La Crèque Noèle in Rieulhès

Access: By car, head to Rieulhès, a small hamlet in the commune of Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre. Drive through the village. After leaving the village, turn right at the ‘Carrefour de la Vierge’ junction and follow the square heritage signs. Drive up a narrow road along the mountainside, past the Cassadou, Bazy and Couret farms. Before the Soulas farm, you’ll find a small dirt car park on the right-hand side in a bend, at the start of a path, at the foot of a large sign for the Pibeste-Aoulhet Regional Nature Reserve.

(S/E) Take the path that leads into the forest. There are some fairly sparse yellow markings.
Cross the Coumat stream and you will soon reach a red and white stone marker numbered 109 (an upright, set block of stone), marking the boundary of the undivided forest of Saint-Pé. Carry on, passing a signpost numbered 1169 (on the left, overlooking the path; this is the entrance to the Gouffre de la Borne 109), then marker 110, engraved on a rock on the ground.

(1) At the first Bouhadère junction, turn right, following the yellow and green markings. At the second junction, leave both sets of markings and continue straight on. On a tree to the right, a Yellow Cross indicates the end of the yellow-marked path. Continue straight on along this path leading to the Gouffre du Hayau. Walk for about 100 metres.

(2) Turn right, heading downhill along a well-defined path roughly marked with red and white warning tape. In 5 minutes, following the contour line roughly, you will reach the entrance to the cave known as ‘Crèque Noèle’. You can enter this cave safely, requiring no equipment other than a torch or, if desired, a helmet.

To return, retrace your steps to the starting point (S/E).

Estimated time
Allow half an hour to reach the cave, to be on the safe side.

Water points
There is no drinking water along the route; bring your own supplies.

Places to stop and take shelter
In the event of heavy rain or thunderstorms, the only real shelter along the route is at the end of the walk, in the Crèque Noèle.

Equipment
Bring the usual kit for a short walk in the mid-mountain range (hiking boots or sturdy trainers, suitable clothing, rainwear, water, food, map, etc.).
The entire route is through woodland.

Trail traffic
Throughout the year, you may come across a few walkers and/or cavers on the path near markers 109 and 110 (this is a so-called ‘karst’ nature trail).

The cave in the 20th century
It was during his tireless explorations of the massif that Abbé Abadie, accompanied by a young girl and her father, rediscovered this cave in 1946. The little girl, Noèle (not Noëlle), was the first to enter the cave, which would henceforth bear her name. Source : Abbé B. Abadie, *Le Sanglier du Picharrot*, published by Marrimpoey Jeune.

The cave in prehistoric times
La Crèque Noèle is what one might call a prehistoric cave.
Significant deposits of animal remains and tools have been found there during several excavation campaigns.
Apart from a few recent bones and traces of medieval occupation, most of these finds date from the Lower or Middle Palaeolithic periods, the latter ranging from 30,000 to 80,000 years ago. It was indeed Neanderthals who lived in this cave! It was also a den for cave bears.
See photo of the cave’s interior and prehistoric details.
Sources http://www.patrimoines-lourdes-gavarnie.fr/ and the Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre Karst Trail

A bit of local history
The forest of Saint-Pé is also known as the forest of Très-Croutz (or Très-Crouts, Tres Croutz, Tres Crouts or Tres Crots).
The origin of the name ‘Très-Croutz’ is thought to derive from the ‘Trois Croix’ (très croutz in Bigourdan/Gascon) carved into the stone at a place known as ‘la Toue’, right in the heart of the massif, at an altitude of around 1,400 metres.
The Three Crosses bear witness to age-old pastoral disputes between Asson, Salles and Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre.
In 1569, the Bearnese Protestants from the Asson valley decided to attack the Bigourdans of the Estrèms de Salles, with whom they were disputing the Azun and Maumula mountains. The 1,500 men intended to lay waste to the village of Salles and seize all the livestock from Vergoun. But the battle was won by the Bigourdans. These conflicts became so serious that the King’s army had to be called in. It was impossible for the Bishop of Tarbes to restore harmony. Source: Abbé B. Abadie, *Le Sanglier du Picharrot*, published by Marrimpoey Jeune.
At a place known as “Très-Croutz”, the bishoprics of Tarbes, Lescar and Oloron converged on this mountain.
Today, all that remains are three crosses carved into a rock and the inscription ‘1716’. They can be found on the IGN map between the ‘u’ and the ‘e’ in ‘La Toue’.

Flora and fauna
The vegetation of this massif reflects the extreme dryness of the soil, due to the terrain and the highly permeable nature of the subsoil
which are highly permeable, though this is offset by very high rainfall and cloud cover: boxwood, beech, lime and hazel are ubiquitous… This is why the wooded slopes are very damp and can sometimes be very slippery . Source: Saint-Pé Tourist Office.

With a bit of luck, you may also come across a wealth of wildlife. In particular, wild boar, roe deer, chamois, countless birds and various insects, and occasionally amphibians (frogs, toads, salamanders).

Places to visit nearby
- The town of Lourdes and the Marian Shrine;
- The village of Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre, the village itself, its cultural heritage, its events, the Très-Croutz Forest and the Pibeste-Aoulhet Regional Nature Reserve, and water sports;

Find out more...
- It is well worth consulting the website and publications of the Pibeste-Aoulhet Regional Nature Reserve. The most notable is the ‘reserve guidebook’, packed with information, routes and anecdotes!
- The Saint-Pé Tourist Office also publishes numerous brochures and detailed walking guides. One of these brochures may be of particular interest for discovering the massif’s flora and fauna: the ‘Karst Trail’ brochure, which covers part of this walk.
- You can immerse yourself in local literature:
* Abbé B. Abadie, *Le Sanglier du Picharrot*, published by Marrimpoey Jeune,
* Jacques-Emile Mengelle, *Bigorre de mon enfance*,
* Jean-Claude Mengelle, *Le solitaire de la Gargante*.