At the Espace naturel sensible de la Salette, Bellegarde-Poussieu’s connection with nature and hiking becomes especially tangible: a path lined with oak trees, goat pastures, a dry meadow and two ponds. There are also several points of interest in the history of its churches. For your planning, you can consider nature, hiking and sacred architecture as separate themes.
La Salette: meadow, ponds and hiking trails
The path to the Espace naturel sensible de la Salette is lined with large oak trees and passes pastures where goats graze. The Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Salette overlooks a dry meadow where wild orchids can be seen seasonally. At the foot of this meadow are two ponds that provide habitat for numerous amphibians. Observing plants and animals therefore depends on different seasonal conditions: orchids may appear seasonally, and the presence of amphibians is also seasonal.
Hiking trails surround the Espace naturel sensible, and the Way of St James passes through the area. The hiking connection is therefore not limited to a single trail. If you include La Salette in your travel plans, you can distinguish between the path to the natural area and the routes that run through or pass through it, without treating them as the same trail.
Two routes with different roles
The long-distance GR 422 trail also has a specific connection with Bellegarde-Poussieu: it ends there at the Chapelle de la Salette. This distinguishes it from the Way of St James, which passes through the Espace naturel sensible. This distinction is useful when planning routes: one trail passes through the area, while the other ends in Bellegarde-Poussieu at the chapel. These details describe different route connections and should not be conflated into a single route.
Parish church and chapel
The parish church of the Nativity of Our Lady was largely completed in neo-Gothic style in 1886; its spire was built in 1891. The church also preserves a Baroque tabernacle from the 17th century. Its decoration includes carved architectural ornamentation and religious statuettes. This building thus brings together a neo-Gothic form and a much older Baroque tabernacle.
The Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Salette is Bellegarde-Poussieu’s former parish church. It was built on a rocky outcrop south of the perimeter wall of the Bellegarde family’s château. Traces of the family date back to the 11th century. Alongside the parish church, the chapel offers a different perspective on local history, focusing on its former religious function, its position on the rocky outcrop and its historical connection to the Bellegarde family.
Horse-riding activities at Club Hippique de Taravas
Club Hippique de Taravas offers riding lessons, courses and training sessions, rides, horseback hikes and pony games. Activities are available for adults and children and must be booked in advance. Marked trails are intended for children and parents. The programme therefore includes both lessons and courses as well as activities on horseback; the trails offer another option for children and parents.
The club has an outdoor arena, an indoor arena, a cross-country course and a lunge ring. These details complement the activities with the facilities listed. If you include horse riding in your plans, you can first decide whether you are looking for a specific activity, a marked trail or one of the facilities listed.
Discover more destinations: Lavars, Saint-Alban-Du-Rhône, Septème, Auris, Nivolas-Vermelle, La Côte-Saint-André, Salaise-Sur-Sanne, Laffrey
For the broader travel overview: Isere.
