France 
In numbers.
0.38m³/s
Average flow
estimate
Mar–May
Oct
Best months
489m
Elevation
The water at Petite cascade de Tendon, month by month
It roars from October to June.
It carries water fairly evenly through the year.
- 0.6 m³/sJan
- 0.5 m³/sFeb
- 0.6 m³/sMar
- 0.5 m³/sApr
- 0.5 m³/sMay
- 0.3 m³/sJun
- 0.2 m³/sJul
- 0.2 m³/sAug
- 0.1 m³/sSep
- 0.4 m³/sOct
- 0.5 m³/sNov
- 0.5 m³/sDec
From about 0.14 m³/s in the lowest month to 0.62 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from March to May 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.
Petite cascade de Tendon is a waterfall in France.
Getting there.
- Le Tholynearest town · 5.6 km in a straight line
- Parking 40 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (BSL)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 85 km in a straight lineCar hire at BSL airport (Bâle / Mulhouse)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From March to May 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.
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 69 m in 2.1 km. Here the river runs about 148 m below the lower rim of its valley.
What is around.
- 1viewpointsLa Brostille
- 9waymarked walking routesSentier des Cascades, Circuit de la Tête de la Violle, Circulaire du Viramont and 6 more
- 7car parks
- —swimming spots
- 17picnic sites
- —toilets
- 6information boards and visitor centres
- —bus stops within 1 km
- 2other named waterfalls within 4 kmGrande Cascade de Tendon, petite cascade du Tendon Vosges
- 1caves
- 3campsitesCamping de Noirrupt, Camping du Rouge-Château, Aire de camping-car de Docelle
- 21hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmHôtel Grande Cascade, Auberge de la Poirie, Nids des Vosges and 18 more
- 2restaurants 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
- Le Tholy5.6 km in a straight line
- Éloyes5.7 km in a straight line
- Docelles6.3 km in a straight line
- Cheniménil6.6 km in a straight line
- Pouxeux8.0 km in a straight line
- Granges-sur-Vologne9.0 km in a straight line
- Saint-Amé9.7 km in a straight line
- Saint-Nabord9.8 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 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 18 | 22 | 24 | 23 | 19 | 14 | 8 | 3 |
| Night °C | -3 | -3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 1 | -2 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 78 | 63 | 69 | 60 | 94 | 83 | 78 | 85 | 67 | 84 | 78 | 90 |
| Wet days | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| Sun h/day | 1.7 | 2.9 | 4.7 | 6.5 | 6.9 | 8.1 | 7.9 | 7.0 | 6.1 | 3.8 | 1.8 | 1.3 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 13 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 12 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide. 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 | 52% | 201% | 100% | 32% | 80% | 144% | 32% | 83% | 80% | 143% | 35% | 121% |
| 2021 | 146% | 84% | 80% | 57% | 135% | 167% | 187% | 77% | 63% | 80% | 63% | 102% |
| 2022 | 63% | 96% | 29% | 141% | 36% | 109% | 23% | 65% | 132% | 102% | 119% | 75% |
| 2023 | 94% | 27% | 144% | 120% | 44% | 35% | 90% | 111% | 50% | 151% | 213% | 105% |
| 2024 | 98% | 115% | 121% | 122% | 166% | 155% | 100% | 69% | 189% | 118% | 67% | 83% |
| 2025 | 125% | 59% | 41% | 88% | 43% | 108% | 101% | 99% | 175% | 105% | 99% | 29% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Petite cascade de Tendon
France
- —Height
- 0.38 m³/sAverage flow
- Mar–May, OctBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q18005497) · 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.
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