Les Montagnes du Jura is a brand created by several departments (namely Ain, Doubs and Jura), regions (Franche-Comté and Rhône-Alpes) and also the Jura Massif Commissariat, and sometimes it is called “Massif du Jura”. Its crescent shape, more than 340 km long, form a chain that facilitates guided tours and sports activities (mountain biking, cycling in summer or skiing, snowshoeing in winter) while admiring its beautiful landscapes accompanying the magic of dawn with its magnificent glow and the magic of the setting sun.
Born of a very long history, the Jura Mountains gave its name to a famous period of our planet, the Jurassic, during the secondary era. It was at this time that the sediments that were to form the Jura Mountains were deposited. The Jura mountain range, with its varied mountains and valleys, is suitable for the development of summer hiking and winter snow sports activities, particularly cross-country skiing for which the massif is internationally renowned thanks to the great races that take place there, such as the Transjurassienne which is part of the Worldloppet (world races) and its National Centre for Nordic and Medium Mountain Skiing in Prémanon.

When we talk about waterfalls, we often hear first of all the Hedgehog waterfalls. In the Jura, they are part of a large complex that forms the “Hedgehog Valley”. The latter owes its name to the word “Yrisson” which means “sacred water”. Fed by the Massif du Jura river, notably the lakes of Ilay and Bonlieu, nature has created on its 3.7 km long course with a difference in altitude of 805 m a series of 31 jumps and 7 waterfalls, including the 65-metre high “fan”, The “Grand Jump”, a 60-metre fall, the “Gour Bleu”, the “Château Garnier” Jump, the “Saut de la Forge”, the “Moulin Jeunet” Jump and the “Saut Girard”.
Cascade des tufs”, a name which comes from the great source of the “Cuisance” is born in the centre of the “Reculée des Planches”, located at the top, and opens out of a limestone massif of sedimentary origin through several cavities.
Many other resurgences, reserve you beautiful surprises which, moreover, will allow you to admire them at the bend of a hike in the middle of nature with several accesses and obviously accessible by all in all seasons.

In the Jura, the formation of lakes is due on the one hand to the glacial erosion of the last glaciation more than 10,000 years ago, and on the other hand to the impermeable terrain due to the moraines compacted by the weight of the ice, whose waters are prevented from seeping into the limestone rock of the Jura Massif and facilitate the accumulation of water in the downstream part. The basins were dug by the glacial melt, where the ice caused an over crushing due to the strong pressure exerted by the ice. Today, these basins are filled by a myriad of lakes. If you want to spend your holidays with your feet in the water or share your passion for water sports or you just prefer to contemplate its beautiful scenery, you’ve come to the right place.