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Gepostet
02 February 2025

Jura

Wann
07.04.2023 - 10.04.2023
In welcher Gegend
Pic de l'Aigle, Lac des Taillèrs, Pontarlier, Crêt Monniot, Cret du Puy
Status

I don't live far from the Jura, but I haven't seen much. It was Kevin Mercier's blog "Kevmrc" that persuaded me to spend a few days in the Jura

Started on the Thursday before Easter with decent weather. The Jura is about 200 km long and 60 km wide and stretches along the border between France and Switzerland

The highest mountain is the Cret de la Neige at 1'720 m, better known are the Chasseral at 1'552 m and the Creux du Van at 1'452 m. All mountains can be found under the link -> hdsports.at/wandern/die-hoechsten-berge-im-jura-gebirge. Rivers, gorges and waterfalls are a dime a dozen. The most famous river is the border river between the CH & FR, the Doubs. I also have the Loue and the Hérisson on my list for the tour

Miko and I went to Le Locle via Laufen, Delémont, La Chaux-de-Fonds. We made a few stops and also checked out Delémont. Nice little old town and very lively. We started at 12 degrees at an altitude of approx. 450 m. At Saignelégier we were over 1,000 m, but it had still 8 Celsius. While the Laufen valley was very busy, things got quieter up in the Swiss Jura. The villages look as if they have been licked, even meadows were already mowed, although there was still snow on the Chasseral. But it was the only snow we saw on Maundy Thursday.

While the villages were beautiful to look at, La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle were not inviting for a stroll. I would describe the two cities as functional with a few nice corners that I haven't seen. Unesco should better explain why La Chaux-de-Fonds is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

If you cross the border to France at Le Locle, the Jura slowly changes. On the way to the source of the Doubs, the landscape is picturesque and sparsely populated.

You slowly climb up to 900m again. I drove up via the Val de Mouthe, along various reservoirs. The spring itself is next to a ski resort and a modern campsite. We spent 30 minutes checking it out before we drove on. There isn't much to see.

Our pitch was planned to be near the Pic de l'Aigle and we followed the Val de Saine. Some waterfalls and gorges (e.g. Gorges de la Langouette) can be viewed from above or hiked through. Our pitch was at 1'000m and we were alone at 6:00 p.m.

And you have a pretty nice view not far from the pitch

Good Friday, I'm ready for my hike. The weather forecast had announced rain and snow, but not at 1'000 m, I told myself. At 6:00 in the morning it started snowing and it was so cold that I turned on my auxiliary heater again. It snowed til 9:00 am and even 2-3 cm of snow were covering the ground

The paths to the Pic de l'Aigle were muddy and much worse, slippery. I decided to drive closer with the Dog.O.Mobil and hike up (proud 500 m). The view is worth it and in good weather you should be able to see 7 lakes.

It didn't really clear up and so I decided to hike the Cascades du Hérisson from the Cascade du saut Girard. Thank god I did. It's only a 6km hike but the area is photogenic and as the weather wasn't the best there were only a few people out. The complete hike including more pictures is on Komoot

Meteo Blue showed me the "Where to Go" zone and that's where I was heading to after the hike. But shortly after Le Frasnois I had hail and later continuous rain.

I drove until I saw the blue sky. I found what I was looking for at the Lac de Bouverans. Until 5:00 p.m. there was no more rain, even sunshine at about 8 degrees.

The next morning, the expected fresh welcome. It was -3 degrees outside and I switched on the auxiliary heater at 5:00 a.m. It was pleasantly warm after a while and yet I went out with Miko. Beautiful.

My next stop, Pontarlier. This was the first city that made me stop. If La Chaux-de-Fonds is a 3 (on a scale out of 10) and Le Locle a 4, Pontarlier makes it to a 5, maybe a 6. There's not much to see and just the usual shops, but it's quite OK. The market, with 6 stalls, had everything except bread. The baker is on the other side of the Doubs, about 100 m away.

Anyway, I drove on after 1 hour. The Jura in this area is between 700 and 900 m high and I was on my way to Crêt Monniot. A small mountain at 1'150 m but with beautiful views of the Jura. Like the days before, there wasn't much going on here either. The sun was shining and Miko wanted to chill. So we stayed the night.

Montigny, as the few houses are called, is the starting point for cross-country skiing in winter. I can imagine that in summer the vans are up here, as much space as there is here. The source of the Loue with various waterfalls and the gorge is also only 10 minutes away by car.

I had planned the Creux du Van for the tour and also found two places to start walking. The journey from Montigny runs along the Doubs and apart from a few fishermen and the usual visitors of the Easter masses there was nothing going on. The weather was sunny with temperatures around 12 degrees.

The ascent at Les Gras then again shows the difference between France and Switzerland. At the Lac des Taillères at the latest you are in tidy and snazzy Switzerland. Even before Val de Travers, I noticed that at 10:30 in the morning the parking lots for hikers were full. My parking lot #1 was full, wouldn't have been a problem, I could have parked in the meadow, but the hikers' train to the Creux du Van was impressive.

Families with children, hiking groups and a solo hikers like me were out and about. I didn't feel like hiking the 10 km with Miko on a leash. So I pulled into parking lot #2 in Noiraigue. An interesting village, but the same picture. I decided to postpone the Creux du Van to another year. Around noon it wasn't just busy on the hiking trails. When the weather was nice, the streets were full.

I drove around a bit, looked for pitches and walked around with Miko. I tried my luck in the direction of La Vue des Alpes and was rewarded with an amazing view

I found what I was looking for on a ski slope at Cret du Puy. Not the burner but the place is good for one night.

And then I experienced Switzerland from its "You shouldn't do that" side. I wanted to go hiking and was looking for a pitch for the night. Mount Chasseral offers easy terrain that is enough for me and Miko. The Les Bugnenets Savagnières ski lift has plenty of parking space, but also a few holiday homes. There were only a few hikers so I parked next to them. There was snow on top, so the hike turned into a longer walk. When I got back later, I pulled out a camp chair to rest.

It didn't take 30 minutes until a Swiss man pointed out to me that camping is not allowed here. Otherwise he would call the police. I looked around. Nothing was going on here, there was no rubbish lying around, so why the stress. No comment!! Ski resorts in the off-season are actually a popular pitch, but not in Les Bugnenets Savagnières

So I decided to continue towards home. St Imier shocked me. A test-tube city of modernity. Moutier was okay. The Nature Park Thal and Balsthal were clearly more photogenic. I can imagine to visit the ruins of Neu-Falkenstein for a day trip. Waldenburg was my last stop, nice little town near Reigoldswil, 30km south of Basel

I have learned one thing. Do not visit any attractions on a holiday with nice weather. Rather use the day as a rest day and wait until the day guests are back at work

I used Furkot to plan and update the tour