La Fontaine de Fontestorbes — Attraction in Pamiers

We visited this natural beauty spot out of season. The cavern only recedes every 20 minutes during certain months of the year. June is sadly not one of those months. The intermittent flow rate starts in July and as such I can't comment on the inside of the cavern.

The water and spring is crystal clear and perfectly safe to drink. There is a path leading into the cavern that allows you to see inside and get to the waters edge. The water is extremely cold with a temperature of less than 12°C on a 28°C day.

There is a car park right next to the cavern and opposite the cafe and adventure park. There is no fees involved in visiting the site.

The area is amazingly clean and has bins around the vicinity. There isn't a single piece of trash in the whole area of the cavern or in the stream.

Be extremely careful near the rock face in the car park and by the cavern as there is falling rocks which are as large as bowling balls. This is my only complaint. The rocks can damage your vehicle or cause serious injury and the car park is built right under this. Your only warning is the slabs of rock lying...

I visited this place as a child. It is just fascinating now as it was then. Your first question is where is all this water coming from out of the side of a mountain. The second question is how does the water level change. The answer is a big recevoir in side the mountain with different inlet and outlets. While it is more dramatic during the summer and fall. The changing water levels were still evident. If you are visiting Toulouse or Carcassonne is it worth the side trip. Best part...

An extraordinary phenomenon. Unless there is a drought and if there is a massive amount of rain, this spring, which comes out of a cave beside the road, starts as a trickle and rises to a torrent then subsides to a trickle again over 40 minutes. There are various theoretical explanations given on signs there but not actual evidence as to how/why...