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France France Waterfall

Cascade d'Ars

A 110 m drop.

When to go

Cascade d'Ars 2014-05-18T12-55-54
MathieuMD · CC BY-SA 3.0

In numbers.

110m

Height

0.18m³/s

Average flow

estimate

Apr–Jun
Oct

Best months

195kW

Water power

estimate

The water at Cascade d'Ars, month by month

It roars from January to May and in November.

The fullest months: from January to May and November.

  1. 0.3 m³/sJan
  2. 0.2 m³/sFeb
  3. 0.3 m³/sMar
  4. 0.3 m³/sApr
  5. 0.3 m³/sMay
  6. 0.2 m³/sJun
  7. 0.1 m³/sJul
  8. 0.1 m³/sAug
  9. 0.1 m³/sSep
  10. 0.1 m³/sOct
  11. 0.2 m³/sNov
  12. 0.2 m³/sDec
high water best months to go

From about 0.05 m³/s in the lowest month to 0.31 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from April to June and October.

Estimate: the timing comes from rain, snowmelt and evaporation (NASA POWER, 1991–2020); the amounts from the river model of HydroATLAS (WaterGAP, 1971–2000). Dams upstream can change the real flow.

Cascade d'Ars is a waterfall in France. The water falls 110 m.

Getting there.

  • Tarascon-sur-Ariègenearest town · 22 km in a straight line
  • Parking 2,040 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
  • Pirineus - la Seu d'Urgel Airport (LEU)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 47 km in a straight lineCar hire at CCF airport (Carcassonne)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • From April to June and Octoberbest months to go (estimate)

Plan your visit

Stay, explore and get there

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

How big is it?

How big it really is.

110 mCascade d'Ars1.8 ma person93 mStatue ofLiberty96 mBig Ben139 mGreat Pyramid

Height of the drop from Wikidata. Buildings and the person are drawn at the same scale.

195 kW

About 0.18 m³/s falling 110 m: the power of the water as it drops.

  • enough to power about 49 homes, if it were all turned into electricity

Power of falling water = density × gravity × flow × height. Average flow and height as shown above; an estimate.

Seen from the sky.

8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.

Cascade d'Ars seen from above (Sentinel-2) N 2 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

The Rivière d'Ars through the falls
1,000 m1,200 m1,400 mCascade d'Ars0+0.5 km+1 km+1.5 km← upstreamdownstream →

The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.

The valley below the falls
−690 m+690 m

Around the falls the river drops 513 m in 2.2 km. Here the river runs about 222 m below the lower rim of its valley.

What is around.

  • 4viewpoints
  • 5waymarked walking routesCascade d'Ars, La traversée des Pyrénées - sec.3 and 3 more
  • 4car parks
  • —swimming spots
  • —picnic sites
  • —toilets
  • —information boards and visitor centres
  • —bus stops within 1 km
  • 4other named waterfalls within 4 kmCascade du Garbet, Cascade du Fouillet and 2 more
  • —caves
  • 3campsitesBivouac possible, Camping Aulus Le Couledous, Commune d'Aulus Aire POUR camping-cars
  • 12hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmChalets de Guzet, Gîte d'étape Le Presbytère, Residence aux Volets Bleues and 9 more
  • 1restaurants and cafés within 3 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Towns nearby

  • Tarascon-sur-Ariège22 km in a straight line
  • Arinsal24 km in a straight line

Weather

The weather, month by month.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon °C3481115202323191574
Night °C-5-6-30389963-2-4
Rain & snow (mm)866472839564545356709069
Wet days121111141411101010121312
Sun h/day2.84.66.06.87.38.79.08.47.45.43.53.0
Snow on the ground (cm)121284100001611

Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (1,380 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.

Photos

Through visitors' eyes.

ArsCascade1
BluesyPete · CC BY-SA 3.0
Cascade d'Ars 2014-05-18T13-05-42
Mathieu MD · CC BY-SA 3.0
Cascade d'Ars 2014-05-18T13-06-39
Mathieu MD · CC BY-SA 3.0

Recent years

Wet years and dry years

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
202089%50%125%126%107%147%71%114%168%183%65%210%
202191%87%26%41%52%133%75%49%137%62%147%140%
202255%35%94%84%28%59%74%82%134%18%130%49%
2023101%37%53%59%80%167%80%98%85%83%122%98%
202452%116%117%73%94%93%63%73%165%203%48%86%
202535%17%116%47%42%25%95%86%77%15%45%67%

130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual

Compare with the waterfalls nearby.

Cascade d'Ars

France

  • 110 mHeight
  • 0.18 m³/sAverage flow
  • Apr–Jun, OctBest months

Cascade de Caraoucou

France

  • —Height
  • 2.4 m³/sAverage flow
  • Feb–MayBest months

See the guide

Sartari waterfall

Spain

  • 80 mHeight
  • —Average flow
  • May–Jul, OctBest months

See the guide

Cascada de Sant Esperit

Spain

  • 30 mHeight
  • 0.83 m³/sAverage flow
  • Apr–Jun, OctBest months

See the guide

About these numbers

Names, height, width, riverWikidata (Q16627473) · CC0
River flow and catchmentHydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Relief, river profile, 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Paths, viewpoints, parking© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.