Belvédère des 4 Lacs, Jura – Epic Viewpoint + Hike Details

How to Get to Le Belvedere des 4 Lacs, Jura

The Belvédère des 4 Lacs is located in the East of Jura, 22mn south of Champagnole and 45mn east of the department capital Lons-le-Saunier.

Location: Google Maps

It’s not far from the Gorges de la Langouette (16mn), and the famous Cascades du Hérisson (19mn).

You can drive all the way up the cliffs, right next to the viewpoint. There’s a free parking lot on the side of the road, and it’s a short 2 minutes walk from the parking spot to the viewpoint.

My Adventure at the Belvédère des Quatre Lacs

The Belvedere des Quatre Lacs was our last stop of the day, and what a day. We started early with the Belvédère du Mont des Ifs hike, then hiked all around the 4 lakes, and even hiked to the top of the Pic de l’Aigle. Damn.

Fortunately the Belvedere des 4 Lacs is easy to reach: we drove all the way to the parking spot, and we only had a few meters to walk to reach the viewpoint.

It was already late afternoon when we got there, and in hindsight, it was a bit too late. The sun was already beginning to set, and it was shining hard and bright on the lakes, straight in front of us. This was not the best for photos, as the lakes were blown out in the sun.

The best time of day for photos is during the afternoon, when the sun is high in the sky. This is where you’ll see the incredible colors of the lakes: a deep blue with emerald lining all around.

Here’s an idea of how it looks like, from drone photos taken earlier during the day:

Too bad but eh, that’s what life’s about. You can’t always be in the right place at the right time. The view from the viewpoint was still epic though, and I sat there for a while.

Even though I wasn’t there at the perfect time to get that perfect photo, I was happy sitting there, simply watching the colors change as the sun was setting, turning the sky ablaze.

I drove home in the night to my Airbnb, ate some pasta and got to sleep to rest before another big day, where I’d be discovering the famous Cascades du Hérisson.

Belvedere des 4 Lacs Hikes

There are 2 main hikes starting from the Belvedere des 4 lacs:

• Belvédère des 3 lacs hike (short)
• Pic de l’Aigle hike (long)

Let’s see both of them:

Randonnée Belvédère des 3 Lacs hike

This hike is a very short one, getting to another viewpoint named Belvédère des 3 Lacs (you can only see 3 out of the 4 lakes from this one, hence the name).

Belvédère des 3 Lacs Hike

Easy

11mn    0.76km / 0.47 miles

7m / 23ft    7m / 23ft

Download GPX

It’s more of a stroll than a hike, easy & short. Nice to get another view and get walking, perfect for families.

Randonnée Pic de l’Aigle hike

The hike to Pic de l’Aigle is a longer hike, and also takes you to another viewpoint, the Pic de l’Aigle. This hike takes you along the ridge on a stone path, passing through the Belvédère des 3 Lacs and pushing to the Pic de l’Aigle.

Randonnée Pic de l’Aigle

Moderate

2h30    5.3km / 3.3 miles

263m / 863ft    263m / 863ft

Download GPX

The hike is usually started from the Pic de l’Aigle, but you can start it from the Belvédère des 4 lacs as well. There’s only 1 trail on the ridge, and you walk it both ways in between the 2 viewpoints.

There’s a bit of elevation change on the hike, and runs on the edge of the cliffs, which is why it’s listed as “moderate”.

The hike is up on the cliff, above the white part you can see on the picture

Visit Jura

Planning your trip to Jura? You’ll find below a few other travel guides & key spots to see in the area.

Cool waterfalls in Jura:

• Cascade de Baume les Messieurs
• Cascade des Tufs
• Cascades du Hérisson
• Cascade de la Billaude

The best hikes around:

• Gorges de la Langouette
• 4 Lakes hike
• Pic de l’Aigle hike

 The BIG guides:

• Best Hikes in Jura
• Best Waterfalls in Jura
• Best Things to Do in Jura

I hope you enjoy your trip to Jura and to France; if you have any questions, let me know in the comments below, I always reply.

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