Photo : Tangopaso / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Cascade de Queureuilh
The Queureuilh waterfall is in the commune of Le Mont-Dore, in the Sancy massif. The stream that forms it rises beneath the Puy de Barbier, then drops onto a wall of basalt organ pipes before joining the Enfer stream, which flows into the Dordogne. Its name is said to come from a dialect word for squirrel.
The organ pipes are the trace of an ancient lava flow: on cooling, it split into tight columns, hence the pipe-like look of the cliff. It is one of the most classic phenomena of the Auvergne volcanoes, and here it can be seen close up, at the end of a short forest path of about a quarter of an hour's walk.
The waterfall is less visited than the neighbouring Grande Cascade and fits into the little loops of the Mont-Dore waterfalls. The setting is that of a cool, shady forest. Not far away, the Rossignolet waterfall shows another face: it flows over a limestone concretion and not over basalt.
