The Trail known as the “sentier des gabelous” roughly follows the historical course of the “saumoduc”, the 21 km-long double wooden pipeline through which the brine from the Great Saltworks of Salins-les-Bains was transported to the Arc-et-Senans Royal Saltworks. The brine pipeline, which was such a significant connection between the two salt-winning venues, heavily influenced the landscape and lives on in human memory as an important witness to the history of salt and its smuggling. The “gabelous” were in fact the men who patrolled day and night to keep watch over the “saumoduc” and prevent any attempts to steal the salt, so very precious in the 18th century. Recognised as an important landmark, the brine pipeline allowed the Doubs and Jura departments to join the UNESCO World Heritage list together.

www.sentier-des-gabelous.fr (includes version in english)