Cap Gris Nez
One half of the ‘Grand Site des Deux Caps’, Cap Gris Nez is the closest point to England in France.
Open all year round
Free
Dogs welcome
Viewpoint
Facilities
- Car parking
Geosite details
Named Gris Nez thanks to its grey-ish appearance, the geology here is different to the white cliffs nearby. Gris Nez is made up of a combination of sandstone, clay and some Chalk, representing older periods of our geological heritage, particularly the Jurassic.
These different rocks are much more ‘fossiliferous’ (full of fossils!) than their chalkier cousins, and Gris Nez is well-known for this. Unfortunately, the collection of fossils here is damaging our shared geological heritage, and we encourage visitors to be responsible fossil finders. Whenever collecting fossils, remember to only take a small number of loose fossils from the beach and never hammer or dig directly into the cliffs.
