What Jura walking is actually like

People arriving from the Alps are often surprised. There are no glaciers here and very few technical routes. What the Jura has instead is limestone: a plateau cut by reculées, blind valleys that end in a wall of cliff with a river coming out of the bottom of it. You walk along the top and the view opens all at once, or you walk up the valley floor with the cliffs closing in. Either way the effort is moderate and the payoff is immediate.

The consequence for planning: most walks here are two to four hours, with 200 to 400 metres of climb. You do not need mountaineering experience. You do need proper shoes, because limestone is slippery when wet and there is a lot of tree root.

The walks worth building a day around

The Hérisson waterfalls

The busiest natural site in the Jura, and it earns it. Over about three kilometres the river drops 255 metres in a staircase of falls and turquoise pools. Thirty-one falls are counted in all, seven of them major. The Éventail, 65 metres high, is 400 metres from the Maison des Cascades car park; the Grand Saut, 60 metres, is the one you can walk behind the spray of.

The full return walk is about 7.4 kilometres, roughly three hours, with 250 to 300 metres of climb. Dogs are allowed on a lead. Swimming is not. Parking is paid from the first weekend of April to 30 September. It is not a pushchair route.

The Pic de l'Aigle and the Four Lakes belvedere

A short, steep climb to 993 metres for one of the widest views in the department. From the top you look down on the lakes of Ilay, Narlay, Grand Maclu and Petit Maclu laid out below, with the plateau running away behind them. Count an hour up and down from the nearest car park — this is the best return on effort in the whole Jura.

Around Lake Vouglans

The lake is 35 kilometres long and the third largest reservoir in France. Its colour — a deep turquoise that shifts with the light — comes from limestone sediment suspended in the water. Paths run along much of the shore, shaded and flat, so you can make the walk as short or as long as you like. The Belvédère du Regardoir, above Moirans-en-Montagne, stands around 200 metres above the water and gives the view everybody photographs. Three beaches — la Mercantine, Bellecin and le Surchauffant — let you finish the walk in the water.

The reculée of Baume-les-Messieurs

An abbey at the bottom of a blind valley, caves in the cliff and a waterfall at the head of it. You can walk the valley floor gently, or take the path up to the belvederes on the rim and look straight down the throat of it. Combine the two for a proper half-day.

The cirques of Ladoye and Baume

Two more reculées on the edge of the Revermont, both with roadside belvederes for those who want the view without the walk, and marked paths for those who want both. Good in spring when the water is high.

Longer routes

The Grande Traversée du Jura crosses the whole massif from north to south, and the section that runs across the plateaus can be walked in stages from a fixed base. The GR footpaths through the department are well waymarked in the usual French red-and-white. If you want a multi-day walk without carrying everything, several stages can be done as day walks with a car shuttle.

For the ambitious: the Crêt Pela, at 1 495 metres, is the highest point of the Jura department, up in the Haut-Jura. It is a long day from the lakes but a straightforward one.

When to go

• Spring is the best season for waterfalls. Snowmelt and rain mean the Hérisson is at full volume, and it is a completely different site full than low.
• Summer is for the lakes and the forest paths. The plateau stays cooler than the valleys, and a walk that ends at a beach is the right shape for a hot day.
• Autumn is arguably the best all round: the beech woods turn, the crowds have gone, and the light on the cliffs is at its best.
• Winter changes the rules. Higher paths may be under snow, the Hérisson route can be closed or icy, and the Haut-Jura turns into cross-country ski terrain. Check locally before setting out.

Practical advice

• Shoes with grip. Wet limestone and polished tree roots are the main cause of trouble here, far more than altitude.
• Water. There are few fountains on the plateau paths. Carry what you need.
• Check the water level before driving to the Hérisson in high summer — in a dry August the falls can be a trickle.
• Waymarking. Red and white means a GR long-distance path, yellow means a local loop. Both are reliable; a paper map or an offline map on your phone is still worth having, because signal is patchy in the valleys.
• Dogs are welcome on most paths, on a lead near livestock and at the waterfalls.
• Ticks. They exist here. Check yourself after walking through long grass or woodland.

Walking from our gîtes

Our properties are in the Orgelet and Lake Vouglans area, in the south of the department. The lake paths start on the doorstep; the Hérisson waterfalls and the Pic de l'Aigle are both an easy drive; Baume-les-Messieurs and the Revermont cirques are a little further north.

• Gîte du Sapin and Gîte Cadet Roussel, both well placed for the lake and the south.
• Our group gîte, if you are walking as a party.
• Our gîte with private spa and sauna — a sauna after a long day on the plateau is not the worst idea.

Our complete guide to the Hérisson waterfalls trail covers that walk in detail, and Lake Vouglans has the beaches and viewpoints. For a rest day, the Jura wine route and the fruitières where Comté is made are both a gentler kind of day out.

Questions before booking? The easiest way to reach us is by email: write to us in English and we will reply in English.

Question fréquentes Hiking in the Jura: your questions