An emerald in Sologne : The Étang du Puits

Welcome to the Étang du Puits, the largest of Sologne’s small lakes and one of the Sully Valley’s finest jewels! Located on the border between the departments of Loiret and Cher, by the villages of Cerdon and Argent-sur-Sauldre, the site is equally popular for its natural and preserved environment as for its leisure base !

Sologne’s bathing resort

The Étang du Puits is among the region’s highly popular tourist attractions and is perfectly equipped to welcome summer holidaymakers. This friendly and convivial spot is often the place where friends and families get together over a picnic and a dip at the Cerdon beach!  Bathing in the lake is under lifeguard surveillance throughout July and August. From children’s play areas to pedal boats via volleyball net and French bowls grounds… the site is steeped in a happy holiday atmosphere! The sailing club offers windsurfing lessons for beginners in the high season. And for visitors in quest of thrills and spills, the speedboat centre proposes water skiing and ring skiing! Feeling peckish? Then head for the Chez Bébert snack bar, open throughout the season on the water’s edge and offering ice cream, hot and cold drinks, grilled meats and pancakes.

Get back to nature as you observe the local wildlife

The Étang du Puits was created by hollowing out 180 hectares of land in 1864 in order fill the Sauldre canal. Today, this wooded park offers an appropriate and rightful habitat to the local fauna. It is also an ornithological reserve, where visitors can observe a vast number of different bird species including grey herons, great crested grebes, mallard ducks, coots and black-headed gulls. Bring your own binoculars and take advantage of the on-site observatory to peacefully watch them as they take flight. The lake is also bordered by several different tree species: oaks, chestnuts, pines, birches, willows, etc.

A path enables you to walk around the entire lake (distance appr. 8km) – unquestionably the best way to observe nature’s secret treasures!

Hook, line and sinker !

One specific zone is specially reserved for fishing. With a card or permit, you can fish around twenty different species here. Pike, carp, perch, eels and pike perch are abundant in the lake. There is even a legend about a fish called Nicolas, the Étang du Puits’s very own Nessie… who is said to be so old and so fat that algae grow on the top if his head !

 

Practical

  • Pets are welcome if held on a lead, with the exception of sandy areas
  • Barbecues and fires are prohibited
  • Fishing permitted in reserved zones with a permit card
  • Toilets, reception kiosk and first aid centre

 

Contacts

Mairie de Cerdon (Town hall)

32 route d’Argent – 45620 Cerdon
0033 (0)2 38 36 00 20
mairie.cerdon@wanadoo.fr – cerdonduloiret.fr

 

Étang du Puits syndicate

Jean-François Carcagno – 0033 (0)6 64 72 31 26

 

Étang du Puits reception

Lucien Marois – 0033 (0)2 38 36 01 09