From La Corbatière to Les Ponts-de-Martel via La Pouette Combe

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A route allowing you to discover the bucolic landscapes of the Neuchâtel Jura, as well as the Communal de La Sagne and the enchanting Pouette Combe with its Grande Grotte. This itinerary, accessible by public transport, is ideal in spring or autumn.

Details

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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 8.57 mi
  • ◔
    Average duration: 4h 50 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Back to start: No
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 1,060 ft
  • ↘
    Descent: - 1,394 ft
  • ▲
    Highest point: 4,295 ft
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 3,287 ft
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Photos

Play of light in the Pouette Combe
The pastures of the Neuchâtel Jura.
View of Le Locle

Description of the walk

Access by public transport

La Corbatière and Les Ponts-de-Martel stations, located on the La Chaux-de-Fonds–Les Ponts-de-Martel line. On the outward journey, alight at La Corbatière (please note, this is an optional stop). On the return journey, Les Ponts-de-Martel station is the terminus.

Access by car

Find a parking space in La Corbatière. In particular, a few parking spaces are available along the main road, near the ‘Relais de la Corba’. Look for the ‘La Corbatière’ sign, located along the main road, and take the road leading uphill towards ‘Les Ponts-de-Martel’. You will very quickly reach a junction. Continue along the road on the left to reach La Corbatière station, where the hike starts.

However, it is advisable to use public transport.

(S) When you get off the train, cross the tracks carefully and head up the road which, after the last few buildings, eventually becomes a track.

(1) Continue left until you reach a crossroads.

(2) Continue straight ahead. The track, running mainly south-west, crosses the ‘Peatland of La Sagne’ site.

(3) Cross the road with great care. Signpost. Follow the road up to the right for about a hundred metres, towards Grand and Petit Sommartel, Ponts-de-Martel. At the bend, turn off onto a path to the left. Signpost, again towards Grand and Petit Sommartel, Ponts-de-Martel.

(4) Continue to the right. The woodland path becomes steeper.

(5) Climb up to the small rocky outcrop. Admire the view of Le Locle below and, in the distance to the right, La Chaux-de-Fond. Continue down the path to reach a road.

(6) Continue straight ahead along the road and follow it for several hundred metres.

(7) Turn right onto the path. When you reach a road, continue straight ahead along it.

(8) Continue straight ahead on the road, towards “Les Ponts de Martel” (signpost). Pass close to the Auberge du Grand Sommartel.

(9) Continue straight ahead towards “Les Ponts de Martel” (signpost).

(10) At the right-angled bend, ignore the path on the right and turn onto the track on the left.

(11) Ignore the track continuing to the left and take the one on the right. Reach the signpost for “Petit Sommartel”. At this point, ignore the road on the left and continue to the right, towards “Les Ponts de Martel” and “La Petite Joux”. After a bend to the right, then another to the left, ignore the track branching off to the right and continue straight ahead.

(12) Continue along the track opposite, towards “Petite Joux” and “Les Ponts de Martel”.

(13) Turn left, then, a few metres further on, right, following the Pinte de la Petite Joux. You will soon come to a path winding through the pastures, then through the woodland. After crossing a track and zigzagging a few times, the path leads onto another track.

(14) Continue to the left.

(15) Leave the track and head down the path on the left. This soon reaches ‘La Grande Grotte’, then descends into the ‘Pouette Combe’. After passing a viewing point, from which you can admire the village of Les Ponts-de-Martel and its peat bogs, you’ll reach Les Ponts-de-Martel after a few zigzags.

(16) Continue straight ahead towards “Les Ponts-de-Martel” (signposted), until you reach the Ponts-de-Martel railway station by continuing straight on along the Grand’Rue. (E)

Waypoints

  1. S : mi 0 - alt. 3,645 ft - La Corbatière railway station
  2. 1 : mi 0.55 - alt. 3,829 ft - Branch line
  3. 2 : mi 1.22 - alt. 3,950 ft - Cross-reference
  4. 3 : mi 3.78 - alt. 3,832 ft - Access to a road
  5. 4 : mi 3.99 - alt. 3,950 ft - Fork in the road
  6. 5 : mi 4.18 - alt. 4,081 ft - Point of view
  7. 6 : mi 4.49 - alt. 3,950 ft - Access to a road
  8. 7 : mi 4.7 - alt. 4,022 ft - Bifurcation
  9. 8 : mi 5.11 - alt. 4,098 ft - Cross-reference
  10. 9 : mi 5.47 - alt. 4,236 ft - Grand Sommartel
  11. 10 : mi 5.83 - alt. 4,236 ft - Bifurcation
  12. 11 : mi 6.51 - alt. 4,232 ft - Petit Sommartel
  13. 12 : mi 6.99 - alt. 4,160 ft - Signpost
  14. 13 : mi 7.15 - alt. 4,094 ft - Petite Joux
  15. 14 : mi 7.87 - alt. 3,871 ft - Opening up a new avenue
  16. 15 : mi 7.92 - alt. 3,848 ft - Bifurcation
  17. 16 : mi 8.38 - alt. 3,373 ft - Intersection
  18. E : mi 8.57 - alt. 3,287 ft - Ponts-de-Martel railway station

Notes

Swiss National Maps 232 T Vallon de St-Imier and 241 T Val de Travers.

Equipment: good walking shoes and walking poles.

Markings: Yellow Diamond (hiking trail).

For further information on trail markings in Switzerland, see the “Hiking Trail Categories” on the Suisse Rando website: https://www.suisse-rando.ch/fr/savoir/signalisation/categories-de-chemins-de-randonnee.

Difficulty:route with no technical difficulty. Best undertaken in spring or autumn, as the unshaded areas are very exposed to the sun. No water on the Jura plateau.

If you wish to check train and bus timetables, use the “SBB Mobile” app on your phone rather than the SBB website. The “Mobile CFF” app also includes “EasyRide”, which allows you to buy a ticket online and automatically calculates the cost from your starting point to your destination. You may also wish to consider the “Fairtiq” app, which offers the same service regardless of the public transport used – train, PostBus, urban transport or even ski lifts – whether used individually or in combination.

Worth a visit

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