Trou de Bozouls, Natural canyon in Bozouls, France.
The Trou de Bozouls forms a horseshoe-shaped gorge with limestone cliffs rising 100 meters above the Dourdou River, spanning 400 meters in diameter.
During the 9th century, the counts of Rodez established a castle on the rocky promontory, utilizing the natural defenses provided by the canyon walls.
The Romanesque Sainte-Fauste church stands on a rocky peninsula within the canyon, representing centuries of architectural heritage in the region.
Multiple viewing platforms around Rue du Trou provide different perspectives of the canyon, with wooden footbridges crossing the Dourdou River for year-round access.
The geological formation reveals distinct layers of stratified limestone, documenting millions of years of sedimentary rock formation in the Causse Comtal plateau.
Location: Bozouls
GPS coordinates: 44.47170,2.71806
Latest update: June 23, 2025 09:39
France's landscape features a variety of natural canyons carved by river erosion over millennia. These geological formations include the white limestone walls of Verdon, the red shale cliffs of Daluis Canyon, and the emerald waters of Ardèche. Each site reflects a unique geological history, with depths ranging from a few tens of meters to over 700 meters. The Tarn gorges stretch 50 kilometers between the Causses, while Verdon has created Europe's deepest canyon. In the Pyrenees, the Gorges de la Carança and Gorges de la Fou offer pathways with metal walkways. The Alps host the Aiglun Gorge and Daluis Gorges, recognizable by their Permian red rocks. These natural sites are suitable for hiking, climbing, kayaking, and feature many viewpoints to observe these rock formations from nearby roads.
France features a notable variety of protected natural areas, showcasing the country’s geological and ecological richness. From Lake Allos in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence to the underground rivers of Padirac in Dordogne, from the mountain ranges of Savoy to the limestone formations of the Ardèche gorges, each region displays landscapes shaped over millennia of natural evolution. This collection gathers sites where nature is expressed freely: primary forests, karst systems, high-altitude lakes, moving dunes of the Atlantic coast, and rock formations carved by erosion. These areas provide diverse ecosystems, home to species adapted to different environments, from Alpine flora and fauna to dune communities and underground cave biodiversity. Each natural site in this selection serves as an open-air laboratory where geological processes, ecosystem dynamics, and living adaptation to local conditions can be observed. These sites invite discovery of authentic landscapes, removed from human impact, where geological time is evident in every rock formation and glacier valley.
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