Gavarnie: The Cirque and Its 422-Metre Waterfall
Occitanie, France
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Gavarnie Cirque Walker
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300
XP
+100 France
= 400 total
1 day
Gavarnie: The Cirque and Its 422-Metre Waterfall
300 + 100 XP
The Cirque de Gavarnie is a glacial amphitheatre about six kilometres round, its walls rising in three tiers for nearly 1,500 metres from a floor at about 1,570 metres to the Pic du Marboré at 3,248. In the middle of it, a little to the east, the Grande Cascade drops 422 metres — the source of the Gave de Gavarnie, which becomes the Gave de Pau further down — and relic glaciers still sit under the crest, with the Brèche de Roland, a notch cut by a glacier, on the skyline. It has been part of the Pyrénées–Mont Perdu World Heritage Site since 1997. A level path, walkable or ridable by horse or donkey hired in the village in season, leads from Gavarnie to the foot of the cirque.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Walk the valley-floor path from Gavarnie village to the Hôtel du Cirque at about 1,570 m, the building at the foot of the wall that marks the end of the easy ground — on foot, or on a horse or donkey hired in the village in season — and note where the second route into the cirque comes down, the Échelle des Sarradets on the rim above you
2
of 4
Stand under the Grande Cascade, 422 m from lip to foot and set a little east of the centre of the wall, and follow the water it makes: this is the head of the Gave de Gavarnie, which becomes the Gave de Pau and runs past Lourdes fifty kilometres north. In hard winters the cirque's falls freeze solid and are climbed on ice.
3
of 4
Pick the Brèche de Roland out of the rim of the cirque — a glacial notch 40 m wide and about 70 m deep at 2,805 m, which is the Spanish border across its whole width — and judge its scale against the wall around it. The legend that Roland cut it trying to break his sword after Roncevaux does not survive a map: that battle was a hundred kilometres west.
4
of 4
From the foot of the cirque, read the wall upward: three tiers of rock, each separated from the next by a near-level ledge, rising close to 1,500 m. Then name the rim from east to west — Petit Astazou, Pic du Marboré at 3,248 m, Pic Brulle, Pic de la Cascade, Épaule, Tour and Casque du Marboré — and find at least two of the five relic glaciers still lying under the crest between them.
Walk the valley-floor path from Gavarnie village to the Hôtel du Cirque at about 1,570 m, the building at the foot of the wall that marks the end of the easy ground — on foot, or on a horse or donkey hired in the village in season — and note where the second route into the cirque comes down, the Échelle des Sarradets on the rim above you
Stand under the Grande Cascade, 422 m from lip to foot and set a little east of the centre of the wall, and follow the water it makes: this is the head of the Gave de Gavarnie, which becomes the Gave de Pau and runs past Lourdes fifty kilometres north. In hard winters the cirque's falls freeze solid and are climbed on ice.
Pick the Brèche de Roland out of the rim of the cirque — a glacial notch 40 m wide and about 70 m deep at 2,805 m, which is the Spanish border across its whole width — and judge its scale against the wall around it. The legend that Roland cut it trying to break his sword after Roncevaux does not survive a map: that battle was a hundred kilometres west.
From the foot of the cirque, read the wall upward: three tiers of rock, each separated from the next by a near-level ledge, rising close to 1,500 m. Then name the rim from east to west — Petit Astazou, Pic du Marboré at 3,248 m, Pic Brulle, Pic de la Cascade, Épaule, Tour and Casque du Marboré — and find at least two of the five relic glaciers still lying under the crest between them.
Before you go
Gavarnie makes all visitors use the paid public car park; you cannot drive up the valley to the cirque. The cirque is in the core of the Pyrénées national park, so no camping, no fires, no dogs off the lead and no drones. The village is overwhelmed during the two-week Gavarnie theatre festival, which draws around 10,000 people. From late autumn to spring the valley path is a snow route with avalanche risk and the falls freeze: in those months this needs winter equipment and a check of the avalanche bulletin, not walking shoes. Horses and donkeys are only hired in season.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
300 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
400 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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