In 1959 the cave was officially opened for visitors. During the Second World War the cave served as a hide-out for the French Résistance. Famous archeologists such as Henri Breuil, André Glory and Édouard-Alfred Martel had visited the cave in the early 20th century, but it was only in 1956 that Louis-René Nougier and Romain Robert, two prehistorians from the Pyrenees, rediscovered and confirmed the cave art. In the 19th century the cave was known as a tourist attraction. In his Cosmographie universelle he cites “paintings and animal traces”. The Rouffignac cave was mentioned in 1575 by François de Belleforest. Today this process has come to an end, and the cave is mostly dry except for the rivulet along the base level. Water had infiltrated the bedrock along certain zones of weakness and dissolved the limestone. Presumably the cave was formed during the Pliocene about 3 to 2 million years ago. The plan of the cave reveals a fractal-like dendritic pattern that is not random but organized along certain preferred directions. Visitors of the cave board an electric train that takes them about 2 km (1.2 mi) into the interior. Below the deeper level exists a bottom level with a small underground rivulet. So far, a further 4 km (2.5 mi) of passageways have been explored in this deeper level. There are 10 natural shafts that lead to a deeper level. The Rouffignac cave and the Villars Cave possess the most extensive cave system of the Périgord, with more than 8 km (5.0 mi) of underground passageways. These rocks together with overlying Santonian rocks form the limestone plateau of Légal, the divide between the drainage basins of the rivers Lisle and Vézère. The rocks of the cave are flat-lying limestones belonging to the uppermost Coniacian they are very rich in flint nodules. Perched only about one kilometer farther east on the opposite side of the valley is the little village of Fleurac. The Cave of the hundred mammoths, also known as Miremont cave, Cro des Cluzeau or Cro de Granville, is about 5 km (3.1 mi) south of Rouffignac on a hill slope along the right-hand side of the La Binche river, a left tributary of the Manaurie. In conjunction with other caves and abris of the Vézère valley, the Rouffignac cave was classified a Monument historique in 1957 and a World Heritage Site in 1979 by UNESCO as part of the Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley. The Rouffignac cave, in the French commune of Rouffignac-Saint-Cernin-de-Reilhac in the Dordogne département, contains over 250 engravings and cave paintings dating back to the Upper Paleolithic. You don't mention if you are a Solo traveller, group, ages and/or stages e of w/o children.Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley Pick a gorgeous day to do this.although I went most recently with our 18 year old daughter on a Gray, ",In & Out," day and came prepared with a raincoat and head covering for dropping water in our heads - these are limestone caves, after all.underground water Big Parking Lot, no fees that I'm aware of to park unless the Pandemic has changed this. The Lascaux Complex Caves I - IV will take all day, including of you bring a picnic or eat lunch on-site. Lascaux IV is a recreation of that site and I believe in 2018 it was such a good recreation, over time the Lascaux I had deteriorated so much IV is Better than the Original. I lived in France so Ive seen the original Lascaux Cave closed in 1963.