At the limit of the Causses and the Cevennes, in the Aigoual massif, the Bonheur river starts to disappear underground 5 km further, near Camprieu and becomes the underground river of Bramabiau. It emerges a few hundred meters further through a narrow crack 70 meters high and cascades down in imitation of "a bellowing ox".
The temperature is 10°.
It is a part of the labyrinth of this underground course which is open to the visit thus allowing to discover calcified rooms, giant potholes, whirling pillars and other wonders of concretions... and to note that water continues its work of sculpture of the stone. Two tunnels and a gallery with dinosaur footprints allow you to make a circuit with an exit near the parking lots.
On June 27, 1888, a group of Parisians started to explore. A great feat had just been achieved, Martel and those whom the inhabitants called "The Parisians" went to the town hall of Camprieu to write the minutes of the first crossing of Bramabiau.
Today it is considered as the birth certificate of speleology.
The visit...
The visit begins as soon as you take your first steps in the undergrowth. The descent is gradual, and you can discover or rediscover over 70 plant species.
As you descend, the Alcove suddenly appears...
Then you follow a horizontal path along and across the river to reach what geologists call “a karst retreat”, and poets call “the end of the world”, i.e. a vast half-creek in which a spring is born, or here “reborn”. The walls of the half-creek are absolutely vertical, or very steep, and 70 to 120 metres high.
At the end of the tour, you'll make a final stop to contemplate the dinosaur footprints discovered when the tunnel was dug.
Abyss of Bramabiau
Rivière Souterraine
30750 Camprieu
Phone/fax : 04 67 82 60 78
Tel. off season : 04 67 82 66 81 or 04 67 82 64 51
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