Cabouy and Saint-Sauveur sinkholes circular loop

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Starting from the Col de Magès, a circular route that takes you to the Gouffre de Cabouy and the Gouffre Saint-Sauveur.
The resurgences are most spectacular to see in winter, spring and autumn when the water flow is greater, and on a day with clear skies, which will give beautiful colours to the gushing waters. But it’s different every time, so the best thing is still to go and discover them for yourself.
Unfortunately, there is an 800-metre stretch along the road that cannot be avoided without a major detour, but the rest of the walk takes you along paths through some very beautiful, quiet spots.

Details

n°37464135
Creation:
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 8.20 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 50 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 169 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 177 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 164 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 106 m
  • ⚐ Country: France
  • ⚐ City: Rocamadour (46500)
  • ⚑
    Start/End: N 44.79276° / E 1.591287°
  • ❏
    IGN map(s): Ref. 2136ET, 2137O
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Saint Sauveur Resurgence

Description of the walk

Park near the Croix de Couzol at the Col de Magès.

(S/E) Take the path down towards the Gouffre de Cabouy: there are no signs, so continue on foot along the small road that brought you to the Col de Magès and head for the Cabouy resurgence.

(1) Take the path on the left, go round the small building, then head straight right to take the path that goes round the resurgence. Follow the left bank of the Ouysse. Reach Saint-Sauveur. At the next crossroads, turn right and go through the barrier to reach the Gouffre de Saint-Sauveur resurgence

(2) Continue along the path that goes round the resurgence, climb up and reach a natural arch, the remains of an underground passage that has now become exposed due to erosion. Shortly afterwards, enjoy a superb view looking down over the Ouysse, but take great care, especially with children.

(3) Set off again, passing back under the arch, and leave the access path on your left to reach a cave, from which the water that formed the arch a little further on once flowed. Do not go beyond the wire fence to preserve the peace and quiet of the bats that live there.
At the exit of the cave, climb immediately to the right (*) to join the path just above and turn right. Continue on to reach a viewpoint.
(*) You can bypass this short climb (4 metres) by heading back down towards the chasm and taking the path that climbs to the right once you’re back on level ground.

(4) Continue straight ahead and reach the junction with a wider track. Cross it, stay on the path and reach the D673.

(5) Turn right onto it and follow it for several hundred metres (take care). You will then rejoin theGR®64and 652 at a bend.

(6) Follow them to the right. Then cross the Ouysse via the bridge and follow the right bank of the Ouysse to reach the Moulin de la Peyre junction.

(7) Turn right, follow the Ouysse and reach the Moulin de Caoulet.

(8) Continue on; although it may seem surprising, the footpath passes under the mill’s porch, and if the door is closed, you must open it to get through. Then stay on this typical Causse footpath until you reach a junction with a wider track.

(9) Take this track straight ahead, then leave it at the next crossroads to return to the initial crossroads you passed on the way there, that of the Gouffre de Cabouy.

(1) Turn left to reach the Col de Magès car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 164 m - Col de Magès car park
  2. 1 : km 0.7 - alt. 110 m - Cabouy Chasm
  3. 2 : km 2.27 - alt. 108 m - Saint-Sauveur Resurgence
  4. 3 : km 2.53 - alt. 125 m - Arche and Saint-Sauveur Cave
  5. 4 : km 2.89 - alt. 145 m - Viewpoint
  6. 5 : km 3.34 - alt. 145 m - D673
  7. 6 : km 3.94 - alt. 132 m - GR64 and 652
  8. 7 : km 4.97 - alt. 110 m - Crossroads towards Moulin de Caoulet – Alzou (river) – a tributary of the Ouysse
  9. 8 : km 5.46 - alt. 108 m - Moulin de Caoulet
  10. 9 : km 7.03 - alt. 138 m - Crossroads
  11. S/E : km 8.2 - alt. 164 m - Col de Magès car park

Worth a visit

(S/E) Col de Magès: admire the canyon carved out by the Alzou, to the north, near the boundary stone engraved with a snail.
(1) Cabouy Resurgence,the first resurgence of the Ouysse: after a long underground course that remains largely unexplored and unknown, the Ouysse—which rises at Espeyroux in the Lot and disappears at Thémines—resurfaces after travelling several dozen kilometres underground. The river then re-emerges refreshed and laden with limestone particles that give it its distinctive colour. The Ouysse is a tributary of the Dordogne, which it joins at Lacave.

(2) Saint Sauveur resurgence: the Ouysse’ssecond resurgence: admire the turquoise water as it gushes forth after its underground journey.
It is not uncommon to come across divers. If you have read the sign at the entrance, you will have realised that this is reserved for very experienced divers, as accidents are not uncommon. There are plenty of videos on YouTube to give you a glimpse of what it’s like, but it is very dark, naturally.

(8) Moulin de Caoulet: you can stock up on drinks and a few local products here, but be warned that the welcome can be a bit hit and miss.

Always be cautious and plan ahead when you're outdoors. Visorando and the author of this route cannot be held responsible for any accidents occurring on this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

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Reviews and comments

4.1 / 5
Based on 7 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.1 / 5
Ease of following the route
3.9 / 5
Route interest
4.3 / 5
User 15396564

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 23, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely spot; the springs are magnificent.... However, the signposting is very poor and the directions aren’t clear enough.

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patchapapa
patchapapa

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 21, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

An interesting route at the start, without too many difficulties. At the Gouffre de St-Sauveur, despite the sign being crossed out, don't hesitate to continue in order to follow the route. The road section is a little long to cross the Ouysse: a shame, and the return journey is uninteresting. I continued to the Gouffre de Poumayssen and returned via Magès.

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Gege29
Gege29

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 09, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk. The only slight hiccup was coming out of the cave, where the path was a bit harder to find. It’s a shame the stretch of road is so long

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Eilime Siwel
Eilime Siwel
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 24, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant, picturesque walk that isn’t too difficult; the two sinkholes are lovely to look at and feature beautiful colours. It’s a shame that a significant section of the route runs along a fairly busy road – more like 1.5 km rather than the 800 m stated – and that you can’t get close to a mill where there appear to be some lovely waterfalls.

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Jacques.cugnon
Jacques.cugnon
• Edited:

Hello,

The Cabouy chasm must have been muddy with all the rain we’ve had recently.

As for the route, it is indeed signposted: 800 metres of tarmac out of the 8.2 km walk.

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Didi30131
Didi30131

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : May 13, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

The Saint Sauveur chasm is magnificent, but not the Cabouy one – what a shame. The rest of the walk was disappointing as a large part of it is along roads and therefore not very interesting. 😞😞

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Jacques.cugnon
Jacques.cugnon
• Edited:

To find the Croix de Couzol, the "Go to start" feature on the app is your best friend Your Maps, Waze or other navigation app will take you there without any trouble.

At point 3, the climb is indeed a bit steep but short, with barely 3 or 4 metres to climb.
To get back on the route, you can retrace your steps and, once you’re near the chasm, there’s a path that climbs gently and leads back to the same spot.

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Fanou90
Fanou90

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 14, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

First of all, it’s not easy to find the Couzol cross.
Up to number 3, everything went very well; it was magnificent and very pleasant.
However, I never found where to climb after the cave. No path. No trail. There might have been some steps, but they were very high and quite dangerous.
So I turned back. What a shame.

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Claude-Meignen
Claude-Meignen

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 28, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk!
Easy.
The St Sauveur site is magnificent

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