The Scarpe Escaut Regional Nature Park

Created in 1968, the Scarpe-Escaut Regional Nature Park est le doyen des 48 Parcs naturels régionaux français et compte 55 communes classées.

is the oldest of the 48 French regional nature parks and includes 55 listed districts. It is also the leading European park as along with its Belgian neighbour the Plaines de l’Escaut Nature Park. It comprises the great Hainaut cross border nature park. Belgium and France combine seamlessly here with the barges on the Escaut (the Scheldt), on land and water along the Scarpe or through woods and state forests (including Saint-Amand, Marchiennes, Flines-Lez-Mortagne and Condé-sur-l’Escaut). Come along and discover this rich, wet land where human activities have grown and thrived around the abbeys and mines. The area's state forests, the mining areas listed by UNESCO as world heritage of humanity, the farmland with its impressive alignments of willow trees, but also attractive towns such as the spa town of Saint-Amand-les-Eaux and the nearby cultural centre of Valenciennes, (which gave us Watteau and Carpeaux) make this a highly original tourist destination.