Lac de Pont & the Armançon Valley Walk
Just 3 km south of the old town, the Lac de Pont is a 200-hectare reservoir created in the 1930s to regulate the Canal de Bourgogne, and it has quietly matured into one of the loveliest freshwater landscapes in northern Burgundy. Herons, kingfishers and great crested grebes work the shallows while the wooded hills of the Auxois reflect in water that is genuinely swimmable in July and August.
On and around the water
A marked trail circuits the entire lake in approximately 3 hours, passing through mixed oak and hornbeam woodland, open meadows grazed by Charolais cattle and two small beaches where local families swim in summer.
Pedalo and rowing-boat rental is available at the Lac de Pont leisure base in July and August — an unhurried hour on the water gives you views back toward the Semur towers that no road offers.
Fishing is permitted with a day licence available at the leisure base; pike, perch and bream are the main catches in the deeper sections near the dam.
Combining the lake with the canal towpath
The Canal de Bourgogne runs alongside the Armançon just below the town and its towpath is flat, shaded and open to walkers and cyclists year-round — hire a bike from the tourist office or a local outlet and follow the water south from Semur to the lake in under 20 minutes.
The canal towpath continues beyond the lake through a series of locks toward Pouilly-en-Auxois, passing vineyards and stone lock-keeper's cottages that have barely changed since the 19th century.
In spring the towpath verges are thick with cowslips and wild orchids; in autumn the beech and oak canopy turns the path into a tunnel of copper and gold.
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