The calanque de l’Oule is steep sided with two high cliffs extending the ones of the calanque de l'Eissadon to Castelvieil plateau. Its name comes from oulo, a provencal word for « pot » or « caldron ». You can imagine the mess in the calanque when the weather was bad and the waves were crashing at the feet of the cliffs.
The Oule cave (a land cave) is easily reachable for hikers from the green-marked path n°8 going down the Oule valley. But the last part of the path that goes to the calanque (red n°9) has not much interest for hikers because it goes to a small canyon plunging on a few meters into sea. It is better to admire the landscape from En-vau viewpoint, overhanging it 200 meter above, or through Castelviel breach. However, te vertical landscape of the calanque and its half sunken cave can only be seen from boats and kayaks.
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Castelvieil breach
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Oule valley
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Oule cave
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Plunging canyon
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Under water cave entrance
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Inside the cave
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Exit
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Under water
How to get there
- Duration: 2h
- Starting point: La Gardiole
- Route: Walk from the gate near the road of la Gineste in front of Carpiagne military camp and follow the paved road that descends in the small valley to enter in la Gardiole area, then go up until the Col de la Gardiole, follow the path to the calanque d’En-vau (red n°7). It goes around the forest house, before going away on the right, to the west, then goes down to En-vau valley. Go down the valley until you cross the green-marked path. Then go right to the green marked path n°8, doing up to the col de l’Oule. You can then go down to the Oule valley, but don’t try to go to the calanque, it is a dead-end with no landscape. From the col de l’Oule, you’d better follow the blue-marked path n°2 to reach En-vau viewpoint, where the panorama is breathtaking.
- You can also get to the calanque de l’Oule by boat, more info here