The Cocalière cave is located in the town of Courry (Gard), between Alès and Aubenas in Ardèche. It opens at the foot of the Cévennes National Park, a world biosphere reserve whose main mission is to protect all forms of heritage.

The Cocalière cave was formed 35 million years ago and continues to transform over time and water, to the great pleasure of the many speleologists who continue to explore the immensity of this still mysterious cave.

The exploration of this network began around the middle of the 19th century, by members of the Society of Speleology and Prehistory Gard Ardèche (SSPGA) including Christian Bouquet (co-rediscoverer and co-developer of the Cocalière cave in 1952). The inventor and first explorer whose writings we have in 1854 is Jules de Malbos (1782-1867), a learned geologist and speleologist from Ardèche. The site revealed a very dense human occupation dating from the Mousterian period (45,000 BC - C.) to the Iron Age (400 BC).