France Gerbil · CC BY-SA 3.0
The descent
The entrance, at 350 m.
The real relief above Arago 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.
350m
Entrance altitude
published (Wikidata)
13°C
Inside, all year
the yearly average outside, at the entrance
343m
Rock above
the highest point within 1.5 km
Inside and outside
13 °C inside, all year.
Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 13 °C here, in January and in August. In July the afternoon reaches 29 °C at the entrance, 16 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from July to August. The wettest months are in November: water rises fast underground, so never go in without a guide after heavy rain.
- 9°2°Jan
- 10°1°Feb
- 13°4°Mar
- 17°6°Apr
- 20°10°May
- 26°14°Jun
- 29°16°Jul
- 29°16°Aug
- 24°13°Sep
- 20°10°Oct
- 13°5°Nov
- 9°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 in France
Arago cave is a cave in France. The entrance is at 350 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.
- Estagelnearest town · 8.7 km in a straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 2.9 km from the entrance
- Perpignan-Rivesaltes (Llabanère) Airport (PGF)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 15 km in a straight lineCar hire at PGF airport (Perpignan/Rivesaltes)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 Le Verdouble runs highest from November to May.
The Le Verdouble carries about 4.1 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from November to May. It is lowest from July to August.
- 6.7 m³/sJan
- 6.0 m³/sFeb
- 6.8 m³/sMar
- 7.4 m³/sApr
- 6.1 m³/sMay
- 3.4 m³/sJun
- 1.6 m³/sJul
- 1.2 m³/sAug
- 2.1 m³/sSep
- 4.9 m³/sOct
- 7.1 m³/sNov
- 6.4 m³/sDec
From about 1.2 m³/s in the lowest month to 7.4 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 274 km².
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 kmCaune de l'Arago, Grotte Casquet, Grotte de la Llana and 2 more
- 2viewpoints within 3 km
- 1marked hiking routes within 3 kmEl Camí IT1TR1 El Camí Capçaler: de Salzes a Balaguer
- 2climbing crags within 3 kmTautavel (Les Gouleyrous), Plage
- 7car parks within 2 km
- 4information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
- 7campsites within 8 kmMas de l'Alzine, Aire Domaine Bertrand-Bergé, Aire Le miel d’Emeline and 4 more
- 21hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmMas de l'Alzine, Soleil Évasion - Torre del Far, Gîte d'Étape Communal and 18 more
- 9restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- springs within 2 km
- sinkholes within 3 km
- caving clubs and spots within 15 km
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- bus stops within 2 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
- Estagel8.7 km in a straight line
- Baixas11 km in a straight line
- Peyrestortes12 km in a straight line
- Rivesaltes12 km in a straight line
- Salses-le-Château13 km in a straight line
- Saint-Estève16 km in a straight line
- Pézilla-la-Rivière16 km in a straight line
- Baho16 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Arago 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.
Peakyas11 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 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 17 | 20 | 26 | 29 | 29 | 24 | 20 | 13 | 9 |
| Afternoon | 9 | 10 | 13 | 17 | 20 | 26 | 29 | 29 | 24 | 20 | 13 | 9 |
| Night | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 2 |
| Rain (mm) | 63 | 49 | 58 | 68 | 61 | 39 | 32 | 36 | 45 | 68 | 70 | 53 |
| Rainy days | 11 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 11 |
| Sun hours/day | 3.0 | 4.5 | 5.6 | 6.6 | 7.3 | 9.3 | 9.7 | 8.9 | 7.4 | 5.1 | 3.5 | 3.0 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Afternoon | Afternoon | Night | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 9 | 9 | 2 | 63 | 3.0 |
| Feb | 10 | 10 | 1 | 49 | 4.5 |
| Mar | 13 | 13 | 4 | 58 | 5.6 |
| Apr | 17 | 17 | 6 | 68 | 6.6 |
| May | 20 | 20 | 10 | 61 | 7.3 |
| Jun | 26 | 26 | 14 | 39 | 9.3 |
| Jul | 29 | 29 | 16 | 32 | 9.7 |
| Aug | 29 | 29 | 16 | 36 | 8.9 |
| Sep | 24 | 24 | 13 | 45 | 7.4 |
| Oct | 20 | 20 | 10 | 68 | 5.1 |
| Nov | 13 | 13 | 5 | 70 | 3.5 |
| Dec | 9 | 9 | 2 | 53 | 3.0 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (350 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 | 137% | 44% | 128% | 178% | 143% | 190% | 91% | 130% | 191% | 124% | 84% | 188% |
| 2021 | 87% | 102% | 26% | 47% | 71% | 159% | 100% | 60% | 140% | 47% | 172% | 137% |
| 2022 | 64% | 31% | 124% | 93% | 28% | 69% | 134% | 81% | 141% | 19% | 117% | 55% |
| 2023 | 100% | 46% | 63% | 52% | 100% | 204% | 116% | 107% | 89% | 60% | 104% | 88% |
| 2024 | 54% | 113% | 128% | 84% | 131% | 133% | 95% | 79% | 160% | 174% | 53% | 86% |
| 2025 | 36% | 28% | 138% | 42% | 59% | 29% | 152% | 95% | 78% | 13% | 41% | 129% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Caves nearby.
Arago cave
France
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 350 mEntrance altitude
- 13 °CInside, all year
Canalettes Caves
France · 42 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 463 mEntrance altitude
- 14 °CInside, all year
Cave of Niaux
France · 95 km
- —Depth
- 2.0 kmGalleries
- 718 mEntrance altitude
- 11 °CInside, all year
Gouffre de l'Œil Doux
France · 53 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 8 mEntrance altitude
- 16 °CInside, all year
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length, visitors | Wikidata (Q1643777) · 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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