France Cave with prehistoric art
Grotte de la Vache
12 °C inside, all year.
Thilo Parg · CC BY-SA 4.0
The descent
The entrance, at 599 m.
The real relief above Grotte de la Vache, 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.
599m
Entrance altitude
from the 30 m relief model
12°C
Inside, all year
the yearly average outside, at the entrance
596m
Rock above
the highest point within 1.5 km
Inside and outside
12 °C inside, all year.
Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 12 °C here, in January and in August. In July the afternoon reaches 28 °C at the entrance, 16 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from July to August.
- 8°0°Jan
- 9°-1°Feb
- 12°2°Mar
- 16°5°Apr
- 20°8°May
- 25°13°Jun
- 28°15°Jul
- 28°14°Aug
- 24°11°Sep
- 19°8°Oct
- 12°3°Nov
- 9°1°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 in France
Grotte de la Vache is a cave with prehistoric art in France. The entrance is at 599 m. It has an underground river. It is closed to the public to protect it.
Getting there.
- No public accessProtected for science or for its art. Look for a replica or a visitor centre nearby.
- Tarascon-sur-Ariègenearest town · 3.2 km in a straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 0.5 km from the entrance
- Pirineus - la Seu d'Urgel Airport (LEU)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 56 km in a straight lineCar hire at CCF airport (Carcassonne)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 Vicdessos runs highest from November to May.
The Vicdessos carries about 3.7 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from November to May.
- 7.3 m³/sJan
- 6.4 m³/sFeb
- 7.1 m³/sMar
- 7.8 m³/sApr
- 7.6 m³/sMay
- 4.2 m³/sJun
- 1.6 m³/sJul
- 0.8 m³/sAug
- 1.6 m³/sSep
- 3.7 m³/sOct
- 6.8 m³/sNov
- 6.1 m³/sDec
From about 0.83 m³/s in the lowest month to 7.8 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 355 km².
The Vicdessos 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.
- 28other cave entrances within 3 kmGrotte de Niaux, Grotte de la Petite Caougno, Grotte de Lombrives and 25 more
- 2springs within 2 kmFontaine Saint-Martin
- 3viewpoints within 3 kmCastella
- 9marked hiking routes within 3 kmRoc de Querquéou, Camí de l'Últim Càtar, Chemin de Génat and 6 more
- 11climbing crags within 3 kmSabart, Génat, Alliat and 8 more
- 13car parks within 2 km
- 7information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
- 2bus stops within 2 km
- 10campsites within 8 kmAriège Evasion, La Bexanelle, La Prairie and 7 more
- 25hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmPoint d'accueil randonneurs, Hostellerie de la poste, Gite Le Souleillan Le Chalet and 22 more
- 12restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- sinkholes within 3 km
- caving clubs and spots within 15 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
- Tarascon-sur-Ariège3.2 km in a straight line
- Mercus-Garrabet7.1 km in a straight line
- Saint-Paul-de-Jarrat12 km in a straight line
- Montgaillard13 km in a straight line
- Foix16 km in a straight line
- Villeneuve-d'Olmes21 km in a straight line
- Ax-les-Thermes23 km in a straight line
- Lavelanet25 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Grotte de la Vache.
The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.
Riveryas3 rivers at the entrance
Peakyas2 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 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 25 | 28 | 28 | 24 | 19 | 12 | 9 |
| Afternoon | 8 | 9 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 25 | 28 | 28 | 24 | 19 | 12 | 9 |
| Night | 0 | -1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 1 |
| Rain (mm) | 76 | 60 | 64 | 76 | 82 | 56 | 47 | 50 | 53 | 68 | 84 | 67 |
| Rainy days | 12 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 12 |
| Sun hours/day | 2.8 | 4.6 | 6.0 | 6.8 | 7.3 | 8.7 | 9.0 | 8.4 | 7.4 | 5.4 | 3.5 | 3.0 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 11 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| Afternoon | Afternoon | Night | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 8 | 8 | 0 | 76 | 2.8 |
| Feb | 9 | 9 | -1 | 60 | 4.6 |
| Mar | 12 | 12 | 2 | 64 | 6.0 |
| Apr | 16 | 16 | 5 | 76 | 6.8 |
| May | 20 | 20 | 8 | 82 | 7.3 |
| Jun | 25 | 25 | 13 | 56 | 8.7 |
| Jul | 28 | 28 | 15 | 47 | 9.0 |
| Aug | 28 | 28 | 14 | 50 | 8.4 |
| Sep | 24 | 24 | 11 | 53 | 7.4 |
| Oct | 19 | 19 | 8 | 68 | 5.4 |
| Nov | 12 | 12 | 3 | 84 | 3.5 |
| Dec | 9 | 9 | 1 | 67 | 3.0 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (599 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 | 89% | 55% | 141% | 143% | 119% | 177% | 83% | 118% | 174% | 201% | 68% | 205% |
| 2021 | 99% | 77% | 29% | 43% | 61% | 139% | 89% | 50% | 155% | 58% | 127% | 123% |
| 2022 | 54% | 34% | 93% | 79% | 37% | 77% | 68% | 86% | 143% | 22% | 115% | 49% |
| 2023 | 96% | 36% | 55% | 61% | 98% | 196% | 86% | 99% | 75% | 90% | 123% | 95% |
| 2024 | 53% | 120% | 124% | 70% | 95% | 104% | 67% | 72% | 160% | 175% | 43% | 76% |
| 2025 | 37% | 17% | 124% | 49% | 44% | 31% | 90% | 93% | 76% | 17% | 47% | 57% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Caves nearby.
Grotte de la Vache
France
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 599 mEntrance altitude
- 12 °CInside, all year
Cave of Niaux
France · 0 km
- —Depth
- 2.0 kmGalleries
- 718 mEntrance altitude
- 11 °CInside, all year
Grotte de Bédeilhac
France · 6 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 774 mEntrance altitude
- 11 °CInside, all year
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length, visitors | Wikidata (Q3117204) · 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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