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France France scenic viewpoint

Cap Noir

You can see 131 km from here, looking south-west.

Calculating the panorama…

Drag to turn around. The relief is drawn 2.2 times taller so the ridges can be read; far ridges are paler, as in the real air.

The view

Up to 131 km away.

Calculated on the relief one degree at a time, up to 250 km, with the curvature of the Earth and the refraction of the air: what stands above the horizon from here.

72out of 100

Our own rating, from the relief and the climate only: open horizon (35 points), how far you see (25), sea and named peaks in view (20) and clear months (20).

  • 131 kmFarthest ridgelooking south-west
  • 84%Open horizonof the circle where the horizon is below your eyes
  • 16%Seaof the circle where the horizon is the sea
  • 14Peaks in viewnamed summits that rise above the relief in front
  • 1,162 mAltitudeabove the sea, at the highest point of the viewpoint

The 14 peaks you can name from here

From west to east as you turn around: height, distance and direction. Each one links to its guide on Peakyas, our mountain atlas.

Pitons Plats1,951 m · 6.5 km · eastRoche Écrite2,276 m · 7.9 km · eastChaîne des Mariannes2,228 m · 5.2 km · south-eastCimandef2,228 m · 7.9 km · south-eastMassif du Piton des Neiges3,070 m · 15 km · south-eastPiton des Neiges3,070 m · 15 km · south-eastCrest of Calumets2,109 m · 8.7 km · south-eastTrois Salazes2,132 m · 14 km · south-eastPiton Fleurs Jaunes2,294 m · 16 km · southGrand Bénare2,898 m · 14 km · southPiton des Hauts Saint-Gilles2,378 m · 11 km · south

From the relief only: buildings, trees and haze are not in the model. On a hazy day you see much less; 250 km is the limit of our calculation.

The sun

The best sunsets are from August to November.

When the sun really disappears from this viewpoint — behind the relief or into the sea — and in which direction, on the 15th of each month, in local time.

  1. Jansouth-west-2 min before the sea-level sunset40%
  2. Febwest-2 min before the sea-level sunset43%
  3. Marwest-2 min before the sea-level sunset44%
  4. Aprwestsets on an open horizon51%
  5. Maywest-2 min before the sea-level sunset52%
  6. Junnorth-westsets on an open horizon52%
  7. Julnorth-westsets on an open horizon52%
  8. Augwestsets on an open horizon53%
  9. Sepwestsets on an open horizon56%
  10. Octwestsets on an open horizon56%
  11. Novwest-2 min before the sea-level sunset56%
  12. Decsouth-westsets on an open horizon52%
  • Time: when the sun goes behind the horizon you see from here.
  • Minutes: how much earlier the relief hides the sun.
  • %: share of clear sky that month (NASA, 2001–2020).

The highlighted months are the clearest. Golden hour starts about an hour before.

The place

Cap Noir.

Cliff on Reunion Island

Cap Noir is a scenic viewpoint in France, 1,162 m above the sea.

On a clear day the farthest ridge you can see is 131 km away, looking south-west.

The sea fills 16% of the horizon.

14 named peaks rise above the relief in front; the most prominent is Piton des Neiges (3,070 m), 15 km away.

The horizon is open, below your eyes, over 84% of the circle.

The skies are clearest from August to November.

Cap Noir 2024 02
Olaf2 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Get there and stay

Plan the visit

A guided tour, a bed nearby, a car.

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The viewpoint and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the viewpoint, with what OpenStreetMap shows nearby.

Cap Noir seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 24other viewpoints within 5 kmKiosque du Cap Noir, Les Terrasses and 22 more
  • 17named peaks within 5 kmPiton Cabris, Bord Bazar, SN 1306 and 14 more
  • 2marked trails within 3 kmGR R2, Canalisation des Orangers
  • 15shelters and huts within 5 kmMamode Camp and 14 more
  • 9car parks within 3 km
  • 2restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • 31campsites within 10 kmLa Bonne Terre, Gîte et camping Les Filaos, Aire de camping de Yoland Louise and 28 more
  • 97places to stay within 10 kmGîte du Cap Noir, Auberge du Piton Cabris, Le Poinsettia and 94 more
  • cable car and funicular stations within 5 km
  • visitor centres within 5 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

In our other atlases

What you see from Cap Noir, and what is near.

Everything around this viewpoint — mountains, water, forests, birds, caves and the night sky — in the family's atlases.

Peakyas103 mountains within 25 km
Gros Morne3,019 m · 13 kmGrand Bénare2,898 m · 14 kmPiton des Neiges3,070 m · 15 kmMassif du Piton des Neiges3,070 m · 15 kmPetit Bénare2,600 m · 17 kmTrois Petits Bonhommes2,464 m · 17 kmCoteau Kervéguen2,510 m · 19 kmPiton de Bébour1,473 m · volcano · 23 km
Forestyas3 forests and trees within 15 km
Forêt de La Providence · 12 kmJardin de l'État · 13 kmForêt des Hauts-sous-le-Vent · 14 km
Canyonyas2 canyons within 20 km
Trou de Fer · 18 kmravine Fleurs Jaunes · 19 km
Cascadyas4 waterfalls within 15 km
L'Entonnoir · 4.6 kmcascade Maniquet · 6.6 kmcascade du Chaudron500 m · 9.9 kmLes Trois Roches · 11 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap, GBIF). Links open when each site is online.

Photographs

The view, as people saw it.

Trail above Clouds near Cap Noir (31556708725)
VillageHero from Ulm, Germany · CC BY-SA 2.0
Trail near Cap Noir (30715480074)
VillageHero from Ulm, Germany · CC BY-SA 2.0
Cap Noir 2024 06
Olaf2 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Other viewpoints nearby.

Cap Noir

France

  • 72Viewyas Score
  • 131 kmFarthest ridge
  • 14Peaks in view
  • 1,162 mAltitude

Maïdo

France · 8 km

  • 90Viewyas Score
  • 248 kmFarthest ridge
  • 21Peaks in view
  • 2,176 mAltitude

See the guide

Piton des Neiges

France · 15 km

  • 91Viewyas Score
  • 248 kmFarthest ridge
  • 19Peaks in view
  • 3,040 mAltitude

See the guide

Cap Anglais

France · 17 km

  • 87Viewyas Score
  • 228 kmFarthest ridge
  • 23Peaks in view
  • 2,193 mAltitude

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q2937074) · CC0
SunJ. Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms
Peaks in viewPeakyas (Wikidata, CC0)
Panorama and altitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-90 / GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
CloudsNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas, Islandyas, Forestyas, Birdyas, Canyonyas, Cavernyas, Cascadyas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.