Hike time: | 6.5 hours |
Approx dist: | 20 km |
Start: | Chasseral hotel |
Finish: | Vue des Alpes |
Profile: | Between 880m and 1560m, |
Rating: | medium |
Greetings: | Bonjour |
This page describes the ninth day of this ridgeway walk, from Chasseral to Vue des Alpes. Some guides outline a route leading from Chasseral down to Neuchâtel instead of the route described here. Both are possible, and join up later on the way up to Creux du Van, but the section through the urban areas of Neuchâtel is described as not particularly attractive. So we'll follow the more northerly route, crossing to the next ridge over and following it to Vue des Alpes.
The hotel at Chasseral has bus connections to St Imier on the train line to Biel, and Vue des Alpes has (unreliable) buses to La Chaux de Fonds which in turn has trains to Biel.
 Heading down the leafy gorge of Combe Biosse  Looking up towards the ridge of Blanche Herbe  Open summit of Mont d'Amin  Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau seen from Mont d'Amin |
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Chasseral Hôtel - La Combe Biosse - Le Pâquier - Blanche Herbe - Mont d'Amin - Vue des Alpes
From the hotel, head back towards the tower a short way and follow the signs left down the ridge to the north. This path heads towards the Combe Grède but then when it meets the road, it breaks left along the road to the next corner and continues straight across the fields. There are some muddy stretches as the path crosses and goes alongside the stream on its way into the gorge of Combe Biosse.
Once in the leaf-filled gorge, the path begins to descend quite steeply, with some stony and slippy bits with the wet autumn leaves. A few switchbacks lead down to almost meet the main road by the signpost for La Combe Biosse. This track then follows alongside the road, climbing over a minor crest to the left to emerge above La Pâquier. Follow the signs doubling back along the lanes to the village, and then along the road towards Vue des Alpes. The views back towards the gorge of Combe Biosse look particularly spectacular from here.
Pass the farm buildings on the lane from La Croix, before breaking left on a path up across the cow fields and turning right onto an easy track. This long, level track eventually leads to Blanche Herbe, where signs indicate a crossing point of the Trans-Swiss trail to Neuchâtel. Here begins our long climb up towards Mont d'Amin, however, looping round to the right before cutting back left with views back towards the Chasseral summit.
The views from the open top of Mont d'Amin reward the climb, showing the diminishing ridge towards Neuchâtel and the lakes beyond. The clearing fog may even allow the panoramas of the Berner Oberland to gleam through. All the usual suspects of the previous days of hiking are still there, although the striking Finsteraarhorn is sliding itself gradually behind the Eiger out of sight.
Follow the path across the flat, open summit, enjoying the views on the gentle descent. Shortly you'll approach Vue des Alpes, but you'll hear it before you see it - this fantastically-positioned hotel acts like a magnet for all the worst engine-revving car drivers and motorbike riders in Switzerland. They flock here to show each other just how well they can press their accelerator, and how much annoying noise they can thus produce. But on the positive side, it's a great lookout point, with panorama boards showing the sights, picnic opportunities galore, and even a very long toboggan run. There's also a bus stop, with alleged services to La Chaux-de-Fonds, but it would be foolish to rely on this service - sometimes they run, sometimes they don't. There's a phone number given where you can attempt to reserve a place on the bus, but what you actually get is someone telling you that the last bus was already at 16:35, not 17:35 as printed on the timetable. In French.
The following are the coordinates for waypoints along this route, obtained from GPS. They can be used either in another GPS, or along with a map, to provide additional references if necessary.
Latitude Longitude Altitude(m)
Chasseral Hotel N 47°07'38.0 E007°02'45.1 1548
Combe Biosse N 47°06'23.8 E007°00'08.5 994
Le Pâquier N 47°05'53.7 E006°59'12.2 895
La Croix N 47°05'46.0 E006°58'45.7 867
Blanche Herbe N 47°05'08.4 E006°56'12.2 1030
Mont d'Amin N 47°04'53.6 E006°54'14.3 1417
Vue des Alpes N 47°04'21.4 E006°52'13.7 1283
To view this hike in Google Earth or Google Maps, see the Kmz file for the whole Jura Ridgeway on the main page.
The next section on this hike is from Vue des Alpes to Noiraigue.