The Etang de Llers can get very busy. On a smaller scale but equally enchanting, the nearby Pont de Lamarda offers  refreshing pools in a pretty, hidden spot. 

The Pont de Lamarda is only a 10 minutes walk off the road running from Massat up to the Etang de Llers, yet very few people bother to find it.

Massat is a funky little town with cafes, bakeries and a good butcher. L’Etang de Llers, high in the mountains at 1,274 M., is one of the most accessible lakes in the Ariège as it can be directly accessed by car. It has a jolly little mountain restaurant of the same name and is popular with fishermen.

La Pont de Lamarda is an old clapper bridge in the middle of what was once a thriving pastoral area; all around are the scenic remains of the old stone orris or cabins that were used on the summer grazing grounds. Today a few token cow and sheep herds are still summered on these mountains.

It is on a circular walk, Number 21, which explores the area round the Etang de Llers. Pick up the map at the tourist office in Massat or look for the path running into the ferns on the left by the forestry track a couple of km before the lake. The track in is a little rough what with cows and the excavations of wild boar but it is worth the effort.

Hidden in a little valley the bridge crosses a narrow stream with its great granite slabs. Upstream beside it is a circular pool with a little rushing waterfall to one end: it is not big enough for swimming but there is usually enough water for complete immersion – though be warned, the water is icy cold!

It’s great on a hot day and is a very pretty spot: however dried out Europe may look, this area is always fresh and green. There are shady trees scattered about and you are likely to be undisturbed – a little piece of heaven in the Ariège.