The Loup (; ) is a river in the

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; ; ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the France–Italy border, Italian border and Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'A ...

department, Southeastern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. With a length of , it ends in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

Villeneuve-Loubet Villeneuve-Loubet (; ; ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. It lies between Cagnes-sur-Mer and Antibes, at the mouth of the river Loup, ten kilometres west of ...

, near

Cagnes-sur-Mer Cagnes-sur-Mer (, literally ''Cagnes on Sea''; ) is a French Riviera town near Nice that is in the Alpes-Maritimes department, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in southeastern France. Geography Cagnes-sur-Mer is a town in southeaste ...

. It takes its source in Andon.

Geography

The total length of the river is . The source of the Loup is north of the mountain of Audibergue in the municipality of Andon, a small town in the

situated at nearly above sea level and surrounded by small ski resorts. The stream first turns east, then turns south and forms the Gorges du Loup, a series of gorges. After passing Bar-sur-Loup, it resumes its course towards the east, passes south of the city of

Vence Vence (; ) is a commune set in the hills of the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France, north of Nice and Antibes on the Mediterranean coast. Ecclesiastical history The first known Bishop ...

, then moves towards the south-east and arrives at

. From there it flows into the

southwest of

Hydrology

The water flow in the Loup was observed for a period of 34 years (1980-2013) in

, a commune in the

department, located at its mouth at the

. The river's

catchment area A catchment area in human geography, is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

is ,Bassin versant : Loup (Le)
Observatoire Régional Eau et Milieux Aquatiques en PACA and the average flow rate is 4.480 m³/s.

Cities and villages along the river

The Loup flows through the following cities and villages (source to mouth): :Andon, Gréolières, Cipières, Courmes, Gourdon, Pont-du-Loup, Bar-sur-Loup,

La Colle-sur-Loup La Colle-sur-Loup (; ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. Population Notable residents * Jean-François-Maxime Raybaud (1795–1894), a philhellene officer, writer, and a participant in the War of In ...

Gorges du Loup

The ''Gorges du Loup'' is a gorge carved by the Loup river in the

Maritime Alps The Maritime Alps ( ; ) are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between the regions of France, French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and the regions of Italy, Italian regions of Piedmont and Liguria ...

in France, about 45 minutes from

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million The gorge is a popular climbing area with several high-level routes, with at least 22 routes above the grade . According to UKClimbing the gorge offers a total of 451 routes set in the French

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. The first free route in the gorge was ''Déversé Satanique'', opened by Bernard Duterte in the mid-1980s. Now graded .

9a difficulty routes

* ''Kick Ass'' - August 2012 - Enzo Oddo * ''Trip Tik'' Tonik - July 2011 - Gérome Pouvreau * ''PuntX'' - 12 August 2007 - Alexandre Chabot * ''Abysse'' - 28 July 2006 - Alexandre Chabot * ''Kinematix'' - 6 October 2001 - Andreas Bindhammer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loup (River) Rivers of France Rivers of Alpes-Maritimes Rivers of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 0Loup Climbing areas of France