Charbonnières-Les-Sapins: Dino-Zoo and local history

Charbonnières-Les-Sapins combines a focus on prehistory with a distinctive historic character. Since 1992, Dino-Zoo has been located in a wooded, hilly park covering 15 hectares. On the edge of the park is a château, a distinctive residence. Another landmark is the Église paroissiale de la Nativité-de-Notre-Dame, built between 1766 and 1768. This places dinosaur attractions in a park setting alongside a church with a high altar ensemble dating from a later period, as distinct points of interest.

Dino-Zoo: water attraction, trail and rides

Megalodon River is an 80-metre-long water attraction for families. The route descends gently through the mouth of a prehistoric shark and ends there. The Parcours dinosaures is on a different scale: the 2.5-kilometre trail winds through a wooded, natural setting with 80 life-size dinosaur sculptures. Completing the entire route takes about one to one and a half hours.

If you want to gauge how much time to allow, the approximate duration for the complete Parcours is provided; Megalodon River can be gauged by the length of its water route. The details therefore describe different kinds of visitor experience: a water ride with a set route length and a longer trail with an approximate total duration.

The other attractions also differ in the type of movement they involve. Dino-Galopant offers a short ride on a dinosaur figure shaped like a Triceratops or Diplodocus. At Aerodactylus, visitors climb aboard and pedal to rise into the air. Arbreville has slides and balance courses. This lets you distinguish between the attractions according to whether you are interested in a short ride on a figure, a pedal-powered activity, or slides and balance courses.

Park landscape and surroundings

The château is on the edge of the wooded, hilly 15-hectare park that is home to Dino-Zoo. The area figure refers to the park, while the 2.5 kilometres refers to the length of the Parcours dinosaures. These different scales help distinguish the surrounding grounds from the specific trail described.

Dino-Zoo is 5 kilometres from the Gouffre de Poudrey and offers attractions and activities about prehistory. This also helps place the site in relation to this named prehistoric landmark, without suggesting that the two destinations are part of a single site.

Church and high altar ensemble

The Église paroissiale de la Nativité-de-Notre-Dame was built between 1766 and 1768. The maître-autel ensemble, or high altar, is dated to around 1830 or 1840. The two dates therefore refer to different parts of local history: the construction of the church and the altar ensemble, which dates from several decades later. For historical context, you can therefore refer both to a specific building phase in the 18th century and to the approximate date of the ensemble in the 19th century.

Discover other destinations: Saint-Antoine, Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne, Les Alliés, Valoreille, Belleherbe, Mamirolle, Chaux-Neuve, Les Grangettes.

For the broader travel overview: Doubs.