Eyre (river)

This article is about the river in France. For the river in Australia, see Eyre River (Western Australia). For the river in New Zealand, see Eyre River, New Zealand.

The Eyre is a coastal river that flows through the Landes of Gascony, in Aquitaine, southwest France.

Eyre
Native name	L'Eyre (French)
Location
Country	France
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Sabres, Landes
• elevation	82 m (269 ft)
Mouth
• location	Arcachon Bay
• coordinates	44°39′52″N 1°1′23″W
Length	116 km (72 mi)
Basin size	1,700 km2 (660 sq mi)
Discharge
• average	18.8 m3/s (660 cu ft/s)
Ramsar Wetland
Official name	Bassin d'Arcachon - Secteur du delta de l'Eyre
Designated	27 October 2011
Reference no.	1996

The river is generally presented as the confluence of:

• the Grande Leyre (Large Leyre), its principal course, upstream from Moustey
• the Petite Leyre (Small Leyre), its main tributary

The combined watercourse Eyre-Grande Leyre is 115.9 km (72.0 mi) long.

Name

Eyre is an Aquitanian hydronym. It can be found in such names as Eyres-Moncube, Landes, or the craste de l'Eyron (Eyron ditch) in Lacanau, Gironde. Note that Leyre is a variant of the name Eyre, affected by an agglutination of the Romance article.

Geography

The Eyre in Mios

The basin of the Eyre in included in the Landes de Gascogne Regional Natural Park.

The river takes form in the Plantiet Marsh, in Grande Lande near Sabres, Landes.

It flows north into the Bassin d'Arcachon, a large bay on the Atlantic coast, in the Pays de Buch, Gironde. Its delta of 30 square kilometres (12 sq mi) contains the Le Teich ornithological park.

The Eyre flows through a preserved environment. Its banks are bordered by a broad-leaved forest. Branches join over the river, forming a gallery forest, that contrasts with the Landes forest, planted with maritime pines.

Départements and towns

The Eyre flows through the following départements and towns:

• Landes: Pissos
• Gironde: Belin-Béliet, Salles, Mios, Le Teich

Tributaries

The main tributary of the Eyre is the Petite-Leyre. It rises between Luxey and Retjons, in Landes, and flows northwest to join the Grande Leyre downstream from Pissos.

• (R) Petite Leyre

N.B. : (R) = right tributary; (L) = left tributary

Historical sidenote

During the establishment of the French départements in 1790, the creation of a large département corresponding to the natural region of the Landes of Gascony – that is to say, today's Landes forest (then still unplanted) – was suggested. The name of this département would have been the Eyre.

Activities

• Canoeing (canoes rentals)