Discovering the Grand Taureau

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Through mountain pastures and forests, along paths and forest tracks, discover a summit above Pontarlier, with beautiful views of the Alps on a clear day.

Details

n°128519
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 18.80 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 7h 05 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 610 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 606 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 1,320 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 841 m
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Photos

View of Pontarlier
View of the Alps
Viewpoint from the "Fer à Cheval" belvedere
Viewpoint from the "Fer à Cheval" belvedere

Description of the walk

(S) Departure from the college car park, Chemin de Larmont. Follow the tarmac road for about 400 metres.

(1) At the gas installation, turn left into a pasture and follow the path through the mountain pasture, which crosses the tarmac road several times.

(2) At L'Arcan, turn left onto the road and walk downhill for 300 metres until you reach a memorial stone.

(3) Take the path on the right that enters the forest, cross a cattle grid, and continue to Combe du Creux (horses present in the mountain pasture).

(4) Turn right and rejoin theGR®5(red and white markings) which crosses several mountain pastures. Ignore the paths branching off to the left and right and continue to an intersection at an elevation of 1086 metres.

(5) Leave theGR® and turn right onto an uphill path. Cross a track and arrive at a three-way junction.

(6) Turn right at the hairpin bend and, after a steep climb, you will reach the top of a mountain pasture. Admire the panoramic view of the Alps in front of you.

(7) Turn left (north-east) onto the path crossing the mountain pasture with beautiful views of France on your left. After a few hundred metres on a steep path, you will reach a road.

(8) Follow the road to the left for about a hundred metres, then leave it for a path on the right and take a trail through the mountain pasture leading to the Grand Taureau summit.

(9) Admire the Swiss landscape on the right and the French landscape on the left. Continue straight ahead through the forest on a descending path to reach a track.

(10) Follow this track north-east for about 100 metres before reaching the Swiss border.

(11) Turn sharply right (south) onto a downhill track, cross a meadow and then enter the forest to reach an intersection.

(12) Leave the track and turn right onto a logging road (crossing several drainage ditches!), cross a track and continue straight ahead until you reach a conifer plantation (follow the dividing wall on your right). Cross this plantation to reach theGR®5.

(13) Turn right and enter a pasture via a pedestrian crossing. Follow theGR® to the Grange des Miroirs. Cross the road and return to the ridge you took on the way there.

(7) Take the path on the left along the ridge to the Chalet du Gounefay. Turn right and follow the tarmac road.

(14) Pass in front of the Fort du Larmont supérieur, also known as Fort Catinat.

(15) At Les Jantets, cross the road and continue straight ahead. Keep left at the fork and continue to the next fork.

(16) Turn sharply left onto a track and follow it to a junction where it curves to the left.

(17) Take a forest track downhill on your right. A sign indicates "Point de vue du Fer à Cheval" (Horseshoe Viewpoint): head towards it.

(18) Leaving the viewpoint, immediately turn left onto a descending path and follow it for about 1.5 km until you reach a tarmac road.

(19) Follow this road downhill to the left for 500 metres to reach the car park where you started.

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 841 m - College car park, starting point - Doubs (rivière)
  2. 1 : km 0.21 - alt. 854 m - Gas station
  3. 2 : km 1.05 - alt. 1,035 m - Tarmac road, descend to the left
  4. 3 : km 1.32 - alt. 1,019 m - Stele
  5. 4 : km 2.3 - alt. 1,034 m - Combe du Creux, GR5 junction
  6. 5 : km 4.18 - alt. 1,085 m - Leaving the GR 5
  7. 6 : km 5.13 - alt. 1,152 m - At the three-way junction, turn right at the hairpin bend.
  8. 7 : km 5.64 - alt. 1,238 m - Outlet onto the pasture
  9. 8 : km 6.93 - alt. 1,280 m - Follow the road to the left.
  10. 9 : km 7.39 - alt. 1,319 m - Le Grand Taureau
  11. 10 : km 7.57 - alt. 1,290 m - Track, continue straight ahead
  12. 11 : km 8.3 - alt. 1,265 m - Swiss border 100m away.
  13. 12 : km 9.08 - alt. 1,210 m - Leave the track and turn right.
  14. 13 : km 10.67 - alt. 1,191 m - At the junction with the GR5, turn right.
  15. 14 : km 13.66 - alt. 1,159 m - Fort du Larmont supérieur
  16. 15 : km 14.72 - alt. 1,102 m - Les Jantet. Cross the road.
  17. 16 : km 15.23 - alt. 1,071 m - At the fork, take the track on the left.
  18. 17 : km 16.13 - alt. 1,055 m - Signpost "Belvédère du Fer à Cheval"
  19. 18 : km 16.9 - alt. 990 m - Point de Vue du Fer à Cheval (La Cluse)
  20. 19 : km 18.26 - alt. 874 m - Tarmac road, descend to the left
  21. S/E : km 18.8 - alt. 841 m - College car park

Always be cautious and plan ahead when you're outdoors. Visorando and the author of this route cannot be held responsible for any accidents occurring on this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

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Reviews and comments

4.4 / 5
Based on 9 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.3 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.3 / 5
Route interest
4.7 / 5
Gaelle25
Gaelle25

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 16, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful and varied hike with stunning views!
After the memorial stone, the trail crosses private property. We followed it, even though we weren't too keen on it.
As it was particularly hot, we preferred to descend through the woods from the Gounefey restaurant (small path to the right of the car park) to arrive directly at Les Jantets.
There isn't really a trail between points 12 and 13. It's more of an area between two sections of forest, but we found our way using GPS.
Between points 16 and 17, you can go to Fort Mahler, which offers a beautiful view of the Château de Joux.
Thank you for this hike.

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Gaelle25
Gaelle25

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 16, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful and varied hike with stunning views!
As it was particularly hot, we preferred to descend through the woods from the Gounefey restaurant (small path to the right of the car park) to arrive directly at Les Jantets.
There isn't really a path between points 12 and 13. It's more of an area between two sections of forest, but we found our way using GPS.
Between points 16 and 17, you can go to Fort Mahler, which offers a beautiful view of the Château de Joux.
Thank you for this hike.

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Meillet J-A
Meillet J-A

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 05, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Very beautiful hike with a beautiful view of the Alps.
Easy route to follow.

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Joarkal
Joarkal

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 15, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful, varied hike with stunning views
Be careful, at 7, take the north-east path following the barbed wire. Captivated by the landscape, we took the small tarmac road towards Grand Taureau (which was no problem as the view is very beautiful).
For the return trip, as advised, we preferred to take the same route back rather than continue on the tarmac because it was hot. But that means there's an uphill climb on the last kilometre before returning to the car park!

The clearing between 11 and 12 is a lovely place for a picnic.

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heron628
heron628

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 27, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Very good route; you can park a little higher up at Jantets to avoid walking along the road.

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lapetite//fourmi
lapetite//fourmi

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 13, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

very beautiful route alternating between mountain pastures and woods

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Pierrot DAVID
Pierrot DAVID

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 30, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A superb hike through beautiful landscapes dotted with stunning viewpoints. The challenging first 500 metres are quickly forgotten once you get going. (As indicated by 42et72 in point 1, it is best to follow the path on the left).
For the description, it might be useful to add the directions given on the existing signs.
Especially point 4. Specify that after turning right at the exit of the pasture, you must "pick up the GR5 (red and white markings) on the left branch. Personally, I was drawn to the other road and ended up at Les Jontets instead of La Gge Ferry (I had to turn back, which added 3 km to my walk, and I met a couple of hikers who had made the same mistake).
A suggestion: from point 15, encourage a return trip to Fort Malher (about 750m). The site is splendid and the view of Fort de Joux is impressive.

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72et42
72et42

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 25, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Magnificent route and breathtaking views (fortunately, there are still some left after the climb).
The only comment concerns point (2); unfortunately, there is no passage between the pastures (at least when we did the hike), so you have to take a detour further to the left, which does not lead to the Arcan but directly to the stele. The rest is perfect.
It's a small detail, but it's important when you're feeling your way at the start, knowing that you have to cover a total of 19 kilometres (plus 1 kilometre for every 300 or 200 metres of ascent).

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beurdouche
beurdouche

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 21, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A lovely hike for a first outing in the Jura mountains. It's a good way to get started. Unfortunately, the weather was overcast and the views were obscured!

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