Source du Verneau

Source et Cascade du Verneau

Useful Information

Location:	7 Rue Crétin, 25330 Nans-Sous-Sainte-Anne. Nans-Sous-Sainte-Anne, Place de la Mairie, car park opposite the cheese dairy. 20 minutes walk to the spring. At the church turn right, then first left Rue Crétin and again first left. Follow trail at the end of the road. (46.978427, 6.005368)
Open:	no restrictions. [2022]
Fee:	free. [2022]
Classification:	Karst Spring
Light:	n/a
Dimension:	L=33.300 m, VR=389 m, A=420 m asl.
Guided tours:	self guided, D=1 h, L=1,200 m.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Samuel Prost, Pascal Reilé, Jean-Pierre Villegas (2017): Le réseau du Verneau (Doubs), Spelunca n°148 - 2017, pp 21-29. pdf Alain Couturaud, Yves Aucant (1991): Un grand réseau du Jura : le Verneau Spelunca n°43 Paul Swire (2001): Réseau du Verneau, The Doubs, Jura, France, RRCPC Newsletter, Volume 38 Number 4 Article 5, December 2001. online
Address:	Source du Verneau, 7 Rue Crétin, 25330 Nans-Sous-Sainte-Anne.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1903	Eugène Fournier explored the Biefs Bousset.
1939	explored by Charles Domergue.
1949	J.-D. Cauhépé unsuccessfully tries to cross the first siphon of the Biefs Bousset without diving gear.
1951	Speleological Group Dolois discovers a new chamber after digging.
1965	speleologists from Greylois and the Pontarlier CAF are unsuccessfully pumping the siphon of the Verneau spring.
1966	cavers from the Val de Travers section of the SSS, which is named Salle des Suisses for this reason.
1969	15 years of exploration by the Société Hétéromorphe d'Amateurs de Gouffres (SHAG) begin.
06-AUG-1984	first through trip Biefs Bousset-Baudin without diving by Yves Aucant, Alain Couturaud and Patrick Pelaez.

Description

Source du Verneau is much less spectacular than the nearby Lison spring, and much less touristy. So if the Lison spring is crowded with tourists you should definitely think about visiting this spring instead. The site is quite spectacular, with vertical limestone cliffs and a spring with a waterfall below. This was the reason why the cliff was used for a popular via ferrata, but actually it's easy to avoid the extreme sports enthusiasts as the use a different access trail.

The Source du Verneau is actually the resurgence of the Verneau souterrain, one of the largest underground rivers in France. Here at the spring it is difficult to enter, popular entrances are the entrance shaft of the Baume des Crêtes in Déservillers and the Grotte Baudin. It was a popular through trip among French and foreign cavers, unfortunately there were several caving accidents. As a result cavers now need an authorization to enter the cave.

The cave system is today surveyed for more than 33 km so numerous caves of the area between Déservillers and Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne which were formerly thought to be separate caves are now connected. They are called Gouffre de Jerusalem, Grotte de la Vieille Folle, Baume des Crêtes, Biefs Bousset. Grotte Baudin, and the Résurgence.