The lakes of Étival

All sounds can be found in nature. In these limestone reliefs, the tiniest vibration rings out: here acoustic sites are common, so open your ears to hear the surprising concerto offered by the Jura’s landscapes. Any sounds made in this pretty combe are amplified by the cliff, and especially by the lake. This site offering a single echo provides both a quality landscape and quality acoustics. For this reason, the site is used for cultural events.

The black woodpecker, with a red crown, is the largest woodpecker in Europe and is roughly the size of a carrion crow, which is also black. In spring, it is easily recognisable due to the loud “kree-kree-kree” call that it makes whilst in flight. It chips large oval nesting chambers into trees, often beech trees, which can then be used by the boreal owl the following year.

The chamois’ coat varies with the seasons; in winter, its fleece takes on a dark brown to black tint, which allows it to absorb heat; whilst in summer, its coat is beige or light brown. But it’s not only its colour that changes! In winter, its coat becomes thicker in order to protect it from the cold, and it can reach up to 10 to 12 cm thick, compared with only 3 to 4 cm thick in the summer, after it has moulted.

The belvedere looks over the two wild and preserved lakes that span the bottom of the dale. The glaciers that covered the Jura during the last glacial period disappeared around 18,000 years ago. Their weight and movement created depressions of varying depths which, when the glaciers melted, and thanks to glacial moraines, filled with water and formed lakes.

This large and tall feline is elegant and mysterious. Its coat varies from beige to red with black spots, its head is round, and its ears are decorated by wisps of black fur. If all else fails, its short black tail leaves no margin for error should you have the luck of seeing this creature on one of its stops. The Eurasian lynx is capable of reaching speeds of 60 km/h when running!