Grotte des Bacelles

Useful Information

Location:	From Saint-Quirin follow Rue de Berlot/Rue de la Charmille, after the end of the village is a parking lot on the left. (48.5984508, 7.0853228)
Open:	no restrictions. [2026]
Fee:	free. [2026]
Classification:	Erosional Cave Frost Weathering Cave
Light:	n/a
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Mairie de Saint-Quirin, 170 rue du Général de Gaulle, 57560 Saint Quirin, Tel: +33-387-03-11-82. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

Description

The Grotte des Bacelles is located at the hillside above the valley of Ruisseau de Saint-Quirin southeast of Saint-Quirin. There is a quite spectacular rock formation of red sandstone which forms numerous vertical walls, towers and gorges. The cave is an erosional cave, most likely formed when the valle was much higher and the river flowed at this level and a meander cut into the vertical walls. Most likely it was widened by frost erosion since then. The result is a huge chamber with a 9 m wide and 3.5 m high portal, the chamber is 13 m long. There are several small caves along the cliff face which may also be visited. The cave is named "Bacelles", which means "young girls" in the local Lorraine dialect.

The hills are full of hiking trails and there are numerous trails on hiking websites which include a visit to the cave. Some of them also include nearby Grotte de la Belle Roche. It is quite similar, with a 10 m wide and 4 m high portal it is 9 m deep. Hence, we decided to make only one page for both caves. The direct trail to the cave starts at a parking lot in the valley, leads straight up a side valley and then along the hillside, a none way hike of 1.2 km. To reach the second cave it’s another 4.2 km hike, so the roundtrip is typically about 10 km hike. The hike typically also includes the Site Gallo-romain de la Croix-Guillaume, an excavation site of a 2000-year-old Gallo-Roman settlement.