France Cave with prehistoric art
Points Cave
14 °C inside, all year.
Thilo Parg · CC BY-SA 4.0
The descent
The entrance, at 94 m.
The real relief above Points 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.
94m
Entrance altitude
from the 30 m relief model
14°C
Inside, all year
the yearly average outside, at the entrance
313m
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
Points Cave is a cave with prehistoric art in France. The entrance is at 94 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 · 7.9 km in a straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 0.3 km from the entrance
- Avignon Caumont airport (AVN)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 58 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
- 27 m³/sFeb
- 31 m³/sMar
- 35 m³/sApr
- 32 m³/sMay
- 19 m³/sJun
- 11 m³/sJul
- 9.1 m³/sAug
- 20 m³/sSep
- 44 m³/sOct
- 60 m³/sNov
- 45 m³/sDec
From about 9.1 m³/s in the lowest month to 60 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 2,250 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.
- 23other cave entrances within 3 kmGrotte de la Madeleine, Aven de Courtinen, Aven de la Vigne Close and 20 more
- 3springs within 2 kmSource de la Fève, L'Aulagnère, Source de Richemale
- 28viewpoints within 3 kmBelvédère de la Madeleine, Balcon de Gournier, Balcon du Cros de l'Olivier and 25 more
- 19marked hiking routes within 3 kmLe Rocher de Castelviel, Sentier amont des Gorges de l'Ardèche, Circuit de la Maladrerie des templiers and 16 more
- 1climbing crags within 3 kmPilier d’Autridge
- 6car parks within 2 km
- 6information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
- 43campsites within 8 kmCamping sauvage, Aire de camping-cars Maison de la Lavande, Camping le Pontet and 40 more
- 37hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmHôtel des Touristes, Domaine de Chames, Auberge des Gorges and 34 more
- 2restaurants and cafés within 3 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
- Saint-Julien-de-Peyrolas7.9 km in a straight line
- Saint-Marcel-d'Ardèche9.9 km in a straight line
- Saint-Just-d'Ardèche10 km in a straight line
- Vallon-Pont-d'Arc11 km in a straight line
- Saint-Paulet-de-Caisson12 km in a straight line
- Barjac12 km in a straight line
- Bourg-Saint-Andéol13 km in a straight line
- Goudargues14 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Points 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.
Peakyas4 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 (94 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.
Points Cave
France
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 94 mEntrance altitude
- 14 °CInside, all year
Cave Saint-Marcel-d'Ardèche
France · 4 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 196 mEntrance altitude
- 14 °CInside, all year
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length, visitors | Wikidata (Q3117109) · 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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