Tour of Lake Joux from Le Pont

The start is at the car park at Le Pont station or the adjacent car parks.

(S/E) Cross the main road with care and, facing the lake, head left. Walk through the village and, at the junction of Rue du Mollendruz and Rue du Lac, turn right.

(1) Shortly afterwards, take the footpath on your right which brings you right up to the water’s edge. Stay on this path until you reach the far end of the lake, between the lake and the magnificent lakeside villas. Further on, you’ll reach the village of L’Abbaye.

(2) A distinctive covered bridge allows you to cross the Lionne stream. Cross the green leisure area and continue along the shore. The path becomes a little wilder, amidst dense but still manageable vegetation. One or two small paths branch off to the left; ignore them. Shortly after a sharp left-hand bend, you’ll reach a tarmac road and then a fairly large car park.

(3) At the farm campsite, leave the road and rejoin the riverside path. You will then reach a junction with a wide path coming in from your left. This is the access to the jetty.

(4) Walk along this jetty to enjoy a wider view of Le Pont and the lake. Continue, ignoring the tarmac road leading to the sewage treatment plant, and cross it. Carry on until you reach a raised wooden platform designed to protect the wetland area – and your feet at the same time. Further on, you’ll reach the Route des Cretêts.

(5) Turn right, cross the bridge and immediately turn right onto a well-mowed grassy path, which runs along the edge of the meadow and then the forest until it meets a track. Turn right and enter the pine forest. After a left-hand bend, look out for a signpost on the left-hand side of the path.

(6) The signpost indicates the viewpoint over the lake. A return walk along a woodchip path offers a view of the entire length of the lake and the mountains surrounding it. Retrace your steps and head off to the right. On the edge of the hamlet of La Golisse, stay on the path, which is now tarmac. Continue until you reach, much further on, the Hôtel Le Rocheray.

(7) The path gives way to a small road; follow this carefully, keeping as close to the water as possible and ignoring any paths or tracks leading off it. You will then reach a junction.

(8) Keep to the right, heading towards Les Esserts de Rive Bas. Pass through the hamlet and enter the forest, where the path changes: no more tarmac, but a mixture of leaves, earth and gravel. The landscape becomes wilder; the narrow path is bordered on the left by small cliffs and on the right by the lake. Pass the small sandy outcrop forming a beach. The path then begins to climb. Reach the small junction signposting the jetty.

(9) Continue straight on up the slope, which steepens rapidly. After four hairpin bends that quickly take you up a few dozen metres in altitude, you’ll come out onto a car park.
Cross the car park and take the road marked “Le Revers” in front of you, which runs through a small housing estate. Once past the last house, the path enters the forest. Shortly afterwards, look out for a wooden structure.

(10) You are at Couvert au Ministre, a covered shelter containing two lovely large picnic tables. Head straight on along the path marked in yellow. The sign on the left is for mountain bikes. Continue along this very smooth and pleasant path, which soon emerges into the meadows and joins the cycle route. After the water tank, look out for signposts in the pasture.

(11) At the fork, continue straight ahead into the pasture where you can spot herds of chamois (as well as along the entire final stretch of the route up to the outskirts of the first houses). Further on, you’ll reach another junction, above the 1079m mark on the map.

(12) Take the right-hand fork, which leaves the pasture and enters the woods. Follow this track for a long while until, after a steep descent, you reach the lakeside and a boat slipway. Approach the railway line and look out for the path on the right at the side of the road.

(13) Turn right and take the footbridge to reach the level crossing. Cross the road running alongside the railway line and you will then find your car park (S/E).

There are plenty of benches, tables and barbecues along the route, including covered tables at L'Abbaye (2) and at Le Revers (10).
Several toilet blocks.
Binoculars may be useful for observing the various birds inhabiting the lake, particularly in the wetland area near Le Sentier, but above all the herds of chamois in the meadows and forests at the end of the route.