France 
In numbers.
110m
Height
2.5m³/s
Average flow
estimate
Apr–Jun
Oct
Best months
2.7MW
Water power
estimate
The water at Cascade du Bief de la Ruine, month by month
It roars from October to June.
It carries water fairly evenly through the year.
- 3.4 m³/sJan
- 2.8 m³/sFeb
- 3.6 m³/sMar
- 3.1 m³/sApr
- 3.7 m³/sMay
- 2.7 m³/sJun
- 1.7 m³/sJul
- 1.6 m³/sAug
- 1.0 m³/sSep
- 2.1 m³/sOct
- 2.4 m³/sNov
- 3.1 m³/sDec
From about 1.0 m³/s in the lowest month to 3.7 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from April to June and October.
Estimate: the timing comes from rain, snowmelt and evaporation (NASA POWER, 1991–2020); the amounts from the river model of HydroATLAS (WaterGAP, 1971–2000). Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Cascade du Bief de la Ruine is a waterfall in France. The water falls 110 m.
Getting there.
- Saint-Laurent-en-Grandvauxnearest town · 9.3 km in a straight line
- Parking 370 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Geneva International Airport (GVA)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 46 km in a straight lineCar hire at GVA airport (Geneva)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From April to June and Octoberbest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
How big is it?
How big it really is.
Height of the drop from Wikidata. Buildings and the person are drawn at the same scale.
2.7 MW
About 2.5 m³/s falling 110 m: the power of the water as it drops.
- enough to power about 674 homes, if it were all turned into electricity
Power of falling water = density × gravity × flow × height. Average flow and height as shown above; an estimate.
Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 160 m in 0.7 km.
What is around.
- 13viewpointsCascade du Bief de la Ruine, La Roche Fendue and 11 more
- 5waymarked walking routesLa Cernée des Chardons - Pont de la Chaux, Tour du Plateau de Nozeroy, Champagnole Nozeroy Jura and 2 more
- 10car parks
- —swimming spots
- 10picnic sites
- 4toilets
- 4information boards and visitor centres
- —bus stops within 1 km
- 4other named waterfalls within 4 kmLe Saut de la Pisse, Cascade des Orpailleurs, Cascades et Gorges de la Langouette and 1 more
- —caves
- 5campsitesLe Temps de Vivre, Camping du Chalet du Bugnon, Camping du Bois Joli and 2 more
- 13hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmLes Cabanes du Bugnon, Gîte Le Relais du Lavoir, Le Maradon and 10 more
- 1restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Saint-Laurent-en-Grandvaux9.3 km in a straight line
- Morbier12 km in a straight line
- Champagnole14 km in a straight line
- Morez14 km in a straight line
- Bois-d'Amont16 km in a straight line
- Le Chenit16 km in a straight line
- Les Rousses19 km in a straight line
- Longchaumois22 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 2 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 16 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 19 | 14 | 7 | 3 |
| Night °C | -4 | -4 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 9 | 6 | 1 | -3 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 96 | 75 | 92 | 82 | 117 | 107 | 101 | 107 | 80 | 103 | 100 | 108 |
| Wet days | 13 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 |
| Sun h/day | 3.3 | 4.4 | 5.5 | 6.3 | 6.6 | 8.5 | 8.9 | 7.9 | 6.9 | 5.0 | 3.1 | 2.6 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 16 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 15 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (784 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Photos
Through visitors' eyes.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 56% | 175% | 92% | 50% | 93% | 142% | 37% | 99% | 104% | 203% | 25% | 89% |
| 2021 | 116% | 62% | 57% | 47% | 132% | 121% | 171% | 61% | 82% | 77% | 57% | 157% |
| 2022 | 50% | 116% | 24% | 120% | 43% | 99% | 32% | 67% | 221% | 88% | 127% | 124% |
| 2023 | 91% | 12% | 145% | 127% | 61% | 59% | 80% | 82% | 77% | 164% | 260% | 162% |
| 2024 | 122% | 102% | 103% | 115% | 146% | 117% | 90% | 92% | 256% | 146% | 69% | 110% |
| 2025 | 155% | 52% | 50% | 104% | 81% | 101% | 109% | 100% | 201% | 151% | 147% | 29% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Cascade du Bief de la Ruine
France
- 110 mHeight
- 2.5 m³/sAverage flow
- Apr–Jun, OctBest months
Cascade de la queue de cheval
France
- 60 mHeight
- 0.65 m³/sAverage flow
- Apr–Jun, OctBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q86726520) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| River flow and catchment | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves or dark skies?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit 
mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.You are here
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Coming soonVisit 
dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Coming soonVisit