Gouffre du Béout


Useful Information

photography
Pic le Béout Cable Car, Lourdes, France. Public Domain.
Location: Pic le Béout, Lourdes.
(43.082134, -0.062703)
Open: closed
[2011]
Fee: closed
[2011]
Classification: SpeleologyKarst cave
Light: none.
Dimension: VR=51 m.
Guided tours:  
Photography:  
Accessibility:  
Bibliography:  
Address:  
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
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History

1938 discovered by Norbert Casteret.
1989 survey by the GRAS Lourdes.

Description

photography
Pic le Béout Cable Car, Lourdes, France. Public Domain.
photography
Pic le Béout Cable Car, Lourdes, France. Public Domain.

We were astonished by the number of lists, which still list the Gouffre du Béout as a show cave. This cave is closed for many years now, the metal staircases are decaying and definitely unsafe, the electric light is destroyed. We recommend not trying to enter this cave because a visit is dangerous and illegal.

The Gouffre du Béout is located on the Pic le Béout near Lourdes. The cave is a pothole, in which archaeological remains were found. To make this vertical shaft accessible, an 80 m long tunnel was dug, which meets the pothole close to the ground. The tunnel reaches the shaft 33 m below the opening. Staircases lead further down to the archaeological excavation site at -46 m. There is also a second drop which goes down to -51 m.

Some years ago the Pic le Béout was best reached using the cable car from downtown Lourdes. The cable car was closed in the mid 1990s, and in 2000 the cables and masts were removed. With the cable car, the cave had lots of visitors, without the cable car it is necessary to walk up to the top of the hill, and the number of visitors dropped. We do not know when the cave was closed, but it must have been soon after the closing of the cable car.