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River

Loir

317 km from source to mouth · France.

FranceFranceFlows into Sarthe

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouth
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

317km

Average flow

32m³/s

Basin

8,294km²

Drop

140m

from 151 m to 11 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

317 km of river and 68 stops on the way: 58 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

151 m11 m
Champrond-en-Gâtineat 151 m0 km
Châteaudun12,830 people53 km
Vendôme15,758 people111 km
Boulontributary123 km
Brayetributary168 km
Lac des Varennes0.5 km²183 km
Aubigné-Racan2,158 people208 km
Clermont-Créans1,293 people243 km
La Flèche14,947 people249 km
Seiches-sur-le-Loir2,844 people295 km
Sartheat 11 m317 km
0100200317 km
  1. 0 kmChamprond-en-Gâtineat 151 m
  2. 0 kmChamprond-en-Gâtine744 people
  3. 0 kmLe Thieulin423 people
  4. 0 kmLes Corvées-les-Yys326 people
  5. 0 kmSaint-Denis-des-Puits150 people
  6. 0 kmLes Châtelliers-Notre-Dame148 people
  7. 0 kmMagny664 people
  8. 0 kmMarchéville507 people
  9. 3 kmIlliers-Combray3,210 people
  10. 8 kmSaint-Avit-les-Guespières342 people
  11. 10 kmCharonville293 people
  12. 14 kmSaumeray465 people
  13. 19 kmAlluyes756 people
  14. 25 kmVallée de Paraytributary
  15. 26 kmOzannetributary
  16. 28 kmBonneval4,868 people
  17. 34 kmSaint-Maur-sur-le-Loir411 people
  18. 41 kmMoléans433 people
  19. 45 kmDonnemain-Saint-Mamès654 people
  20. 46 kmConietributary
  21. 48 kmMarboué1,108 people
  22. 53 kmChâteaudun12,830 people
  23. 54 kmChâteau de Châteaudun
  24. 73 kmEgvonnetributary
  25. 76 kmAigretributary
  26. 79 kmSaint-Jean-Froidmentel505 people
  27. 85 kmSaint-Hilaire-la-Gravelle652 people
  28. 88 kmMorée1,077 people
  29. 90 kmFréteval1,063 people
  30. 98 kmPezou1,101 people
  31. 102 kmSaint-Firmin-des-Prés744 people
  32. 108 kmSaint-Ouen3,041 people
  33. 109 kmAreines572 people
  34. 111 kmVendôme15,758 people
  35. 115 kmNaveil2,442 people
  36. 120 kmVilliers-sur-Loir1,105 people
  37. 123 kmBoulontributary
  38. 123 kmMazangé809 people
  39. 125 kmThoré-la-Rochette810 people
  40. 132 kmLunay1,272 people
  41. 141 kmMontoire-sur-le-Loir3,646 people
  42. 141 kmSaint-Martin-des-Bois582 people
  43. 154 kmArtins266 people
  44. 156 kmSougé484 people
  45. 168 kmBrayetributary
  46. 174 kmLa Chartre-sur-le-Loir1,370 people
  47. 175 kmLhomme933 people
  48. 179 kmChahaignes664 people
  49. 182 kmMarçon1,057 people
  50. 183 kmLac des Varennes0.5 km²
  51. 188 kmEscotaistributary
  52. 188 kmDissay-sous-Courcillon966 people
  53. 199 kmLa Bruère-sur-Loir250 people
  54. 204 kmVaas1,371 people
  55. 208 kmAubigné-Racan2,158 people
  56. 213 kmLa Chapelle-aux-Choux283 people
  57. 233 kmLuché-Pringé1,535 people
  58. 239 kmMareil-sur-Loir653 people
  59. 243 kmClermont-Créans1,293 people
  60. 249 kmLa Flèche14,947 people
  61. 263 kmLes Rairies1,041 people
  62. 268 kmDurtal3,386 people
  63. 282 kmBaracé636 people
  64. 287 kmTiercé4,589 people
  65. 295 kmSeiches-sur-le-Loir2,844 people
  66. 299 kmCorzé1,991 people
  67. 312 kmÉcouflant4,749 people
  68. 313 kmBriollay3,225 people
  69. 315 kmMaine-et-Loire833,776 people
  70. 317 kmSartheat 11 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in France

