Martinière Lock – Phare de la Chaussée loop from La Martinière

Bike touring routes & trails

Martinière Lock – Phare de la Chaussée loop from La Martinière

Moderate

4.6

(44)

201

riders

Martinière Lock – Phare de la Chaussée loop from La Martinière

02:36

46.4km

70m

Cycling

Moderate bike ride. Good fitness required. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: August 25, 2026

Waypoints

Start point

Bus stop

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211 m

Martinière Lock

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The bike path to here follows, for 15 kilometers, the channel of Martinière (or officially Canal Maritime de la Basse Loire). This canal runs along the south bank of the Loire Estuary, leaving at most 5 to 6 kilometers from the river.
Proposed by engineer Adolphe Radiguel in 1861 to allow transatlantic ships to reach Nantes, the canal is operational in 1892 after 10 years of pharaonic work. Some of the machinery and equipment was previously used for the construction of the Suez Canal.
Three major structures are built for the lock's operating system: the Martinière (in the east), the Carnet (in the west) and the Champs-Neufs half way along the canal. The latter was also equipped with a siphon, allowing a differentiated water regulation between the moats of Vue marshes and those of the canal itself. Two "boat parks" allow large vessels to cross at the "Teignouse" in Pellerin, and between Roche and Carnet Frossay.
The canal has an intense period of activity with the great navigation which lasts 20 years until 1913, with approximately 10,000 passages during these 20 years, then the fluvial watercraft circulates until 1943. It becomes a cemetery of the tall ships between 1921 and 1927. During the Second World War, the Germans occupy it, then the Americans, from 1957 to 1967, will stock NATO material there. The sea canal is closed to navigation in 1959.
In the 1960s, the canal became the hydraulic control tool of the Pays de Retz. Its devastation began in the 1990s, using small dredges. fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_de_la_Martini%C3%A8re

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420 m

Nice café

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great in good weather

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22.9 km

The house of the artist Dominique Leroy

Highlight • Monument

The house of the artist Dominique Leroy is a curiosity that attracts attention. About every two years, this resident changes the decor of the facade of his house. After having successively covered it with fabrics, wood, inner tubes, in 2022 it is now with thousands of electronic components that he has decorated his home.

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23.0 km

Phare de la Chaussée

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Built in 1854 at a time when Paimboeuf was the advanced port of Nantes, before being replaced by Saint-Nazaire. It is the only lighthouse on the Loire and the most "land-based" in France because it is 10 km from the ocean.

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23.2 km

Paimbœuf

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Paimboeuf is interesting for its small port and the quays on the Loire, as well as for its neo-Byzantine church.

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30.8 km

The Loire by Bike

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This is how cycling is fun: no traffic, good roads.

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38.5 km

Champs Neufs Lock on the Basse-Loire maritime canal

Highlight • Structure

The Champs Neufs lock is located on the Martinière canal, built between 1882 and 1892 to move boats assembled in Nantes to the Atlantic Ocean. With the increase in the tonnage of boats, the industry moved to Saint-Nazaire, directly on the ocean and the canal lost its usefulness.

Today, the lock is still used for leisure activities (line fishing, boating) in parallel with the Loire.

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