France Cave with prehistoric art
Le Figuier Cave
14 °C inside, all year.
Thilo Parg · CC BY-SA 4.0
The descent
The entrance, at 102 m.
The real relief above Le Figuier 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.
102m
Entrance altitude
from the 30 m relief model
14°C
Inside, all year
the yearly average outside, at the entrance
185m
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 32 °C at the entrance, 18 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from June to August. The wettest months are from October to November: water rises fast underground, so never go in without a guide after heavy rain.
- 9°1°Jan
- 10°1°Feb
- 14°4°Mar
- 18°7°Apr
- 22°11°May
- 28°16°Jun
- 32°18°Jul
- 31°17°Aug
- 25°14°Sep
- 20°10°Oct
- 13°6°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
Le Figuier Cave is a cave with prehistoric art in France. The entrance is at 102 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.
- Saint-Julien-de-Peyrolasnearest town · 3.9 km in a straight line
- Belvédère du Ranc Pointunearest viewpoint · 0.2 km from the entrance
- Avignon Caumont airport (AVN)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 54 km in a straight lineCar hire at FNI airport (Nîmes/Garons)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 L'Ardèche runs highest from November to December.
The L'Ardèche carries about 39 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from November to December. It is lowest from July to August.
- 34 m³/sJan
- 28 m³/sFeb
- 31 m³/sMar
- 35 m³/sApr
- 32 m³/sMay
- 20 m³/sJun
- 11 m³/sJul
- 9.2 m³/sAug
- 20 m³/sSep
- 44 m³/sOct
- 61 m³/sNov
- 45 m³/sDec
From about 9.2 m³/s in the lowest month to 61 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 2,279 km².
Follow the Ardèche from source to mouth on Riveryas
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.
- 32other cave entrances within 3 kmGrotte de Saint-Marcel, Aven de Noël, Grotte Deloly and 29 more
- 3springs within 2 kmSource de l'Ecluse, Le Passeron, Source du Crapaud
- 1sinkholes within 3 kmAven de Louby
- 14viewpoints within 3 kmBelvédère du Ranc Pointu, Le Grand Belvedere, Balcon la Maladrerie and 11 more
- 39marked hiking routes within 3 kmDe Saint-Étienne au Grau-du-Roi, Le Rocher de Castelviel, Sentier amont des Gorges de l'Ardèche and 36 more
- 19car parks within 2 km
- 13information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
- 1bus stops within 2 km
- 29campsites within 8 kmCamping sauvage, Aire de camping-cars Maison de la Lavande, Camping le Pontet and 26 more
- 28hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmAuberge des Gorges, Bellevue, Le Clos des Oliviers and 25 more
- 26restaurants and cafés 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
- Saint-Julien-de-Peyrolas3.9 km in a straight line
- Saint-Just-d'Ardèche5.4 km in a straight line
- Saint-Marcel-d'Ardèche5.7 km in a straight line
- Saint-Paulet-de-Caisson7.6 km in a straight line
- Bourg-Saint-Andéol9.7 km in a straight line
- Pont-Saint-Esprit11 km in a straight line
- Lapalud11 km in a straight line
- Saint-Alexandre12 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Le Figuier 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.
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 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 22 | 28 | 32 | 31 | 25 | 20 | 13 | 9 |
| Afternoon | 9 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 22 | 28 | 32 | 31 | 25 | 20 | 13 | 9 |
| Night | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 2 |
| Rain (mm) | 62 | 50 | 57 | 74 | 77 | 52 | 45 | 48 | 75 | 113 | 116 | 68 |
| Rainy days | 10 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 10 |
| Sun hours/day | 3.5 | 4.9 | 6.3 | 7.2 | 8.3 | 10.4 | 10.8 | 9.5 | 7.7 | 4.9 | 3.7 | 3.3 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 10 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| Afternoon | Afternoon | Night | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 9 | 9 | 1 | 62 | 3.5 |
| Feb | 10 | 10 | 1 | 50 | 4.9 |
| Mar | 14 | 14 | 4 | 57 | 6.3 |
| Apr | 18 | 18 | 7 | 74 | 7.2 |
| May | 22 | 22 | 11 | 77 | 8.3 |
| Jun | 28 | 28 | 16 | 52 | 10.4 |
| Jul | 32 | 32 | 18 | 45 | 10.8 |
| Aug | 31 | 31 | 17 | 48 | 9.5 |
| Sep | 25 | 25 | 14 | 75 | 7.7 |
| Oct | 20 | 20 | 10 | 113 | 4.9 |
| Nov | 13 | 13 | 6 | 116 | 3.7 |
| Dec | 9 | 9 | 2 | 68 | 3.3 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (102 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% | 41% | 63% | 71% | 87% | 190% | 25% | 90% | 106% | 72% | 41% | 159% |
| 2021 | 65% | 75% | 21% | 102% | 119% | 107% | 152% | 62% | 112% | 105% | 45% | 88% |
| 2022 | 38% | 38% | 61% | 52% | 21% | 98% | 23% | 127% | 133% | 45% | 101% | 150% |
| 2023 | 31% | 32% | 62% | 36% | 86% | 176% | 35% | 42% | 67% | 98% | 57% | 73% |
| 2024 | 53% | 135% | 323% | 77% | 157% | 124% | 108% | 58% | 159% | 103% | 33% | 45% |
| 2025 | 76% | 71% | 82% | 50% | 29% | 29% | 42% | 49% | 41% | 29% | 39% | 115% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Caves nearby.
Le Figuier Cave
France
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 102 mEntrance altitude
- 14 °CInside, all year
Cave Saint-Marcel-d'Ardèche
France · 1 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 196 mEntrance altitude
- 14 °CInside, all year
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length, visitors | Wikidata (Q3222768) · 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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