Cuchet viewpoint

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This moderately difficult hike will allow you to discover unspoilt nature and a unique panorama from the Cuchet viewpoint.
In autumn, the colours are sublime...

Details

n°165748
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 14.81 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 5h 55 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 588 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 586 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 1,012 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 517 m
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Photos

The Moulin waterfall
Giant anthill
The Work
Draft horses

Description of the walk

You will be departing from the small village of Choux. The easiest place to start is the church (parking available).

(S/E) Go down Rue de l'Église.

(1) Turn right onto Chemin de la Courbière. You will arrive opposite a covered wash house, which you will leave on your left. Continue for about ten metres on the right.

(2) Take a dirt track on the left which leaves the village. After 300 m, you will come to a yellow and redGRP® trail which corresponds to the Tour du Jura Sud. Follow this trail to the left, heading north.
At an intersection, keep left. Cross several scree slopes caused by erosion of the cliff on your left and listen for the sound of the Perrine stream on your right. You will arrive at a place called Au Moulin. Continue on theGRP® and cross the hamlet of Au Closet to arrive at Vulvoz.

(3) Take the D291 climbing to the left and cross it several times, each time taking the paths on the right. Just before a major power line, cross back to the right to return to Samiat.

(4) Almost at the exit of the small village of Samiat, turn right at a 90° angle onto a fairly long, steep and almost straight path to arrive at Sur le Becquet.
Continue south-east for 1.7 km, initially alongside a private property on the right (fence and electric wire at the top), continue, ignore a path on the left and continue straight ahead (or almost) until you reach a fork.

(5) Turn left, continue for about 100 metres to reach a road, then turn right and continue for about 500 metres to reach a road.

(6) Continue straight ahead for 550 metres.

(7) Leave theGRP® Tour du Haut Jura Sud at a bend. Continue for 2 km along a good path which will turn into a grassy track and enter the woods to reach the crossroads.

(8) Join theGRP® (yellow and red) again. Continue for 300m to the right.

(9) Turn right again to arrive at the Belvédère du Cuchet, which is clearly signposted (orientation table).

(10) Retrace your steps.

(11) Turn right at the crossroads to begin a fairly steep 700m descent (forest path).
Pass a reservoir on your right and you will arrive at the paved road. Turn right, then take the first street on the right to reach the cemetery in the village of Choux (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 833 m - Choux, church
  2. 1 : km 0.13 - alt. 821 m - Chemin de la Courbière.
  3. 2 : km 0.31 - alt. 798 m - Intersection
  4. 3 : km 4.1 - alt. 570 m - Vulvoz
  5. 4 : km 5.75 - alt. 708 m - Samiat
  6. 5 : km 8.2 - alt. 946 m - Turn left
  7. 6 : km 8.97 - alt. 936 m - Pré d'Aval intersection
  8. 7 : km 9.51 - alt. 897 m - Continue straight ahead
  9. 8 : km 11.41 - alt. 970 m - Turn right onto the GRP
  10. 9 : km 11.85 - alt. 986 m - Turn right towards the viewpoint
  11. 10 : km 12.18 - alt. 1,012 m - Cuchet viewpoint
  12. S/E : km 14.81 - alt. 834 m - Choux, church

Notes

Toilets, bread oven and work area (for treating cows' and horses' feet in Vulvoz).
When you arrive at the place called "Sur le Becquet", please respect private property.

This route passes through a protected area, which may be subject to special regulations:

Worth a visit

Giant anthill at the bottom of the descent on the left before arriving in Choux.
Goat farm (Poitivine dairy breed).

Reviews and comments

4.3 / 5
Based on 28 reviews
Reliability of the description
4 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.2 / 5
Route interest
4.6 / 5
zorglubpg
zorglubpg

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 21, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Many trees fell across the path on the descent from Choux to the mill waterfall.

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nelloche
nelloche
• Edited:

From point 2 onwards, there are no more signposts. After many difficulties, we arrived in a field and found the route again. It was fine until we reached the waterfall, with beautiful scenery in the woods, and the waterfall was really worth seeing, but after that it was a struggle to get to the Cuchet viewpoint, with no signposts or signs that had been removed. We wandered around in the woods with lots of forks in the path. Luckily we had our mobile phone to find our way. This section is of no interest, we are in the woods with no view. Really disappointing.

