A Martian-like landscape surrounds Salagou Lake in France, where red earth and turquoise waters create a surreal scene. The area's unique geology and abandoned village add to its allure.
Unusual red landscape near Montpellier
Fifty kilometers west of Montpellier, in the Hérault, a landscape that seems borrowed from another planet extends around a lake with turquoise waters. The red earth of the Salagou has no equivalent in France, and at the heart of this mineral setting, a village whose history is as singular as its geology.Color of the Salagou’s red earth
What strikes upon arriving at the edge of the Salagou lake is first the color. Not the blue of the water, which is that of any lake. But the red wine of the banks, paths, hills, which contrasts with the waters in a way difficult to describe without seeing it. One speaks of a Martian landscape, and the image is not as exaggerated as it seems.Origin of the red earth
This color comes from a sedimentary rock called ruffe, formed about 270 million years ago during the Permian period, when the region was at the heart of the supercontinent Pangaea, under a tropical arid climate. The clays and fine sands that deposited in thick layers in this collapse basin remained, and their exceptional richness in iron oxides gives them today this red that is not found anywhere else in France at this scale.Recognition of the area
The site was actually recognized in May 2024 with the attribution of the Grand Site de France label, under the name Salagou-Cirque de Mourèze, placing it at the same level as the Gorges du Verdon or the Pointe du Raz.Human creation of the lake
The lake itself is a human creation. The Salagou dam was put into service in 1969 to regulate the floods of the Hérault and irrigate the agricultural lands of the region, in the context of a wine market crisis that pushed local farmers to diversify their crops. The reservoir now extends over about 700 hectares, and its level varies significantly according to the seasons, which is part of its character.Abandoned village near the lake
What many visitors do not know is that the construction of the lake required the expropriation of several hamlets. The village of Celles, located on the eastern shore, was to be completely submerged. Its approximately 80 inhabitants were expropriated and relocated. However, the project was never fully realized: the lake stopped at a level slightly below the planned one, leaving Celles out of the water, abandoned. The inhabitants had nevertheless left the place for nothing.Revival of the village
This is the most remarkable feature of the site. Celles is a medieval village of black volcanic stone that spent decades in ruins, squatted, vandalized, before a handful of families attached to their history fought to revive it. In 2010, the department of the Hérault ceded the entire village to the commune for a symbolic euro, and since then, the rehabilitation has been progressing slowly but genuinely.Unique architectural features
From the village's viewpoint, the walls built with several types of local rocks create a remarkable polychromatic effect: red ruffes, black volcanic basalt, whitish limestone. It is this mixture, visible in the walls and facades, that gave the site the name of "viewpoint with polychrome walls."Hiking in the area
Hiking remains the best way to approach the entire area. The Mont Liausson, which peaks at 535 meters, offers from its summit a complete panorama over the lake, the ruffes and the Cirque de Mourèze a few kilometers away, whose white dolomites form an additional contrast with the surrounding red. The walk around the lake on foot (about 27 km) or by mountain bike is the reference route, but many short loops allow approaching the site in a few hours from the parking lots of Clermont-l'Hérault or the Vailhés side of Celles.Unique light in autumn
Out of season, the low light of October falls directly on the ruffes in the late afternoon and envelops them in an intensity that no summer photo can really capture.Traveling to Salagou
From Toulouse, the Salagou is about 200 kilometers via the A9 and A75, or a bit less than two hours by car. It is the kind of destination that people talk about when returning, generally wondering why they had waited so long.
