Where the railway line from Yverdon to Lausanne passes in two short tunnels through the hills of Mormont, the railway also crosses the gorge d'Entreroches (la cluse d'Entreroches), in which runs the old shipping canal d'Entreroches. The walk through the gorge takes approximately 45 minutes. The easiest way is to take the train to the station at Eclépens and walk from the south through the picturesque gorge. From the ancient lock keeper's house at the northern end you can either continue to the station at Bavois or you return through the gorge.

The path is well marked and after about 20 minutes you'll reach the entrance to the gorge

Entrance to the gorge. From here you can easily reach the other end in about 30 to 45 minutes

At the beginning, the bottom of the valley is very swampy

The path ascends gently, from time to time giving a view of the old canal

At parts the canal is easily visible through the dense woods

Teilweise ist der Kanal durch das dichte Gehölz noch gut sichtbar

An ideal opportunity for a pause is the resting place located about halfway through the gorge. Information boards give a good insight into the history of the canal

The information boards are in French and German

After the resting place the old canal walls are still visible

After a while we come to the end of the canal. It was filled in with excavation material from the construction of the tunnels in 1850 to 1855, which was then dumped on both sides of the new railway track

In some places impressive cliffs form the gorge

The path leads up to cross over the northern tunnel of the railway track

Over the two northern tunnels, looking to the south. On the right the old railway track and to the left the new railway track, whose construction commenced in 2008

Directly above the entrances of the northern tunnels. On the right an old signalman's house

A last view of the railway track. From here you reach the northern end of the gorge in about 15 minutes on a small road. Today it's hard to believe that ships once sailed through here

The former canal offices and lock keeper's house at the northern exit of the gorge

A small plaque at the main door reminds us of the original purpose of this building

The house is situated beside the road from Bavois to Orny and La Sarraz. Under the tree there's a bench and a few information boards

The gorge d'Entreroches stretches to the left through the hills behind the lock keeper's house

A view to the north towards Yverdon over the large plain of Orbe

After about a kilometre you can find the "source" of today's Canal d'Entreroches - a concrete drainage pipe

The small Canal d'Entreroches stretches in a straight line through the plain of Orbe. However, except for the name, it has nothing in common with the original shipping canal. It was built during the land improvement of the plain

SwissShips, HPS October 2015. Translated by NB and uploaded in June 2020 by MB