The best MTB trails around Valines

The scenery is very beautiful, with lots of birds, cows, horses, and sheep. The road is made of pebbles and quite strenuous to ride.

The cliffs are made of chalk and are impressive to look at.

Here in Ault begin the chalk cliffs, which stretch all the way to Normandy and repeatedly appear as enormous cliffs.

The cliffs around the beach of Ault are composed of chalk from the Upper Cretaceous, more precisely from the Turonian and Coniacian (around 83 million years ago to 90 million years ago). They are strewn with flint nodules which highlight the subhorizontal stratification planes (the formation of flint has already been discussed in Discovery of the geology of the cliffs of Étretat, presentation of an excursion from the beach of Tilleul (Antifer) to the Porte d'Amont (Étretat Nord)). The relative proportion of chalk and flint is around 90-95% chalk to 5-10% flint. Flint horizons are stratigraphic markers. On the cliffs of Ault, the regular flint band called Seven Sisters is recognizable and characterizes the boundary between the Middle Coniacian and the Upper Coniacian (around 87 million years ago). The boundary between the lower and middle Coniacian is marked by the Shoreham 2 marl level, which is more difficult to identify. These lithostratigraphic markings allow in particular the correlation of distant deposits, such as between the Normandy and Picardy coasts, or between the French and English coasts.

The cliffs surrounding Ault beach are made of Upper Cretaceous chalk, more precisely from the terminal Turonian and Coniacian (approximately 83 Ma to 90 Ma). They are dotted with flint nodules that highlight the sub-horizontal stratification planes (the formation of flint has already been discussed in À la découverte géologique des falaises d'Étretat, presentation of an excursion going from Tilleul beach (Antifer) to Porte d'Amont (Étretat Nord)). The relative proportion between chalk and flint is approximately 90-95% chalk for 5-10% flint. The flint horizons are stratigraphic markers. On the cliffs around Ault, the regular band of flint called Seven Sisters is recognizable and characterizes the limit between the Middle Coniacian and the Upper Coniacian (approximately 87 Ma). The boundary between the Lower and Middle Coniacian is marked by the Shoreham 2 marl level, which is more difficult to identify. These lithostratigraphic markers allow in particular the correlation of distant deposits, such as for example between the Normandy and Picardy coasts, or between the French and English coasts.

The cliffs around the beach of Ault are composed of chalk from the Upper Cretaceous, more precisely from the Turonian and Coniacian (around 83 million years ago to 90 million years ago). They are strewn with flint nodules which highlight the subhorizontal stratification planes (the formation of flint has already been discussed in Discovery of the geology of the cliffs of Étretat, presentation of an excursion from the beach of Tilleul (Antifer) to the Porte d'Amont (Étretat Nord)). The relative proportion of chalk and flint is around 90-95% chalk to 5-10% flint. Flint horizons are stratigraphic markers. On the cliffs of Ault, the regular flint band called Seven Sisters is recognizable and characterizes the boundary between the Middle Coniacian and the Upper Coniacian (around 87 million years ago). The boundary between the lower and middle Coniacian is marked by the Shoreham 2 marl level, which is more difficult to identify. These lithostratigraphic markings allow in particular the correlation of distant deposits, such as between the Normandy and Picardy coasts, or between the French and English coasts.

The cliffs are worth a visit from above and below.

Gravel track