Hiking trail: The banks of the small lake of Pannecière

This walk near the largest of the Morvan lakes reveals a rich heritage and beautiful views of the Morvan countryside. With a surface area of 520 ha and holding 80 million cubic metres of water, it is the largest of the Morvan lakes. The monumental dam (340 m long and 50 m high), of the "multiple vaults and buttresses" type, was built with a compensation basin between 1938 and 1950. It was first used to regulate the waters of the Seine, via the Yonne, its main tributary, and then to produce electricity by a power station at the foot of the dam, to supply drinking water and for leisure, tourism and fishing.
The surface area and depth of the Pannecière-Chaumard reservoir mean that it never freezes in its entirety. During the harsh winters, the lake serves as a refuge for many species of water birds, great crested grebes, great cormorants, grey herons, egrets and mallards, but also pintails, scaups and scaups, mergansers... Downstream from the lake, a compensation basin called "le petit lac" feeds the Nivernais canal via the Yonne channel. At the foot of the Pannecière dam, a large playful model allows you to learn about the different uses of water. A first model (1:36 scale) was made before the construction of the dam itself in order to show the inhabitants how it works and to simulate a flood with the spillway. It had fallen into disuse and was restored in 2013.