![Icone Fleche](https://www.geoparc-lahague.fr/wp-content/themes/highfive/src/img/fleche-bleu.svg")
The dunes of La Hague
Covering nearly 600 hectares spread across the communes of Vauville, Biville, Vasteville, Héauville and Siouville, the Hague dune system is the largest in the Cotentin peninsula. The dune field rises to an altitude of 100 m NGF below the Biville Calvary.
20,000 years ago, the sea level was 100 to 120 meters lower than it is today, and the land where the dunes now stand was composed of hills of Beaumont schist and May sandstone, similar to those found in Vauville. At their base lay a wetland. As the climate warmed during the last 6,000 and 7,000 years, the sea level rose, pushing significant quantities of sand ahead of it. Thanks to frequent west/southwest winds, this sand covered the wetland and then the hills.
It is this characteristic of dunes blown at high altitudes, along a dead cliff, that gives the dunes of La Hague their originality compared to most classic coastal ridges.
Go there
Dune Path
Biville
50,440 La Hague