The French Jura Region

Most of the French Jura Region is contained in the two Departements, Jura and Doubs, as shown here, though at the south the chain continues towards Bourg en Bresse. The Doubs is a major river. It rises south of Pontarlier, then flows north-east, mainly marking the border with Switzerland. Then, at the eastern extremity of the Doubs departement the river has a brief excursion into Switzerland before completing an about-turn and heading south-west, through Besancon eventually joining the Saone. It is only 90 km from the source to the confluence, but the length of the river is 430 km.

The main attraction of the area is the scenery – the rivers, the lakes, the cascades, and the ‘cirques’.

There’s just one sight to see before reaching the mountains – the Saline Royale. It is a World Heritage Site, one of the very first pieces of Industrial Architecture. It is a ‘city’ for the production of salt, dating from 1780. Brine was delivered through a remarkable 21km pipe to the works which was a ‘panoptic’ design devised so that the salt-works manager could see the entire site from the central building. ‘Panopticons’ – for prisons – are normally attributed to Jeremy Bentham’s proposal some years later.

Along the north- east edge of the mountains are several ‘cirques’ or ‘reculees’, horseshoe shaped or branched valleys created by glacial action. There is often a belvedere at the top of an impressive cliff at the closed end.

And at the foot of the cliff a river may emerge from a grotto. The river Loue emerges dramatically in this way and flows through the pretty villages of Ornans and Lods. We stayed by the river at the Truite d’Or.

The river Doubs itself, running along the Swiss border is most scenic at Goumois. We’ve stayed at the 4* Taillard, high up, and the remote Moulin de Plain on the river.

The 3rd major river is the Ain, in the south west. It’s source is actually very close to that of the Doubs, but it flows west then south to join the Rhone.

The Ain itself has a succession of reservoir/lakes, created by dams. Lake Vouglans is the largest with a huge hydro- electric plant and a dramatic view from ‘La Regardoir”

And then to the east of the Ain is the Jura Lakes district.

Within the Jura Lakes area are the Cascades d’Herisson.

Further lakes to the south include Lac de l’Abbaye