about along the chirats, those rocky flows, which can reach sometimes one kilometre long, and which run along the steep slopes of Pilat or the leptinites, metamorphosed acid rocks which form the climbing rock area of Doizieux.

At each season, it becomes quite lively, in the middle of the afternoon, with numerous hikes leading to a concert on a village square and ending, for those who want to; by a dinner in an inn to end the evening in beauty. You will thus discover the washhouse of Longes, the Museum of furniture trimmings at Jongieux, you will be able to listen to the "Brankignoles" brass band or to the "Ballets de Grooms"...

Amateurs of the Cotes du Rhone wines, accompanied by a wine grower, oenologist, will be able to take part in a tasting session weekend and will thus discover Condrieu, Saint Joseph wines and especially the Château Grillet which belongs to the northern Côtes du Rhône. Then you will have a gastronomic dinner at Charles' restaurant, at Chavanay. The day after, a visit to Saint-Croix en Jarez, is organized, it is one of the most beautiful villages in France with its old chartreuse, the only one inhabited by the village people themselves. Experts will appreciate.

Of course, you can also profit from guided "nature" tours to explore the fauna (birds of prey particularly), the flora and all the natural environments of the park like the peat bogs and the forests. The list is impressive. From the topic "the Small naturalists go to the garden" to that of the "Small explorers of the High plateaus" organized in July-August, there are more than forty of them!