Clue d'Aiglun

The vibe

Hemmed in between limestone cliffs over 400 metres high, the Clue d'Aiglun is one of the most spectacular sites on the Estéron river, with its turquoise pools and potholes carved into the rock.

What to know before you go

The main access is on foot from the Sallagriffon car park (sitting at 750m altitude according to an official document from the Préalpes d'Azur Regional Nature Park), via a partially shaded path of about 1 km, leading to the swimming pools (the clue proper lies a further 300m upstream). Another entrance exists from Aiglun via the Mont Saint-Martin trail, roughly 1h45-3h of walking for a loop with about 344m of elevation change. Dogs are mentioned as able to accompany hikers on this access trail, but swimming in the celebrated pools actually remains rare: the approaches are steep and take time to walk (official source: Préalpes d'Azur Regional Nature Park, independently confirmed). Watch out — a safety point confirmed by cross-checking a specialist source and a near-official department source: this canyon is among the most dangerous in the department, with several drownings recorded since 1986 across the Estéron clues in general. The riverbed was also heavily reshaped by storm Alex in October 2020, creating extra obstacles/hazards. Descending the canyon in full, beyond the pools reachable on foot, is a technical canyoning activity — not an outing to attempt with a dog.

Nearby

The Clue de Saint-Auban, in the same Estéron valley, offers another swimming pool with its own mill ruins (see the dedicated listing).