River
Sarthe
314 km from source to mouth · France.
FranceFlows into Maine
In numbers
Length
314km
Average flow
82m³/s
Basin
22,185km²
Drop
163m
from 163 m to 0 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
314 km of river and 68 stops on the way: 60 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSaint-Aquilin-de-Corbionat 163 m
- 0 kmMoulins-la-Marche710 people
- 1 kmSoligny-la-Trappe627 people
- 3 kmChampeaux-sur-Sarthe159 people
- 4 kmSainte-Scolasse-sur-Sarthe582 people
- 8 kmBazoches-sur-Hoëne827 people
- 10 kmLa Mesnière276 people
- 10 kmLaleu362 people
- 11 kmCoulonges-sur-Sarthe480 people
- 12 kmBuré98 people
- 17 kmLe Mêle-sur-Sarthe659 people
- 20 kmSaint-Julien-sur-Sarthe672 people
- 20 kmBarville193 people
- 36 kmHauterive457 people
- 45 kmCerisé844 people
- 47 kmValframbert1,678 people
- 50 kmAlençon25,490 people
- 51 kmBriantetributary
- 53 kmSaint-Germain-du-Corbéis3,636 people
- 56 kmCondé-sur-Sarthe2,494 people
- 59 kmHéloup899 people
- 60 kmMieuxcé617 people
- 69 kmSaint-Pierre-des-Nids1,748 people
- 90 kmAssé-le-Boisne881 people
- 115 kmBeaumont-sur-Sarthe1,972 people
- 123 kmSaint-Jean-d'Assé1,790 people
- 132 kmSainte-Jamme-sur-Sarthe1,950 people
- 133 kmMontbizot1,841 people
- 134 kmOrne Saosnoisetributary
- 137 kmLa Guierche1,300 people
- 138 kmLa Bazoge3,796 people
- 143 kmNeuville-sur-Sarthe2,463 people
- 148 kmSaint-Saturnin2,774 people
- 149 kmLa Chapelle-Saint-Aubin2,256 people
- 149 kmSaint-Pavace2,007 people
- 151 kmCoulaines8,121 people
- 154 kmLe Mans146,249 people
- 156 kmHuisnetributary
- 160 kmAllonnes10,739 people
- 166 kmArnage5,445 people
- 169 kmSpay2,808 people
- 173 kmFillé1,562 people
- 174 kmGuécélard3,202 people
- 181 kmRoëzé-sur-Sarthe2,514 people
- 185 kmLa Suze-sur-Sarthe4,693 people
- 190 kmChemiré-le-Gaudin998 people
- 201 kmNoyen-sur-Sarthe2,556 people
- 210 kmMalicorne-sur-Sarthe1,854 people
- 224 kmParcé-sur-Sarthe1,950 people
- 228 kmAvoise594 people
- 233 kmVègretributary
- 237 kmJuigné-sur-Sarthe1,141 people
- 239 kmSolesmes1,240 people
- 243 kmErvetributary
- 243 kmSablé-sur-Sarthe12,326 people
- 244 kmTaudetributary
- 253 kmSaint-Denis-d'Anjou1,495 people
- 257 kmPrécigné2,877 people
- 278 kmJuvardeil833 people
- 281 kmÉtriché1,600 people
- 285 kmTiercé4,589 people
- 295 kmBriollay3,225 people
- 297 kmSoulaire-et-Bourg1,467 people
- 298 kmLoirtributary
- 301 kmCantenay-Épinard2,415 people
- 303 kmÉcouflant4,749 people
- 311 kmAngers159,022 people
- 313 kmMaine-et-Loire833,776 people
- 313 kmLac de Maine0.9 km²
- 314 kmMaineat 0 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 82 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 30 seconds. It drops from 163 m to 0 m, 0.5 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 22,185 km², about the size of BZ. 1.5 million 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.
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 water64 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit
Sarthe, month by month
Highest water: from December to February
Best months to visit: from May to September.
From about 54 m³/s in the lowest month to 300 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
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
Sarthe: the basin in numbers
22,108 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 1.5millionpeople live in the basin
- 66/km²people per km²
- 128maverage altitude of the basin
- 698mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 10.7°Caverage air temperature
- 17%protected areas
- 0.1%covered by lakes
What covers the basin
- 3% Forest
- 50% Cropland
- 18% Pasture
- 2% 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
Sarthe: what you find on the way
- 84WeirsBarrage des Forges, Barrage de Trotté, Barrage d'Antoigné and 81 more
- 40LocksLa Sarthe, Écluse de Fercé, Écluse de Malicorne and 37 more
- 1Waterfalls
- 46Boat rampsCale de Mise à l'Eau, canoe kayak (Passage du barrage) and 44 more
- 2Ferry piers
- 12MarinasLe Port du Mans, Port du Houssay, Halte Fluviale and 9 more
- 1River beachesPlage des Sablières
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.0 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Sarthe 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
- Lac de Mainekm 2570.9km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
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
Sarthe in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (22)
Also: Huisne, Vaige, Erve, Vègre, Orne Saosnoise, Orthe, Sarthon, Briante, Fessard, Orne champenoise, Bienne, Gée, Merdereau, Hoëne, Taude, Vaudelle, Rhonne, Roule Crottes, Vézanne, Orthon, Voutonne
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q736600) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Lakeyas — 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.
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Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit 
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Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
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Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
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Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit