The Reculée des Planches

A lovely circular walk starting from Arbois. The suggested route forms part of the “Échappée Jurassienne” trail. At the end of the walk, you’ll find yourself close to the vineyards. There’s another, shorter route via the bottom of the Reculée.
This is an old route which does not necessarily follow the on-site signposting. See reviews

Details

n°3463

Creation:
21 Mar 2012

Last update:
02 Sep 2026

Last review:
08 Jul 2024

Activity: Walking
Distance: 10.56 mi
Average duration: 6h 10
Difficulty: Easy
Back to start: Yes
Ascent: + 1,545 ft
Descent: - 1,512 ft
Highest point: 1,896 ft
Lowest point: 942 ft

Country: France
Area: Jura mountains
City: Arbois (39600)
Start/End: N 46.902065° / E 5.772244°
IGN map(s): Ref. 3325OT
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Photos

Tufs de la Reculée des Planches waterfall

Small stone bridge at the foot of the Gloriette tower

Description of the walk

(S) Park in the Tourist Office car park (near the Town Hall).
Return to the departmental road and turn left, then left again onto Rue de Faramand, which quickly becomes Rue de Champagnole.

(1) 150 metres after Rue de l’Hermitage (on your right), take a large flight of steps leading uphill to the right at the cross; this is the^GR®®59b(red and white markings), go round the hermitage and climb up to the pylon, then continue along the^GR®® keeping the valley on your left until you reach the Fer à Cheval viewpoint.
(2) Walk 100–150 metres past the viewpoint, staying on the GR®^®.

(3) The^GR®® then descends to the left. At this point, there are two possible routes:

a – the path (^GR®®) descends to the bottom of the valley and continues to the village, emerging onto a square and joining Rue de l’Hôtel de Ville on your left.
b – (the route described here) stay on the plateau via a well-marked path (yellow markings) which follows the edge of the valley for a while and eventually joins a road.

(4) Turn left onto this road and, further on, join the^GR®® on the left as it heads back towards the village.
Please note: the route signposted by the Tourist Office passes through the bottom of the Reculée.

Waypoints

S/E : mi 0 - alt. 942 ft - Tourist Office car park
1 : mi 0.27 - alt. 988 ft - Turn right off Rue de Champagnole
2 : mi 4.4 - alt. 1,739 ft - Belvédère du Fer à Cheval
3 : mi 4.5 - alt. 1,772 ft - There are two routes to choose from at this point - Cuisance (rivière)
4 : mi 6.87 - alt. 1,847 ft - Once on the road, turn left
S/E : mi 10.56 - alt. 955 ft - Tourist Office car park

Notes

The path is well signposted, but does require a bit of care.
From Arbois, take the D469 towards “Fer à Cheval” and La Châtelaine.

Worth a visit

Arbois is famous for its wine.
Louis Pasteur’s house is open to visitors.
Those interested in geological phenomena can visit the website: http://planet-terre.ens-lyon.fr/image-de...

Reviews and comments

4.3 / 5

Based on 33 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.2 / 5

Ease of following the route
4.2 / 5

Route interest
4.7 / 5

Lukowiak Michel

08 Jul 2024 at 16:01 • Edited: 08 Jul 2024 at 17:58

It is essential to have a GPS device with you! Otherwise, you will get lost! And even with GPS, you may still end up hiking alongside the trail. Don't hesitate to choose another hike.

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Gill 90

27 Nov 2023 at 21:55

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 01, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Hike completed on 01/11/2023. At this time of year, following several days of rain, the tufa waterfall was flowing very strongly, creating a beautiful spectacle. The yellow colour of the vines at the end of the trail also adds a lot of charm. This trail offers a wide variety of landscapes and is really very pleasant. However, you need to pay close attention to your bearings at certain points. I recommend using the GPS on the VISORANDO app, which will help you avoid any confusion.

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sefregui

10 Jul 2023 at 10:30 • Edited: 10 Jul 2023 at 11:33

Hello: this is not where we had problems: it was at the exit of Arbois and Mesnay and on the way back to Pupillin. But thank you anyway for the information.

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richardd

10 Jul 2023 at 08:50 • Edited: 10 Jul 2023 at 11:33

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 09, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Between the point (3) and (4), the route marked on the map (identified as Mont Foiron) does not match the actual route on the ground.

