France 
In numbers.
60m
Height
0.65m³/s
Average flow
estimate
Apr–Jun
Oct
Best months
380kW
Water power
estimate
The water at Cascade de la queue de cheval, month by month
It roars from October to May.
The fullest months: from October to May.
- 0.9 m³/sJan
- 0.8 m³/sFeb
- 0.9 m³/sMar
- 0.8 m³/sApr
- 0.8 m³/sMay
- 0.6 m³/sJun
- 0.3 m³/sJul
- 0.3 m³/sAug
- 0.3 m³/sSep
- 0.6 m³/sOct
- 0.8 m³/sNov
- 0.9 m³/sDec
From about 0.27 m³/s in the lowest month to 0.92 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from April to June and October.
Estimate: the timing comes from rain, snowmelt and evaporation (NASA POWER, 1991–2020); the amounts from the river model of HydroATLAS (WaterGAP, 1971–2000). Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Cascade de la queue de cheval is a waterfall in France. The water falls 60 m over a front 3 m wide.
Getting there.
- Saint-Claudenearest town · 2.3 km in a straight line
- Parking 800 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Geneva International Airport (GVA)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 24 km in a straight lineCar hire at GVA airport (Geneva)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From April to June and Octoberbest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
How big is it?
How big it really is.
Height of the drop from Wikidata. Buildings and the person are drawn at the same scale.
380 kW
About 0.65 m³/s falling 60 m: the power of the water as it drops.
- enough to power about 95 homes, if it were all turned into electricity
Power of falling water = density × gravity × flow × height. Average flow and height as shown above; an estimate.
Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 334 m in 2.2 km.
What is around.
- 9viewpointsBelvédère de l'Hermitage, Belvédère de la pointe de la Roche, Belvédère de la tendue and 6 more
- 46waymarked walking routesTour de la Haute Bienne, Sentier des Diots and 44 more
- 26car parks
- —swimming spots
- 10picnic sites
- 2toilets
- 1information boards and visitor centres
- —bus stops within 1 km
- 7other named waterfalls within 4 kmCascade du Flumen, Cascade du Chapeau de Gendarme, Cascade du Moulin d'Aval and 4 more
- 3caves
- 4campsitesAire camping-car Saint-Claude Moulin Lacroix, Lamoura - Route de Lajoux, Flower camping du Martinet and 1 more
- 27hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmLe Chariot, Saint-Hubert Hôtel, Hôtel Restaurant Jura le Panoramic and 24 more
- 20restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Saint-Claude2.3 km in a straight line
- Valfin-lès-Saint-Claude6.1 km in a straight line
- Saint-Lupicin8.0 km in a straight line
- Longchaumois8.5 km in a straight line
- Lavans-lès-Saint-Claude8.7 km in a straight line
- Moirans-en-Montagne14 km in a straight line
- Gex14 km in a straight line
- Échenevex14 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 2 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 23 | 22 | 18 | 13 | 7 | 2 |
| Night °C | -4 | -4 | -1 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | -3 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 104 | 81 | 96 | 85 | 112 | 99 | 92 | 98 | 79 | 109 | 112 | 120 |
| Wet days | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 |
| Sun h/day | 2.2 | 3.7 | 5.5 | 6.8 | 7.2 | 9.0 | 9.2 | 8.1 | 6.8 | 4.4 | 2.5 | 1.8 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 15 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 13 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (800 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 63% | 168% | 98% | 48% | 99% | 135% | 30% | 88% | 110% | 208% | 26% | 111% |
| 2021 | 124% | 70% | 61% | 50% | 150% | 121% | 192% | 60% | 94% | 92% | 59% | 161% |
| 2022 | 53% | 119% | 30% | 120% | 43% | 124% | 22% | 75% | 208% | 84% | 128% | 121% |
| 2023 | 93% | 12% | 141% | 124% | 62% | 71% | 75% | 82% | 88% | 186% | 234% | 147% |
| 2024 | 120% | 116% | 109% | 131% | 150% | 120% | 96% | 79% | 244% | 158% | 64% | 105% |
| 2025 | 163% | 61% | 52% | 102% | 86% | 122% | 123% | 98% | 201% | 177% | 160% | 37% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Cascade de la queue de cheval
France
- 60 mHeight
- 0.65 m³/sAverage flow
- Apr–Jun, OctBest months
Cascade du Bief de la Ruine
France
- 110 mHeight
- 2.5 m³/sAverage flow
- Apr–Jun, OctBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q15169072) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| River flow and catchment | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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