les cascades du herisson

A good place to stop to see the cascades. Good food and lovely location following the restful and scenic route through the Jura from Geneva to Lons or Dole. Cuts out the worst bit of the autoroute if the weather is bad and avoids the traffic on the busiest section to Bourg and Macon and especially on changeover days in the Alps.

The waterfalls are very beautiful and there is a long path up to the top which we did not complete as it was too steep and too far. We walked for about 20-25 minutes. It had not rained for a while so the river was not carrying much water. The falls would look better with more water flowing - no doubt.We were there on 30 September which is the last day that the information centre is open. Very few people were there that day so it was very peaceful.

You must be prepared for an invigorating hike. Unfortunately we were already tired from some hikes we took in the previous days, but we did manage to hike up to the second waterfall. Both of the waterfalls we saw and the paths leading to them were beautiful (and muddy). I imagine it helped that this part of France had experience a fair amount of rain prior to our arrival as there seemed to be a nice amount of water flowing over the falls. For only the small cost of parking (4 euro), we highly recommend a visit to this site. We only wish we would have had fresh legs to take full advantage of this beautiful area and all the waterfalls.

This was one of the highlights of our holiday. The area had had a wet few weeks running up to our visit so the falls were impressive. We got as far as the 5th waterfall - that was enough for our 7 year old. It is a natural site so expect muddy paths, you do need walking boots or sturdy shoes.

Must visit when in the region - great views of a natural wonder... and a good workout walking up the steep climb - you'll need decent walking shoes!

Make sure you visit the 'second' falls where you can walk behind them. 4 euros for parking, worth every cent!

I previously visited this place when I was a child with my parents and went back this week with my 4 years-old daughter. The new setting with those ugly buildings is not nice at all and I wish the cascades would be the same as when I was a young boy. Wanting to make money out of this attraction, the local council spoilt it.

As I'd already tackled the mountain roads and driven 56km from Geneva to get up in the Jura to visit Lac du Lamoura this morning, I decided while I was there to drive just a little further to Les Cascades du Herisson which was an additional 64km away. However distances are deceiving in the mountains and while it wasn' t many km it was a bit further away than I thought so what had started out as a morning outing became a whole day excursion. It was well worth it though as the waterfalls were quite spectacular. The Hérisson river starts with the Saut Girard which is about 35m high. The highest falls there are the L'Eventail which are about 65m high. The falls are fed by the waters of Lake Bonlieu and the Ilay Lakes. It's a 7,4km hike to see all 31 waterfalls and torrents. It's free to get into the falls but they do charge for parking at the falls.

The Cascades de Herisson stretch for around 8 kilometres upstream from the main 'entrance'. We had to search for this but it proved a welcoming area with free parking (some of it shaded), and there are loos there; plus an information centre with good, free maps; a café/restaurant; and ice creams.Perhaps we visited in the 'off-season' as we were never charged for parking or entrance (here or nearly everywhere else). The only downside to this was that water levels were low and not as spectacular as they undoubtedly are in full flow.Good walking shoes are recommended...many visitors used walking poles...and a camera is essential. The 'trail' upwards is well maintained and, in very steep areas, there are handrails or ropes to help: nevertheless, in places it is wet and quite slippery underfoot. This is a beautiful wooded valley and the differing rock strata help create the cascades. Fortunately the largest and most spectacular are encountered first and the settings are truly inspiring.There are steady streams of visitors (some arriving by coach) using the quite narrow paths and most are courteous and friendly. The elderly mostly seem to be content with viewing the two bottom falls, leaving the younger & more adventurous to climb higher up the valley paths. A degree of fitness helps and some care is needed on uneven &/or slippery stretches...but the reward of climbing to these cascades is great, even in a hot, dry spell!

