France 
In numbers.
0.97m³/s
Average flow
estimate
Mar–May
Oct
Best months
702m
Elevation
The water at Cascades of Hérisson, month by month
It roars from October to May.
The fullest months: from October to May.
- 1.4 m³/sJan
- 1.1 m³/sFeb
- 1.4 m³/sMar
- 1.1 m³/sApr
- 1.1 m³/sMay
- 0.8 m³/sJun
- 0.5 m³/sJul
- 0.4 m³/sAug
- 0.4 m³/sSep
- 0.9 m³/sOct
- 1.2 m³/sNov
- 1.4 m³/sDec
From about 0.37 m³/s in the lowest month to 1.4 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from March to May 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.
Waterfall in France
Cascades of Hérisson is a waterfall in France.
Getting there.
- Saint-Laurent-en-Grandvauxnearest town · 7.3 km in a straight line
- Parking 210 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Geneva International Airport (GVA)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 46 km in a straight lineCar hire at GVA airport (Geneva)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From March to May 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.
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 75 m in 2.2 km. Here the river runs about 94 m below the lower rim of its valley.
What is around.
- 9viewpointsBelvédère de l'Éventail, Cascade de l'Éventail, Grand saut (bas) and 6 more
- 28waymarked walking routes
- 17car parks
- —swimming spots
- 14picnic sites
- 3toilets
- 16information boards and visitor centres
- —bus stops within 1 km
- 6other named waterfalls within 4 kmSaut Girard, Saut de la Forge, Gour Bleu and 3 more
- 1caves
- 4campsitesScierie des Lacs, Camping du Hérisson, Camping de l'Abbaye and 1 more
- 27hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmLa Poutre, Village Club Les Crozats, Les Alpages and 24 more
- 13restaurants 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-Laurent-en-Grandvaux7.3 km in a straight line
- Clairvaux-les-Lacs10 km in a straight line
- Morbier14 km in a straight line
- Champagnole15 km in a straight line
- Morez16 km in a straight line
- Longchaumois18 km in a straight line
- Valfin-lès-Saint-Claude20 km in a straight line
- Les Rousses21 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 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 17 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 19 | 14 | 7 | 3 |
| Night °C | -4 | -4 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 1 | -2 |
| 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 (702 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Photos
Through visitors' eyes.
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.
Cascades of Hérisson
France
- —Height
- 0.97 m³/sAverage flow
- Mar–May, OctBest months
Cascade du Bief de la Ruine
France
- 110 mHeight
- 2.5 m³/sAverage flow
- Apr–Jun, OctBest months
Cascade de Baume-les-Messieurs
France
- 10 mHeight
- 1.6 m³/sAverage flow
- Mar–May, NovBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q1046882) · 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.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves or dark skies?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit 
mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.You are here
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Coming soonVisit 
dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Coming soonVisit