Jura (NE) · Loop
Creux du Van
Sentier du Creux du Van
A loop from Noiraigue station, up to the rim and back
There is no bus to the rim — a line was studied for years and the project was frozen in 2026 for lack of money. The train to Noiraigue is the way in, and the car parks fill on fine weekends.
A rock amphitheatre a kilometre and a half wide, with a 200 m cliff and no railing, walked as a full circle from the station below. The climb up is the Sentier des 14 Contours, fourteen hairpins through beech wood; the rim is open pasture with ibex and chamois; the way down passes the farm inns. No car needed at either end, because both ends are the same station.
Getting there and back
The lifts and stops this walk depends on
Noiraigue station
Train from Neuchâtel · transN, line R21
- Season
- All year
Half-hourly in the weekday peak, hourly outside it. There is no bus up to the rim from either side; the project was frozen in 2026. Paths also start from Travers, Champ-du-Moulin, Bevaix and St-Aubin.
transN line R21Read 20 September 2026
At the start
- Noiraigue station, 51 m away
- Noiraigue bus stop, 63 m away
At the finish
- Noiraigue station, 51 m away
- Noiraigue bus stop, 63 m away
Stops and stations come from OpenStreetMap, measured from the ends of our line. Times and seasons come from each operator's own page, on the date shown. Check them for your date.
On the way
Where you can stop
Ferme du Soliat
Farm inn, at the rim · 1,386 m
- Open
- Every day from the end of April to the beginning of November
- Food
- Restaurant; 60 places to sleep in rooms, shared rooms, a dormitory and a yurt
- Phone
- +41 32 863 31 36
Read 20 September 2026
Les Oeillons
Farm inn, on the climb · 1,014 m
- Open
- Daily, May to October
- Food
- Drinks and snacks
- Phone
- +41 32 863 31 35
Read 20 September 2026
Ferme Robert
Farm inn, below the cliff · 972 m
- Open
- Generally closed December to March
- Phone
- +41 32 863 31 40
Its weekly closing days for 2026 are not published; ring before counting on it.
Their own pageRead 20 September 2026
How hard it is
Grade, and how long it takes
“The cliff has no protective barriers. Anyone prone to vertigo should stay away from the edge.” — SchweizMobil route 286
| The operator's time | 4 h 35 | SchweizMobil route 286 |
|---|---|---|
| Swiss signpost time | 5 h 04 | The official hiking-time method, on our line |
| At a running pace | 2 h 47 | Our estimate; the grade does not change because you run |
Three official sources give three sets of figures for the same loop: 15 km with 780 m of climb (SchweizMobil), 14 km with 821 m (Neuchâtel Tourisme) and "14 km, 600 m" (Switzerland Tourism). Our line measures 14.5 km. The climb is the number they disagree on most.
Conditions
What it is like right now, and month by month
Weather this week
Loading the forecast for low point (724 m) and high point (1,458 m)…
Weather this week
Loading the forecast for low point (724 m) and high point (1,458 m)…
Weather by month
Typical weather Creux du Van: at the lowest point (724 m) and the highest point (1,458 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Poor | Poor | Poor | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Poor |
| High point, day / night | 0°/-5° | 1°/-5° | 5°/-3° | 8°/0° | 12°/4° | 16°/7° | 18°/9° | 18°/9° | 14°/6° | 9°/3° | 4°/-2° | 1°/-4° |
| Low point, day / night | 5°/-2° | 6°/-2° | 9°/1° | 13°/3° | 17°/7° | 21°/11° | 23°/13° | 23°/13° | 19°/10° | 14°/6° | 9°/2° | 5°/-1° |
| Rain, mm | 115 | 104 | 99 | 89 | 112 | 112 | 117 | 113 | 110 | 118 | 120 | 141 |
| Snow at high point | Likely | Likely | Likely | Possible | – | – | – | – | – | – | Possible | Possible |
| Daylight | 8 h 54 | 10 h 16 | 11 h 49 | 13 h 32 | 15 h 01 | 15 h 51 | 15 h 33 | 14 h 17 | 12 h 38 | 10 h 59 | 9 h 25 | 8 h 33 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
What could stop you
A 200 m drop with nothing to hold
The rim is unfenced, and the ground slopes towards it. Keep back from the edge in wind, and keep children close.
creuxduvan.comRead 20 September 2026
It is a nature reserve, with rules that carry fines
A cantonal decree of 1976 governs the reserve: dogs on a lead, no camping, no fires except at the places provided, no picking, no drones, no paragliding. Fines reach CHF 2,000. Neuchâtel Tourisme goes further on dogs and advises leaving them at home, because of the suckler cows on the pastures.
Neuchâtel reserve decree of 21 December 1976Read 20 September 2026
Come by train if you can
Parking outside the official car parks, in the meadows, is forbidden, and the car parks are overwhelmed on fine days. Switzerland Tourism recommends public transport, and the loop is built around the station.
Neuchâtel Tourisme: getting to the Creux du VanRead 20 September 2026
Season: Spring to autumn. The reserve runs on a May-to-October rhythm and most farm inns close from late October to early May; in winter many paths are not passable and the rim becomes dangerous with snow, ice or wet grass.
Make it your day
Shorter, longer, or at a run
Shorter: up the 14 Contours and back the same way
Noiraigue to Le Soliat and down again cuts the loop roughly in half and keeps the best of the climb.
In winter, on snowshoes
The Swiss Alpine Club lists snowshoe routes to Le Soliat, and the roads from Provence and Couvet need winter tyres or chains from November to April. The summer path is not the winter route.
For runners
A loop with one long climb and one long descent, which is why the Swiss Canyon Trail sends its courses over Le Soliat and along the rim at the end of May. The rim is not the place to run distracted.
Races on this ground: Swiss Canyon Trail.
Keep it on your phone
Offline maps
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
- Open this trail in the app. Install TrailSplits, then open this trail there. On iPhone, downloads in a browser may not be available in the installed app.
- Choose your route or stages. Choose Prepare offline above. Wait for the route and maps to finish downloading.
- Try it before leaving coverage. Switch offline, close and reopen the app, then use My Hikes to start navigation. Repeat for every part you will need.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route and sources
What we checked, and when
This walk is an official Swiss hiking route: Sentier du Creux du Van (Noiraigue - Noiraigue) (SchweizMobil route 286). We publish our own line on OpenStreetMap, matched onto the official one and checked against it.
- Official line 14.54 km · ours 14.52 km (-0.1%)
- 95% of the official line is within 3.6 m of ours; the furthest point is 21.3 m
- Climb read from a 30 m terrain model along our line, smoothed; an operator's figure will differ
- Built on 2026-09-20
- SchweizMobil route 286, the official line read 20 September 2026
- Neuchâtel Tourisme: the hike and how to reach it read 20 September 2026
- creuxduvan.com: the reserve, the inns and the rules read 20 September 2026
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) the paths our line follows
- Bundesamt für Strassen, Kanton, Stiftung SchweizMobilthe official route line