Switzerland Cave
Cotencher, Palaeolithic residential cave
9 °C inside, all year.
JPGeiss · CC BY-SA 3.0
The descent
The entrance, at 680 m.
The real relief above Cotencher, Palaeolithic residential cave, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.
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.
680m
Entrance altitude
from the 30 m relief model
9°C
Inside, all year
the yearly average outside, at the entrance
559m
Rock above
the highest point within 1.5 km
Inside and outside
9 °C inside, all year.
Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 9 °C here, in January and in August. In July the afternoon reaches 23 °C at the entrance, 14 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket.
- 2°-3°Jan
- 3°-3°Feb
- 8°0°Mar
- 13°4°Apr
- 17°8°May
- 21°12°Jun
- 23°14°Jul
- 22°13°Aug
- 18°9°Sep
- 14°6°Oct
- 8°1°Nov
- 3°-2°Dec
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.
Cave and archaeological site in Rochefort in the canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Cotencher, Palaeolithic residential cave is a cave in Switzerland. The entrance is at 680 m. It has an underground river.
Getting there.
- Wild cave: only with caving equipmentNo paths or lights inside. Go only with a caving club or a qualified guide.
- Rochefortnearest town · 1.6 km in a straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 0.4 km from the entrance
- Bern Airport (BRN)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 53 km in a straight lineCar hire at BRN airport (Bern)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
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.
The water
The Areuse runs highest in January, from March to August and in October.
The Areuse carries about 5.2 m³/s on average here. It runs highest in January, from March to August and in October.
- 4.4 m³/sJan
- 3.2 m³/sFeb
- 5.5 m³/sMar
- 5.2 m³/sApr
- 7.8 m³/sMay
- 6.0 m³/sJun
- 4.4 m³/sJul
- 4.4 m³/sAug
- 2.5 m³/sSep
- 3.7 m³/sOct
- 2.6 m³/sNov
- 3.6 m³/sDec
From about 2.5 m³/s in the lowest month to 7.8 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 218 km².
The Areuse from source to mouth on Riveryas — coming soon
Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.
From above.
The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.
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.
- 5other cave entrances within 3 kmBaume du Four, Grotte de Cottencher, Grotte de Vert and 2 more
- 3springs within 2 kmLe Merdasson
- 11viewpoints within 3 kmLes Tablettes, Chute de la Verrière, Signal du Lessy and 8 more
- 39marked hiking routes within 3 kmLe Belvédère - Forêt de Boudry, Le Lessy-Signal du Lessy, Grande Ecoeurne-Signal du Lessy and 36 more
- 1named waterfalls within 4 kmChute de la Verrière
- 28car parks within 2 km
- 11information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
- 15bus stops within 2 km
- 11campsites within 8 kmCamping de la plage de Boudry, Euro-relais La Croisee, Stellplatz Serrières and 8 more
- 41hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmFerme Robert - l'abri du Van, La Truite, Hôtel des Tilleuls and 38 more
- 16restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- sinkholes within 3 km
- caving clubs and spots within 15 km
- climbing crags within 3 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
- Rochefort1.6 km in a straight line
- Boudry3.1 km in a straight line
- Cortaillod3.9 km in a straight line
- Bevaix3.9 km in a straight line
- Auvernier6.0 km in a straight line
- Les Ponts-de-Martel6.6 km in a straight line
- Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane6.8 km in a straight line
- Peseux7.1 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Cotencher, Palaeolithic residential cave.
The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.
Riveryas1 rivers at the entrance
Cascadyas1 waterfalls within 5 km
Peakyas14 mountains within 10 kmFigures 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.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon | 2 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 17 | 21 | 23 | 22 | 18 | 14 | 8 | 3 |
| Afternoon | 2 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 17 | 21 | 23 | 22 | 18 | 14 | 8 | 3 |
| Night | -3 | -3 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 9 | 6 | 1 | -2 |
| Rain (mm) | 85 | 66 | 86 | 83 | 124 | 112 | 113 | 118 | 83 | 100 | 85 | 96 |
| Rainy days | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 |
| Sun hours/day | 2.2 | 3.5 | 5.1 | 6.5 | 6.8 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 7.6 | 6.4 | 4.3 | 2.4 | 1.7 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 16 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 15 |
| Afternoon | Afternoon | Night | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 2 | 2 | -3 | 85 | 2.2 |
| Feb | 3 | 3 | -3 | 66 | 3.5 |
| Mar | 8 | 8 | 0 | 86 | 5.1 |
| Apr | 13 | 13 | 4 | 83 | 6.5 |
| May | 17 | 17 | 8 | 124 | 6.8 |
| Jun | 21 | 21 | 12 | 112 | 8.4 |
| Jul | 23 | 23 | 14 | 113 | 8.5 |
| Aug | 22 | 22 | 13 | 118 | 7.6 |
| Sep | 18 | 18 | 9 | 83 | 6.4 |
| Oct | 14 | 14 | 6 | 100 | 4.3 |
| Nov | 8 | 8 | 1 | 85 | 2.4 |
| Dec | 3 | 3 | -2 | 96 | 1.7 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (680 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Photographs
Inside and around.
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.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 55% | 187% | 90% | 46% | 92% | 150% | 42% | 94% | 96% | 178% | 31% | 92% |
| 2021 | 122% | 73% | 62% | 49% | 128% | 148% | 158% | 64% | 73% | 74% | 63% | 147% |
| 2022 | 54% | 119% | 28% | 124% | 45% | 102% | 36% | 65% | 214% | 88% | 136% | 113% |
| 2023 | 92% | 23% | 137% | 126% | 64% | 40% | 89% | 81% | 55% | 141% | 281% | 160% |
| 2024 | 119% | 108% | 113% | 112% | 143% | 132% | 82% | 78% | 228% | 150% | 83% | 113% |
| 2025 | 154% | 58% | 50% | 88% | 70% | 107% | 108% | 109% | 189% | 135% | 155% | 28% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Caves nearby.
Cotencher, Palaeolithic residential cave
Switzerland
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 680 mEntrance altitude
- 9 °CInside, all year
Grotte du Bichon
Switzerland · 21 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 868 mEntrance altitude
- 8 °CInside, all year
Glacière de Monlési
Switzerland · 17 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 1,138 mEntrance altitude
- 0 °CInside, all year
Vallorbe Caves
Switzerland · 46 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 851 mEntrance altitude
- 8 °CInside, all year
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length, visitors | Wikidata (Q1643779) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| River flow and basin | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, 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
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