Gorges de Daluis Regional Nature Reserve, Regional nature reserve in Alpes-Maritimes, France

The Gorges de Daluis Regional Nature Reserve protects a canyon cut by the Var River into Permian pelite, a red wine-coloured rock formed from oxidised volcanic ash and fine sediment. The gorge walls drop up to 300 metres, and the reserve covers 1,082 hectares across the communes of Guillaumes and Daluis. A narrow rock pillar of dark reddish-brown pelite, layered in horizontal slabs with a blocky cap, stands above a pale stone wall.

The reserve was created by a deliberation of 29 October 2012, on the initiative of the Communauté de communes des Alpes d'Azur and the LPO Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Its pelites are Permian: over 250 million years ago volcanic ash and fine sediments settled in shallow basins and oxidized to a wine-red colour. The Var then cut these layers down more than 900 m.

The reserve is managed by the Communauté de communes des Alpes d'Azur and the LPO Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Two marked trails start from the gorges: the Clue d'Amen circuit (4 h 30 min) and the Point Sublime circuit (1 h 15 min). The gorges are also stops on the Route des Grandes Alpes.

Two marked trails start from the gorge area: the Clue d'Amen circuit takes about 4 h 30 min and the Point Sublime circuit about 1 h 15 min. The reserve lies on the Route des Grandes Alpes, and the Var has cut the gorge more than 900 m deep, so expect steep, exposed ground.

The gorge contains rare minerals like barrotite and gilmarite, found in very few places worldwide, embedded within its red pelite rocks. This rarity makes the geological composition globally noteworthy.