The Les Cuisiniers hike starts in Tancua, a village in the Bienne Valley. It follows easy paths and shaded trails to viewpoints and flowering dry grasslands. This means the route combines shaded sections with open landscapes and viewpoints. If you want to plan your stay around hiking and local history, Tancua offers a practical starting point.
Hiking and railway history in Tancua
The hamlet of Les Cuisiniers is part of the area. It bears witness to the history of the renowned Ligne des Hirondelles railway, which crosses the Haut-Jura. In this way, two distinct themes shape the picture of Tancua: the hike leads to landscape features and viewpoints, while the hamlet connects the area to regional railway history. This distinction is useful when planning your day if you want to take the village’s historic character into account as well as the trail.
More trails and culture in Morbier
In Morbier, the Sentier du Morbier winds through meadows and past farms. Opened in August 2025, the route has two loops: 5 km and 8.5 km. It offers insights into how Morbier cheese is made, the surrounding landscape and the biodiversity of the meadows. The distances give you a clear choice between the shorter and longer loop; along the way, the trail connects cheese-making traditions with a landscape shaped by agriculture.
Le Tour des Préhez is another option in Morbier: an easy, one-hour mountain bike loop covering 7.3 km, with 141 m of ascent and descent. It begins with a gentle climb through the countryside, followed by a long descent through the forest. The route also includes a singletrack variant that is playful and technical in places. Along it, you can also see a façade clad with split spruce shingles, known as tavaillons. This Jura technique developed in the 15th century and is still used today. Check current trail conditions before setting off.
The Église Saint-Michel in Morbier also reflects the area’s watchmaking tradition. Inside the church is a monumental clock with three dials and a two-coloured sphere showing the phases of the moon. This offers a different focus from the trails: here, a specific historic object takes centre stage.
Lake and seasonal activities
The Plan d'eau des Bruyères is a small man-made lake near the swimming pool and campsite. Seasonal fishing is permitted there for trout, whitefish, pike, carp, perch, zander, black bass and tench. As permits and seasonal conditions can change, it is worth checking the current regulations before fishing.
For winter sports, the ESF de Morbier offers on-site lessons in skiing, snowboarding and biathlon. The Station des Gentianes is dedicated to teaching alpine skiing to all age groups; it operates seasonally. During the holidays, the ESF organises torchlight descents, whose dates and availability may change. Tubing on large inner tubes is available in Morbier year-round on three specially designed slopes, although operating conditions vary by season.
Keep the locations distinct when planning
The Les Cuisiniers hike starts in Tancua; the cheese, mountain biking, church, lake and winter sports activities mentioned above are in Morbier. For directions, take the D26, Route de la Vallée, from Morbier for about 4 km to the hamlet of Tancua. If you include both places in your stay, you can plan the Tancua hike and local history separately from the activities in Morbier without confusing their different starting points.
Discover more destinations: Mérona, Florentia, Menotey, Clairvaux-Les-Lacs, La Favière, Foncine-Le-Haut, Nevy-lès-Dole, Alièze.
For the general travel overview: Jura.
