Roger Lapébie trail – Pont de Pierre (Stone Bridge) loop from Madirac
Roger Lapébie trail – Pont de Pierre (Stone Bridge) loop from Madirac
4
riders
Roger Lapébie trail – Pont de Pierre (Stone Bridge) loop from Madirac
06:43
122km
460m
Gravel riding
Hard gravel ride. Very good fitness required. You may need to push your bike for some segments of this route.
Last updated: June 19, 2026
Tips
Includes a segment in which cycling is not permitted
After 94.3 km for 144 m
Waypoints
Start point
Get Directions
10.0 km
The Springs Pond
Highlight • Lake
Translated by Google •
Tip by
10.3 km
Roger Lapébie trail
Highlight • Other
Translated by Google •
Tip by
31.4 km
Lit de l'Eau Bourde
Lake
33.7 km
Parc de Papaye
Forest
34.8 km
Léognan to Gradignan through the woods
Highlight (Segment) • Other
Translated by Google •
Tip by
78.8 km
Green Lake
Highlight • Lake
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Tip by
94.4 km
Bègles Plage
Beach
99.5 km
View of Pont de Pierre
Highlight • Bridge
This stone bridge spans 487 meters and was opened to traffic in 1822. Since 2018, it has been reserved for pedestrians and cyclists. Caution ! Public transport still has the right to pass.
Translated by Google •
Tip by
100 km
Porte Cailhau, Bordeaux
Highlight • Monument
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Tip by
101 km
Pont de Pierre (Stone Bridge)
Highlight • Bridge
The first bridge over the Garonne in Bordeaux, the Pont de pierre was planned and designed during the First French Empire, under the orders of Napoleon I. While campaigning in Spain, he needed his troops to cross the river quickly, and the initial plan envisioned a wooden bridge, which was easier to construct. Until then, we had to cross the river by boat. Due to lack of means, construction took place subsequently, during the Bourbon Restoration, from 1819 to 1822. During these three years, the builders were faced with numerous challenges due to the strong current and the high amplitude tides, 6 m, at this point in the river. They used a diving bell borrowed from the British to stabilize the bridge piers.
The bridge has 17 arches (according to legend the number of letters in the name 'Napoléon Bonaparte'). On the sides, each pile of bricks is topped with a white medallion which must have received the number of Louis XVIII of France, a double L.
It was the only bridge in Bordeaux until the completion of the Passerelle Eiffel railway bridge in 1860 and the only road bridge until the construction of the Pont Saint-Jean (Bordeaux) in 1965. The bridge and its tide is a point important part of the Grand Gabarit Route, the logistics program transporting parts for the production of the Airbus A380.
The curiosity of the Stone Bridge lies in its interior: it is hollow, full of galleries and staircases which allow its structure and stability to be controlled. Because despite its length (nearly ½ kilometer), this structure demonstrates a certain flexibility to adapt to the movements of the Garonne, and to the loose alluvial bottoms on which it rests. Its 16 piles each rest on approximately 220 metal and wood piles (fir and Landes pine) driven into the sandy mud, themselves reinforced by a system of riprap. Its foundations are fragile and it is now threatened by various pathologies; its 500,000 bricks sag by 2 to 3 mm each year. This is why it is kept under surveillance using movement sensors and an inclinometer placed in the interior galleries. spotsfrance.com/2022/05/le-pont-de-pierre-premier-pont-de-bordeaux
Since 2016, the condition of the bridge now makes it permanently closed to traffic except for pedestrians, cyclists, trams, buses, taxis and emergency vehicles.
Translated by Google •
Tip by
108 km
View of the Garonne
Highlight • Viewpoint
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Tip by
122 km
End point
Way Types & Surfaces
Way Types
40.5 km
38.8 km
30.6 km
8.20 km
3.38 km
154 m
< 100 m
Surfaces
60.2 km
30.5 km
18.1 km
11.7 km
849 m
331 m
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Elevation
Highest point (90 m)
Lowest point (0 m)
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Weather
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Tuesday 7 July
37°C
19°C
0 %
Additional weather tips
Max wind speed: 14.0 km/h
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Our route recommendations are based on thousands of hikes, rides, and runs completed by other people on komoot.
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