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Cova de les Grans Canaletes

France France Show cave

Canalettes Caves

14 °C inside, all year.

Show caveStalactites

See the descentHow to visit

citykane from España · CC BY 2.0

The descent

The entrance, at 463 m.

The real relief above Canalettes Caves, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.

depth not publishedEntrance1,372 m1.0 kmvertical × 2.4depth not publishedEntrance1,372 m1.0 kmvertical × 5.3

The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey. No depth has been published for this cave yet.

463m

Entrance altitude

from the 30 m relief model

14°C

Inside, all year

the yearly average outside, at the entrance

472m

Rock above

the highest point within 1.5 km

Inside and outside

14 °C inside, all year.

Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 14 °C here, in January and in August. In July the afternoon reaches 31 °C at the entrance, 17 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from June to August.

outside, at the entrance (463 m)inside
  1. 10°2°Jan
  2. 11°1°Feb
  3. 15°4°Mar
  4. 18°6°Apr
  5. 22°10°May
  6. 28°15°Jun
  7. 31°17°Jul
  8. 30°16°Aug
  9. 25°13°Sep
  10. 21°10°Oct
  11. 14°5°Nov
  12. 11°2°Dec
Inside: 14 °C all yearEscape the heat: Jun–AugWettest: Apr, Oct

Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.

Show caves in France

Canalettes Caves is a show cave in France. The entrance is at 463 m. It has stalactites and stalagmites. It is open to visitors.

Getting there.

Plan the visit

Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above.

The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.

The ground above Canalettes Caves (Sentinel-2) N 1.5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the entrance.

  • 8other cave entrances within 3 kmCova Bastera, Grotte d'En Gorner, Grotte de Notre-Dame de Vie and 5 more
  • 1springs within 2 kmLa citerne
  • 5viewpoints within 3 km
  • 3marked hiking routes within 3 kmChemin Vauban, El Camí IT1TR1 El Camí Capçaler: de Salzes a Balaguer
  • 18car parks within 2 km
  • 3information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
  • 4bus stops within 2 km
  • 16campsites within 8 kmLes Sauterelles, L'Eau Vive, Camping Del Bosc and 13 more
  • 49hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmGrand Hôtel des Thermes, Le Château de Riell, L'Oasis and 46 more
  • 15restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • sinkholes within 3 km
  • caving clubs and spots within 15 km
  • climbing crags within 3 km
  • named waterfalls within 4 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Towns nearby

  • Vernet-les-Bains4.0 km in a straight line
  • Ria-Sirach4.5 km in a straight line
  • Prades5.7 km in a straight line
  • Vinça15 km in a straight line
  • Prats de Molló22 km in a straight line
  • Ille-sur-Têt23 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Canalettes Caves.

The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.

Riveryas6 rivers at the entrance
Têt116 km · 11 m³/sCady19 kmCastellane27 kmLlech16 kmLentillà24 kmCaillan21 km
Peakyas49 mountains within 10 km
Pic de la Jaça d'en Vernet2,058 m · 8.1 kmPic de la Castella2,346 m · 8.7 kmRoc de l'Ermita2,054 m · 8.7 kmPic Jofre2,360 m · 8.8 kmPuig de la Souquerade2,040 m · 9.0 kmPic de Tres Estelles2,099 m · 9.1 kmQuazemí2,418 m · 9.2 kmMont Cornat2,172 m · 9.6 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Month by month

The weather outside, at the entrance.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon101115182228313025211411
Afternoon101115182228313025211411
Night214610151716131052
Rain (mm)534355665937343844726142
Rainy days9791110868910109
Sun hours/day4.55.66.36.77.59.19.68.87.45.94.84.5
Snow on the ground (cm)10107410000159
AfternoonAfternoonNightRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan10102534.5
Feb11111435.6
Mar15154556.3
Apr18186666.7
May222210597.5
Jun282815379.1
Jul313117349.6
Aug303016388.8
Sep252513447.4
Oct212110725.9
Nov14145614.8
Dec11112424.5

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (463 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Inside and around.

Grotte des Grandes Canalettes 01082014 01
Vassil · CC0
Grotte des Grandes Canalettes 01082014 02
Vassil · CC0
Les Grandes Canalettes 02
Doronenko · CC BY-SA 4.0

Recent years

Wet years, dry years.

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020205%22%131%211%145%263%174%177%173%120%165%147%
202182%119%35%76%86%171%69%60%141%46%164%99%
202241%25%160%79%46%52%89%107%134%31%74%69%
202362%65%33%37%86%248%96%112%74%64%59%54%
202441%78%173%143%137%206%94%84%167%187%44%78%
202536%53%327%72%104%43%244%127%166%17%67%245%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Caves nearby.

Canalettes Caves

France

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 463 mEntrance altitude
  • 14 °CInside, all year

Arago cave

France · 42 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 350 mEntrance altitude
  • 13 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Cave of Niaux

France · 69 km

  • —Depth
  • 2.0 kmGalleries
  • 718 mEntrance altitude
  • 11 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Grotte de l'Aguzou

France · 29 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 887 mEntrance altitude
  • 11 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length, visitorsWikidata (Q18168552) · CC0
The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearbyCoastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit
cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.You are here
dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Coming soonVisit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Coming soonVisit
forestsForestyaEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit