France Julien 31 · CC BY-SA 3.0
The descent
The entrance, at 835 m.
The real relief above Noisetier 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.
835m
Entrance altitude
from the 30 m relief model
11°C
Inside, all year
the yearly average outside, at the entrance
613m
Rock above
the highest point within 1.5 km
Inside and outside
11 °C inside, all year.
Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 11 °C here, in January and in August. In August the afternoon reaches 26 °C at the entrance, 15 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The wettest months are in May: water rises fast underground, so never go in without a guide after heavy rain.
- 7°-1°Jan
- 7°-2°Feb
- 11°1°Mar
- 14°4°Apr
- 18°7°May
- 23°12°Jun
- 26°13°Jul
- 26°13°Aug
- 22°10°Sep
- 18°7°Oct
- 11°2°Nov
- 8°0°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
Noisetier Cave is a cave in France. The entrance is at 835 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.
- Saint-Lary-Soulannearest town · 13 km in a straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 2.5 km from the entrance
- Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées Airport (LDE)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 41 km in a straight lineCar hire at LDE airport (Tarbes/Lourdes/Pyrénées)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 La Neste runs highest from January to May.
The La Neste carries about 8.5 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from January to May.
- 18 m³/sJan
- 17 m³/sFeb
- 18 m³/sMar
- 21 m³/sApr
- 22 m³/sMay
- 13 m³/sJun
- 4.7 m³/sJul
- 1.6 m³/sAug
- 3.0 m³/sSep
- 7.3 m³/sOct
- 15 m³/sNov
- 13 m³/sDec
From about 1.6 m³/s in the lowest month to 22 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 591 km².
The Neste 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.
- 26other cave entrances within 3 kmGrotte du Tunnel ou de l'Escalère (entrée du tunnel), Grotte du Noisetier, Grottes du Pylône 34 and 23 more
- 1springs within 2 km
- 3viewpoints within 3 kmTable d'orientation
- 1marked hiking routes within 3 kmVoie d'Aure
- 5climbing crags within 3 kmL'escale, rocher école de l'Escale, Rocher école de Monachou and 2 more
- 10car parks within 2 km
- 7information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
- 1bus stops within 2 km
- 11campsites within 8 kmCamping Les 4 Véziaux, Aire Naturelle Gentils, Camping La Bourie and 8 more
- 15hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmHôtel d'Angleterre, Les 4 Véziaux, Château Roland and 12 more
- 7restaurants 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
- Saint-Lary-Soulan13 km in a straight line
- La Barthe-de-Neste17 km in a straight line
- Campan19 km in a straight line
- Capvern20 km in a straight line
- Gerde22 km in a straight line
- Lannemezan22 km in a straight line
- Gourdan-Polignan23 km in a straight line
- Bagnères-de-Luchon24 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Noisetier 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
Peakyas5 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 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 22 | 18 | 11 | 8 |
| Afternoon | 7 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 22 | 18 | 11 | 8 |
| Night | -1 | -2 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| Rain (mm) | 84 | 66 | 71 | 85 | 96 | 65 | 55 | 55 | 57 | 68 | 89 | 70 |
| Rainy days | 12 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 12 |
| Sun hours/day | 3.0 | 4.7 | 6.0 | 6.7 | 7.1 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 8.1 | 7.4 | 5.4 | 3.7 | 3.2 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 12 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 11 |
| Afternoon | Afternoon | Night | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7 | 7 | -1 | 84 | 3.0 |
| Feb | 7 | 7 | -2 | 66 | 4.7 |
| Mar | 11 | 11 | 1 | 71 | 6.0 |
| Apr | 14 | 14 | 4 | 85 | 6.7 |
| May | 18 | 18 | 7 | 96 | 7.1 |
| Jun | 23 | 23 | 12 | 65 | 8.3 |
| Jul | 26 | 26 | 13 | 55 | 8.6 |
| Aug | 26 | 26 | 13 | 55 | 8.1 |
| Sep | 22 | 22 | 10 | 57 | 7.4 |
| Oct | 18 | 18 | 7 | 68 | 5.4 |
| Nov | 11 | 11 | 2 | 89 | 3.7 |
| Dec | 8 | 8 | 0 | 70 | 3.2 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (835 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
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 | 60% | 51% | 139% | 136% | 109% | 153% | 58% | 83% | 169% | 217% | 48% | 206% |
| 2021 | 89% | 47% | 25% | 37% | 53% | 113% | 84% | 37% | 146% | 53% | 82% | 103% |
| 2022 | 45% | 30% | 77% | 66% | 32% | 82% | 46% | 69% | 116% | 39% | 89% | 52% |
| 2023 | 89% | 34% | 46% | 60% | 87% | 169% | 71% | 83% | 71% | 84% | 109% | 86% |
| 2024 | 43% | 117% | 110% | 45% | 74% | 98% | 46% | 78% | 170% | 117% | 34% | 59% |
| 2025 | 43% | 17% | 83% | 52% | 40% | 42% | 50% | 77% | 62% | 25% | 54% | 30% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Caves nearby.
Noisetier Cave
France
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 835 mEntrance altitude
- 11 °CInside, all year
Caves of Gargas
France · 20 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 551 mEntrance altitude
- 12 °CInside, all year
Massabielle Grotto
France · 40 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 382 mEntrance altitude
- 14 °CInside, all year
Grotto of Casteret
Spain · 43 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 2,606 mEntrance altitude
- 0 °CInside, all year
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length, visitors | Wikidata (Q3117240) · 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
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
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Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit 
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