Lac Genin

Tucked away at 850 metres in a typical Jura forest of fir, spruce and broadleaf trees, the Lac Genin is nicknamed "the little Canada of the Haut-Bugey". It has been a listed picturesque site since 1935 and is shared between the communes of Oyonnax, Charix and Échallon. Covering about 8 hectares, it is 24 metres deep.

The lake lies in a hollow that is probably karstic in origin, later deepened by the Jura glacier; its overflow drains south through an underground network whose entrance is clearly visible. Until the middle of the 20th century, several farms worked the surrounding meadows; only ruins remain. Today the site has a supervised beach in summer, an inn and a campsite, and ice skating is allowed in winter when the ice is thick enough.

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