Calanques National Park

In Provençal, a calanque is a cove hemmed in by steep slopes. The park named after them is France’s tenth national park, and its authority counts 2 to 3 million visitors a year, on land and at sea.

From early campaigns to the 2012 decree

Protection of the massif came in steps:

1. In the early twentieth century, campaigns to defend the massif begin.
2. In 1975, the massif between Marseille and Cassis is listed under the 1930 landscape law.
3. On 18 April 2012, a decree of the Prime Minister creates the national park.

Urgonian white, dolomite and ochre: three massifs

The park takes in three limestone massifs, each with its own colour:

• The Calanques massif proper: white Urgonian limestone, compact, hard and packed with fossils.
• The Saint-Cyr massif: dolomitic limestone, with the highest point of the park, Mont Carpiagne at 2,119 ft.
• The Canaille massif to the east: limestone, sandstone and puddingstone, its ochre red standing out against the bright white of the Marseille calanques.

These rocks began as sediment on the floor of a tropical sea during the Mesozoic. Karst erosion has since carved them out:

• caves, sinkholes and underground rivers inland;
• offshore, the Cassidaigne submarine canyon, which drops to more than 1,500 metres.

The Cosquer cave, out of reach

The Cosquer cave holds negative hand stencils some 27,000 years old. Its only entrance is a walled-up passage 35 metres under the sea, so it cannot be visited.

• The park authority lists the Cosquer cave, the grotte du Figuier, the grotte du Renard and the grotte de la Triperie among its classified historic monuments.
• The Mugel park is listed as a remarkable garden.

Sugiton, or what peaks of 2,500 visitors a day do to a pine wood

The park authority presents the Calanques as a hiking territory first, and warns that the photographs of the best-known coves can mislead: in summer they are crowded and the walk in becomes hard work. Swimmers who only want a beach are sent to the town beaches of Marseille, Cassis and La Ciotat.

In spring and summer, the authority names the places most overrun:

• the calanques of Marseilleveyre, Sormiou, Sugiton, En-Vau and Port-Pin;
• the Frioul islands.

Sugiton shows the cost of that popularity. Peaks of 2,500 visitors a day caused heavy erosion that has laid bare the roots of the pine wood. The authority first tried a booking scheme there and at the Pierres Tombées in 2022.

Riou, Frioul and the marine core

Most of the protected core lies at sea, and the islands off Marseille have their own rules:

• On the Riou archipelago, landing is forbidden except between sunrise and sunset on the north-west and west coast, between the Monastério and Boulegeade coves.
• Dogs and vehicles are banned on Riou.
• On the Frioul islands, cycling is allowed only in the village area and on the road to the Caroline hospital.

Currents, cliffs and rescue calls

Every year, visitors in the Calanques have to call the emergency services, and some accidents are serious, occasionally fatal. The authority points to the sea as much as to the paths:

• Along the southern coast of Marseille, from Mont Rose to Cap Croisette and Les Goudes, the currents are unpredictable.
• Underground springs keep the water in the coves often cold.
• For the day’s access and conditions, the Mes Calanques app and the park authority are the references.