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Kristo×Coco
Kristo×Coco

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 30, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Superb hike, point 1 isn't very easy to find; we were in a field, then we went back down to find the path!
Between points 3 and 5, we followed the road instead of the path, but both routes led to the same place! (The road was less muddy! )
To get to the waterfall, it was a bit slippery and there were two possible paths! A very beautiful waterfall with a good flow! (done in December! )
A lovely view from the Cuchet viewpoint (it was very Choux! )

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lolo 01
lolo 01

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 04, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

very pleasant walk

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montpounat
montpounat

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 12, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Some sections were impassable due to vegetation, forcing us to take the road
The start of the route is very interesting.
The section between the waterfall and Samiat on the road (between points 3 and 5) has some paths that are too overgrown. After Samiat until the end: very good.
Very beautiful view from the Cuchet viewpoint

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Sev colas
Sev colas

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 30, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very beautiful hike. Between points 5 and 6, I made a round trip to the viewpoint at La Croix. The waterfall was superb despite the low water level at this time of year. To be repeated after a good spell of rain 😉

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Michel des Courtils
Michel des Courtils

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 15, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike, with water in the fountains to cool off in the heat!

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giroddo@orange.fr
giroddo@orange.fr

Thank you for your insightful and entirely justified comments.

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Jean-Louis01
Jean-Louis01

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 26, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant short hike with varied landscapes in a beautiful setting. The Vulvoz waterfall is worth a detour and the breathtaking view from the Cuchet viewpoint is remarkable. Thank you for sharing.
PS: I read some of the previous comments, which are really not justified. When you're a hiker, you also need to know how to read a map or GPS and interpret geographical features in the terrain... I have posted various hikes myself and have also been the "victim" of this kind of comment... NO, the hikes shared on Visorando are NOT NECESSARILY MARKED. They also take you off the beaten track so you can make beautiful discoveries in nature.
Thank you again for creating this beautiful hike.

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piccolopripri
piccolopripri

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 17, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Thank you for this beautiful hike. I started in Vulvoz, which allowed me to finish in style at the waterfall.
Vulvoz town hall car park: apparently no spaces available. We parked at the exit on the hard shoulder near point 4. Space for 3-4 cars.
To cut the first bend, the path is very narrow and not easy to see, but there is currently a stake to mark it.
Cut before the monument: we didn't do this because there were cows in the fields and the grass was wet and tall.
At Sur le Puits, we weren't brave enough to go to the viewpoint towards Sur Ciry. Interesting???
In the woods, it's easier to follow the GPS track rather than the directions.
The view from Le Cuchet is superb. After point 2, a little explanation would help! The GPS guided us. At the beginning, when you hesitate, go to the left of the hedge.
The waterfall: at a signpost, choose the waterfall 200 metres away rather than the other sign (longer route). Don't be put off by the dog!
Descent at the bottom of the waterfall: The path was dry but tricky to navigate, so I would avoid it if the ground is wet.

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Paredes
Paredes

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 16, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant route despite the heatwave.
We climbed up to Samiat from Vulvoz almost entirely along the road, which was a shame as the shortcuts aren't visible.
Otherwise, no problems. The waterfall comes up quickly along the route. Perhaps choose a different starting point.

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Danleb
Danleb

Hike not completed due to changes in holiday destination

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Suzanne.bonifas
Suzanne.bonifas

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 06, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A very interesting hike to discover this waterfall with its ancient history involving various mills in the 19th century.
We noticed that box tree moths were very active on the path before the waterfall. All the box trees are destroyed and the caterpillars were blowing us kisses all along the way!

The description of the route is good, but a few additional comments would be helpful between points 5 and 7
there are several forks in the path and just before point 6, it's a little confusing, but not a problem as all the tracks lead to point 8.

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giroddo@orange.fr
giroddo@orange.fr

Hello,
It's true that between points 4 and 5, it's not obvious.
The power line can be used as a reference point, and you do indeed cross a field with no other markings, unless you take the paved road.
We cannot stress enough that a smartphone and the Visorando app (or a real GPS) should also be used.
The route matches exactly what was done
Good luck.

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Netra
Netra ★

Hello linemayer,

We're sorry to hear that you were disappointed with the hike. Neither Visorando nor the author can do anything about the lack of signage or the tarmac. However, we can improve the description, which you found "very disappointing". Could you let us know exactly where you think it needs to be improved and how? Thank you in advance.

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