Bauges Geopark

Part of the Bauges Regional Park, the Bauges Geopark is an area of middle elevation mountains in the north-western French Alps. From afar, the area looks like a rocky fortress; a preserved natural island emerging from an urbanized surrounding sea. The massif features cliffs of resistant limestone and sedimentary rocks, which form perched synclines and give the Bauges a distinct landform. Major tectonic fault lines witness to strong mountain-building processes and the karst landscape is crisscrossed by large and small defiles in the cretaceous limestone that create wetlands, lakes, springs and caves. The famous “Savoyarde” cliff is an impressively folded limestone deposit at the southern tip of the area, resembling the folk headdress traditionally worn by women in the region.