At the mouth it carries 32 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 78 seconds. It drops from 151 m to 11 m, 0.4 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 8,294 km², about the size of PR. 341,000 people live in it. Highest water: from December to February. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • Maine-et-LoireLargest city on its banks · 833,776 people
  • Nantes Atlantique Airport (NTE)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 83 km from the cityCar hire at NTE airport (Nantes)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water25 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Loir, month by month

Highest water: from December to February

Best months to visit: from May to September.

82
4°63 mmJan
75
4°56 mmFeb
61
8°51 mmMar
45
10°49 mmApr
37
14°58 mmMay
28
17°50 mmJun
22
19°47 mmJul
17
19°50 mmAug
23
16°54 mmSep
36
12°58 mmOct
59
7°68 mmNov
74
4°63 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 17 m³/s in the lowest month to 82 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Car hire at NTE airport (Nantes)Discover CarsSee 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

Loir: the basin in numbers

8,211 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.0% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 341,000people live in the basin
  • 41/km²people per km²
  • 126maverage altitude of the basin
  • 663mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 10.8°Caverage air temperature
  • 3%protected areas
  • 0.1%covered by lakes

What covers the basin

  • 3% Forest
  • 54% Cropland
  • 8% Pasture
  • 1% Towns and cities

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

Loir: what you find on the way

  • 6Dams
  • 85Weirs
  • 18Boat rampsCanoë-Kayak CKCB, Canoë Kayak AEC and 16 more
  • 6Ferry piersBac Piétons vélos Prignes - Seiches sur le Loir and 5 more
  • 1MarinasBâteaux Électriques
  • 3River beachesPlage de la Monnerie, Plage des Sablières

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.7 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Loir in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

  • 1lake on its wayLakeyas

Lakes and reservoirs (1)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Lac des Varenneskm 1520.5km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Loir: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Loir: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth12 km across

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

Photos

Loir in pictures

VendomeLoir
Unknown author · Public domain
Illiers-Combray - Loir river - 2
Benjamin Smith · CC BY-SA 4.0
Fréteval - vue sur le Loir depuis le pont
Yzergues · CC BY-SA 4.0
Le Loir en Hiver (18625717109)
Olivier Letourneux · CC BY 2.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

It flows into

SartheFranceFrance314 km82 m³/s

Tributaries (28)

Also: Braye, Conie, Ozanne, Yerre, Aigre, Dême, Escotais, Aune, Foussarde, Fare, Boulon, Egvonne, Veuve, Brisse, Cendrine, Marconne, Ruisseau des Cartes, Dinan, Ruisseau du Gratte-Loup, Thironne river, Vallée de Paray, Maulne, Houzée, Rodiveau

In the same basin

LoireFranceFrance1,006 km840 m³/sVienneFranceFrance372 km210 m³/sAllierFranceFrance421 km150 m³/sCherFranceFrance365 km96 m³/sIndre RiverFranceFrance280 km19 m³/sCreuseFranceFrance263 km85 m³/sMayenneFranceFrance202 km50 m³/sArrouxFranceFrance132 km34 m³/sSèvre NantaiseFranceFrance142 km9.5 m³/sClainFranceFrance144 km20 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

MayenneFranceFrance202 km50 m³/s10 km awayVienneFranceFrance372 km210 m³/s60 km awayLoireFranceFrance1,006 km840 m³/s112 km awayIndre RiverFranceFrance280 km19 m³/s60 km awayCherFranceFrance365 km96 m³/s80 km awayCreuseFranceFrance263 km85 m³/s104 km awaySèvre NantaiseFranceFrance142 km9.5 m³/s87 km awayVilaineFranceFrance218 km80 m³/s143 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q376133) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesLakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit