Cascade et cirque du Bout du Monde

Vauchignon

An hour's drive from Dijon, the Cirque du Bout du Monde opens suddenly at a bend in a wooded Burgundian valley: an amphitheatre of limestone cliffs 40 to 45 m high, carved by the river Cozanne in Bajocian limestone some 195 million years old. The river gushes straight out of the rock at the Grotte de la Tournée, a cave running some fifty metres into the cliff, before falling in a waterfall — known as the Cul de Menevault — of around thirty metres into a natural pool, more impressive after a good rain. Designated a natural zone of ecological interest over 470 hectares, the site is also a mecca of Burgundian climbing, with more than 220 routes opened on the cliff; the mountaineer and Dijon free-flight pioneer Jean-Marc Boivin, later famous for his solo ascents of legendary peaks, was already training here in the 1970s. Long little known, away from the tourist crowds despite its closeness to the vineyards of the Côte de Beaune, the Cirque du Bout du Monde can be discovered today on a family walking loop of 10.5 km, taking in cave, waterfall and dizzying cliffs.

Getting there : From Nolay or Cormot-Vauchignon (Côte-d'Or), about 1 hour's drive from Dijon or Beaune; car park at the hamlet of Vauchignon.

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

Ambient sound