Grotte de Lombrives

Grotte de Lombrives or Lombrives Cave is a large natural cavern located in Ornolac-Ussat-les-Bains, at the eastern edge of the Pyrénées Ariégeoises Natural Regional Park, in the Ariège department of Occitanie, in southwestern France.

The cave has a length of 8 km (5.0 mi). It is located inside a limestone mountain named Cap de la Lesse between the Vicdessos and Ariège valley. There are three caves in this mountain, Niaux and Sabart in the Vicdessos valley, Lombrives in the Ariège valley. All three caves together are 14 km (8.7 mi) long, but while it is obvious that they belong to the same system, only the caves of Niaux and Lombrives are connected; neither is connected with Sabart. The caves are found on two main levels, the upper level around 650 m (2,130 ft) above sea level and the lower level around 550 m (1,800 ft), which are the main stages of cave development. There is also an intermediate level at 600 m (2,000 ft) which has much fewer passages but is the entrance section of the Lombrives show cave. The three levels are connected by numerous vertical shafts.

Lombrives is a little more than 1 hour from Toulouse, and they allowed dogs! Daisy enjoyed her time with the multiple children and was among the best behaved. Neither of us slipped much on the damp and wet stone floors or on the 174 stairs we took up to the top of the cathedral.

On the return trip, we joined Team Cheese at a local KFC. It was finger lickin good!Read more