Cascade de Baumicou

Cascade de Baumicou (sometimes written as cascade de Beaumicou) is a nice waterfall near Vernon (Sanilhac) in the Ardèche region, France.

From Aubenas drive to Joyeuse (road D104). Just before Joyeuse take the exit (D303) to Vernon – 5 km. Best thing you can do is to drive to the town hall (Maire) at gps 44.507505, 4.220989. Park your car here.

There where signs for a beautiful walk “tétines” de Vernon. A beautiful site also referred as the Gorges de l’Ardèche. But unfortunately the trail is closed because it crossed (or runs along) some private property. It is a shame this happens.. But okay, I can understand (maybe). 

When I was at cascade de Baumicou, end of april 2023, a friendly lady explained why the acces is closed and offered me a ride to another access point 600 meter further down the road (gps 44.512312, 4.221729). Here you descend to the river and Cascade de Baumicou. But (yes there is a very childish but), they also tried to barricade the trail here. Why??? Come on people, this is a public area and not private property. So I crossed the barricade and went further down. I was not the only one at the waterfall. Some locals where enjoying a shower from the waterfall. There was hardly any water in the river, nevertheless with the cave in the background, it is very beautiful. I was warned not to swim in the pool because there are some small snakes in it…. Cascade de Baumicou isn’t a very tall waterfall, I think 8 meter, but very nice to see. You can walk behind the drop, while entering the cave.

The waterfall is free accessible but the trail is closed on Saturday mornings from October to Februari due to hunting!!! I hope the local government will create another path/entry to the waterfall. I am in favour of making nature with all its beauties publicly accessible. And it is good for tourism! The area is beautiful, so why not profit from it.

Note: in summertime the river runs dry. Best time to visit cascade de Baumicou is a rainy period or a long time of rainfall.