Nature: Antey-Saint-André, La Magdeleine, Saint-Denis, Torgnon, Verrayes

The lake of Lod is a basin of glacial origin which gave its name to the small hamlet located nearby, reachable by car from Antey-Saint-André.

It is the natural home of several lake botanical species including the marsh reed abundantly present around its banks.

It can also be reached on foot from the hamlet Bourg (less than 400 metres of altitude gap) and from the village of Hérin along an easy path.

The lake is located along stage 8 of the Cammino Balteo trail which goes from Verrayes to La Magdeleine.

A concentration of natural processes in a very rich habitat

An old pond rapidly drying out located on a glacier terrace in the heart of a sunny and dry climate zone.

The lake is home to a rich zooplankton population, numerous invertebrates including different species of dragonflies and amphibians such as the common toad and the brown frog. In the reserve there are more than fifteen different plant associations and almost seventy species typical of wetlands and aquatic environments, some rare or unique to the Valle d’Aosta.

The nature reserve is one of the European ecological network Natura 2000 Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

How to get there
From Aosta, take the national road 26 towards Turin. In Chambave, follow the signs for Verrayes and Loson.

This arboretum, the oldest of this kind in the Region, was realized between 1905 and 1908 by Canon Vescoz, an eminent religious, scientist and geologist native of Verrayes, in a poor and dry ridge, called Pointys (1050 m) and purchased by him with huge economic sacrifices.
This was the first forestation experiment carried out in Aosta Valley with exotic species, on an area of over 12 hectares.
More than 11.000 non-indigenous plants were put in, including 3 varieties of cedar, 2 varieties of douglas, 2 varieties of Italian cypress, the Monterey cypress, the thuja, the giant sequoia, the black pine in addition to native species, some of which are completely out of the station, including the beech, the French oak, the mountain pine, etc. ...
The visitor can admire a wooded area of great naturalistic, botanical and scientific interest, given by the uniqueness and the particularity of the site. The massive presence of aromatic thyme is to mention.
The site is open since 1995 and the most suitable season to visit the Arboretum is spring, characterized by an exaltation of colors and scents.
Three explanatory boards integrated with the mapping of arboretum show tourists the vegetation, the various trails (each appropriately marked) and the most panoramic areas.