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sefregui

01 Jul 2023 at 14:57

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 01, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We did this hike starting from Pupillin AND IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION...
PLEASE NOTE: The area between Arbois and Mesnay is complicated: the signposting on the ground and the VISO map are completely contradictory: we found ourselves completely north of Arbois and totally off course: the result was an extra 5 km! Then we took the "échappée jurassienne" to shorten the hike a bit, saw the Tufs waterfalls (which were superb) and returned via a very beautiful trail to Pupillin between the GR59 trail (to the north) and the DU FACTEUR forest road (south of the "ressauts")... a completely unknown trail that starts with a climb... MORE THAN TOUGH. A very beautiful, shaded hike, BUT YOU NEED TO AGREE ON THE SIGNAGE!!!

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francethomasobernai

27 Jun 2022 at 09:17

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 28, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A very pleasant hike with a few steep climbs.

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DMan64

21 Jun 2021 at 09:47

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 21, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

a few details

at km 5, at the crossroads, make sure you take the GR trail that climbs up opposite

at point 3,
- follow the SINGLE yellow trail to follow the classic route along the top of the valley.
- the alternative route (GR AND yellow markings) descends to the village of Les Planches and, turning left on arrival in the village, leads to the Tufs waterfall. This is very interesting but adds about 3 km and 250 m of elevation gain to the original route. After the Tufs waterfall, head back to the village of Les Planches (small bridge and stream on the right). At the church, don't take the road to Mesnay but the road opposite, which quickly crosses the stream and runs alongside it (stream on the left). There's a long climb up the road, then a path through the woods until you rejoin the classic route.

At the junction with the classic route (road), quickly take a path on the left that runs alongside the valley and leads to the "Roche du Feu" viewpoint. Continue along this small path until you rejoin the GR, which turns left.

When you cross the road, take the path that descends opposite, signposted "Pommerets".
To finish, the GR makes a loop to avoid returning to Arbois by road, which is a little long but safer.

21 km with 650 m elevation gain, classified as medium difficulty, fresh drinking water fountains in the village of Les Planches

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fourmis

28 Sep 2020 at 11:37

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 08, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Starting from the campsite at the Mesnay farm, we avoided Arbois by taking small roads and a path to reach the Hermitage via Paillette. We then followed the directions until point 3, where we chose option "a", which is magnificent. We took the path up to the ruins and viewpoint of the old castle of La Châtelaine and back: we didn't regret it!
The Cascade des Tufs waterfall was superb, especially as it was full of water, unlike the one at Baume-les Messieurs, which was completely dry and disappointing.
We highly recommend this hike, which offers beautiful views and passes through remarkable sites.

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dupontrb

27 Jul 2020 at 20:55

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 16, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

The arrival in Arbois through the vineyards is truly beautiful.

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Morbieux

22 May 2020 at 08:42

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : May 22, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : Yes

the detour route is marked in yellow and poorly signposted after La Chatelaine

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Elisabeth Duchesne

16 Mar 2020 at 11:01

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 15, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Description too brief. On the map, the colours of the two markings are too similar. The return via the Mesnay road is not ideal at the end of the walk.

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User 332889

11 Aug 2019 at 11:54

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 29, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Absolutely magnificent hike. I recommend taking the "a" route, which allows you to descend near the waterfalls; swimming is possible

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filou26270

29 Jul 2019 at 09:53

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

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

Such a hike.

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thierry139

03 Sep 2018 at 10:33

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 03, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A pleasant hike, lots of woods at the start. At one point, there is a fork in the trail: either you go down to the left, following the mountain bike signs, or you go right onto a forest path, when you should have gone straight ahead, following the GR signs on a steep path that goes uphill.
The Tuf waterfalls are splendid, but we didn't enjoy the return trip after the village near Arbois as much, as it's 3 km of road that isn't very interesting.

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alexcedric

16 Jul 2018 at 10:03

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 23, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A very beautiful hike, with a few questions about the direction to take at times.
For example, right from the start, we found Rue Faramand but couldn't find the sign for Rue de Champagnole.
However, we quickly found the stairs on the right.
The woods are magnificent, as are the views. The detour to the tuff waterfall when you arrive at Les Planches is breathtaking (I'm not sure if it's mentioned in the hike description).
Top marks!!!

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Author

bc71
2 Walks

Visorando Member

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