My rating of 5 must be tempered by the fact that, when we visited, it was running a bunker and one or two spots had water over the trail so we saw them at an optimum time.From my notes at the time "We’d driven there in fog and light rain, winding over a 4,000ft mountain pass, saying goodbye to Switzerland for the last time and eventually heading up a dead end road past a lovely lake with some unattended open boats accumulating precipitation. It costs 4 euros to park but you get a free (and welcome) map before trudging off past the lone tourist shop and on the path adjacent the river.That’s about where the gasps start. Just 100 metres in the largest and most dramatic fall, L’Eventail, can be seen through the foliage but travel another 20 metres and, off to your right is the prettiest of all the falls called La Tuffiere though it’s but a sidestream to the main event. Now L’Eventail becomes clear. Claimed to be a 65 metre drop, it’s not the height that thrills us but the volume. It’s clearly in flood, great sheets of water plunging, spraying and dashing themselves on the rocks beneath. As we approach, normal conversation becomes impossible, drowned by the furore.If that was all we came to see we would have departed satisfied, but nay, we climbed above and the enshrouding mist and moss laden forest added to the enchantment of the next fall, Grand Saut, itself draped by the sparkling leafiness of the vibrant spring shoots. At 60 metres it’s also impressive but difficult to get a decent photo of, so I slipped over a couple of barriers to get something decent.We moved on, at times even the trail was overcome with the volume, steps were slippery, fallen leaves saturated and a danger sign with skull and crossbones and a death warning appeared but we walked on by because that’s only for the French.The further we went the harder it was getting to see anything as rain laden clouds moved inexorably up the valley. We called it quits, apparently, according to the map, having seen the best of it."

We went in peak tourist season and it all went well....there is ample parking and the walk is minimal . We only went to the cascades de Harrison as we have 3 kids but it was excellent. The kids spent an hour or two playing in and under the waterfall. It was a great place to get away from the heat of the summer day...there are restaurants and ice cream areas near the parking and good clean toilets

A scenic and rewarding hikeParking is plentiful about 200m away from the entrance.There is a charge to enter the site – about €5 per person from memory when we visited in early June 2012, although the fee was waived when we went there – no idea why.At the entrance there is an information point, shop, restaurant and toilets.It is strongly recommended in literature and on signs, to wear good hiking shoes / boots as the ground is uneven in places and can be very wet after rain. In our experience this is good advice.The return walk from the bottom (main) entrance, to the top of the 7 waterfalls is 7.4 kms with a climb of 255 meters.However it is possible to reach the main falls (called L’Eventail) with a short and relatively easy walk – and these falls are spectacular, especially after a good rainfall. We did this and then went on for another 15 minutes or so to the pool called Gour Bleu just below another set of falls. This was a well-worthwhile hike and on a reasonable day, after some rainy days, the falls were magnificent.It is also possible to park at other places at the top of the series of falls and walk down – according to the map provided there are snacks are available at the Hameau de la Fromagerie, Saut Girard and at Saut de la Forge with footpaths linking tp the main “cascades” footpath.

Great walk, gentle start to the first and largest waterfall, then a zig zag path, quite a lot of steps after that but well worth the effort, stunning views. Our 8 year old managed fine and loved the adventure. Be self sufficient with snacks and drinks, sensible shoes required. We went after a dry period and the water flow was low as you can see from the photographs. You need to pay for the car park only.

La ballade jusqu'aux cascades est sympa on se gare près du magasin de jouets en bois. Ça se fait bien même avec des enfants.

Un ravissement des yeux, une magnifique randonnée en perspective. Pour les amoureux de décors naturels, c'est un site à visiter absolument ! Tout était gratuit et ouvert en octobre. La randonnée peut-être modulée en ce sens que le parcours n'est pas une boucle : si la fatigue se fait sentir (et elle viendra car la marche est exigeante...), il suffit de rebrousser chemin et de redescendre. Conseil : se garer en bas, pas en haut ! Conseil 2 : prévoir un repas tiré du sac pour pouvoir faire le parcours aller-retour complet...