Sion - Bisse de Clavau - Icogne

The Lienne is a river heavily used for electricity production. There is an interconnection of turbine installations with irrigation and also with the use of its water for drinking water resources. At Crans-Montana, artificial snowmaking would not be possible without the help of Lienne's water, or its cost would be unaffordable. This river, which feeds about half a dozen bisses, flows through a valley with many trails and paths for walks and hikes. Stretching from the plains to the glaciers, there is something for everyone and in all seasons.
Starting from Icogne, you will descend into a wild part of the valley. First through meadows near the village, you will still be on arable land on the Tsamplan of Icogne. Then you will enter the forest, descending deeper toward the river. You will cross it at the site of a former electric plant removed after the commissioning of large machines from the current equipment. Another 400 meters in the forest, on the other bank, you will reach the dam where the bisse starts. This dam is not just for the bisse. Over 900 meters, water flows through a gallery acting as a conduit to a small 700-kilowatt wheel located at the valley bottom where the river levels out. This corner of the valley is called Vallon de Beulet. It is a highly climate-protected cirque that stores the sun's heat to greatly benefit the vineyards growing there.
Following a mid-level curve, the bisse crosses it by various construction methods. Sometimes open air, sometimes covered, sometimes in a gallery or aerial on a channel, it shows the builders' tenacity to ensure water passage. On the other side of the valley, across a rock face, you see a horizontal trace: this is the Bisse de Sillonin, which, like the Clavau, runs along a hillside to irrigate vineyards on the Chelin - Saint-Léonard side. Then you will exit this valley to continue along the hillside in the Rhône valley.
This bisse is a balcony overlooking the plain. At the same time, it allows you to see how vineyards were terraced, sometimes with the vertical surface of the retaining wall exceeding that of the vine itself. Clavau, on the flank of the Champlan hill, is a really special place for vine growing. It is also something very rare. For centuries, the vine stock has been thriving in a difficult environment both in terms of access and the technique to keep some soil for rooting.
Opposite are the hills of Sion topped with the castles of Tourbillon and Valère, around which vineyards have also been grown up to where it was no longer possible. Below, just on the other side of the Simplon and Rhône railway line, is the Golf de Sion. Your journey ends at the city entrance, from where Carpostal will take you back. (DR)

OUR ADVICE
This bisse is very interesting because it includes almost all the aqueduct construction methods in Valais. Along its course, you will see educational panels explaining the difficulties encountered in channeling water to its place of use, its evolution over history, and the approach of water capture from rivers for energy extraction purposes.