Le Grande Cascade de Gavarnie / The Gavarnie Falls (Hautes-Pyrénées, France)
N 42° 41.651 W 000° 00.365
30T E 745245 N 4731201
Le Grande Cascade de Gavarnie (The Gavarnie Falls) is a tiered waterfall and with overall drop of 422 m is the tallest waterfall in France. The falls are situated in Cirque de Gavarnie, close to the village Gavarnie in the Pyrénées Mts.
Waymark Code: WM6ANZ
Location: Occitanie, France
Date Posted: 05/04/2009
Views: 15
Le Grande Cascade de Gavarnie (The Gavarnie Falls) is the tallest waterfall in France, as well as one of the most impressive and highest waterfalls in Europe. They are located in the central Pyrénées Mountains, in the Cirque de Gavarnie, a huge glacial amphitheater.
The falls occur along the Gav de Pau, which heads in Lago Helago in Spain. The lake is fed by the glaciers of Monte Perdido, but it has no surface outlet. Instead, it sinks into the limestone substrate and flows underground, springing out in the Cirque du Gavarnie as the falls. During the peak of snowmelt, there are several other waterfalls in the cirque, some standing as tall as Gavarnie itself, but not with so large amount of falling water.