Grande Cascade de Mortain

Mortain-Bocage

On the edge of the town of Mortain, the Cance, a modest tributary of the Sélune, suddenly plunges 25 metres through a cleft in the Armorican sandstone to form the highest waterfall in Normandy: the Grande Cascade de Mortain, an unexpected spectacle in the middle of the bocage, leagues from any mountain. From the 19th century the site drew Romantic travellers and several great painters, Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet and Paul Huet among them, captivated by the roar of the water bouncing off the mossy rocks. This picturesque quality earned the site its listing, as early as 23 September 1922, among natural sites of artistic character – one of the very first listings of this kind in France. Local legend, as so often in Normandy, has taken hold of the place: popular tales tell the story of the "ravens of the waterfall", a tale handed down orally and now gathered by the collectors of tales and legends of the Manche. Reached today by a shaded path, the Grande Cascade de Mortain remains a place where spectacular nature and painterly memory answer one another.

Getting there : Waymarked footpath from the town centre of Mortain, free access, on foot (about 30 min there and back)

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound