Creux du Van, guardian of the cliffs

The route

The limestone cirque

The Creux du Van is an almost perfect amphitheatre carved by erosion into the Jura limestone. We follow its rim between fir trees and pastures, looking down at every step onto the tiers of rock.

Round a fir tree, an ibex lying in the grass watches us pass, unflappable, its horns drawn against the void. Then the wide pastures of Le Soliat, open to the Plateau and, far away, the line of the Alps.