Black Mountain (Montagne Noire) Tours and Tickets

Part of the Haut-Languedoc regional park and the southwestern tip of Massif Central, the Black Mountain (Montagne Noire) is a mountain range that overlaps four French departments: Tarn, Hérault, Haute-Garonne and Aude. The area is called "Montagne Noire" because of the dense forest that covers its entire northern slope, an extreme contrast with its typically Mediterranean southern slope, capped in scrubland and olive trees.

Montagne Noire culminates at 3,969 feet (1,210 meters) high with Pic de Nore, from which visitors can admire the splendid panorama that extends all the way to the Mediterranean Sea and the Pyrenees on clear days.

The mountains are to several sites of archaeological interest, starting with Grotte de Limousis, the most impressive developed cave in the department. The cave is made up of eight chambers (one of which contains an exceptional formation of aragonite crystal in the shape of a 13-foot-high (4-meter-high) chandelier) and a series of five stalagmite barriers. This cave has been in use since the Prehistoric Age, while close by is the Gouffre de Cabrespine, one of the largest natural caves in the world open to the public. Lastly, the Oppidum de Berniquaut is an archaeological site with history that goes back 30,000 years. A trekking site allows visitors to explore the remains and learn more about life as it was from the Neolithic era to the 13th century.