Photo : Tangopaso / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Le Chapeau de Gendarme
The Chapeau de Gendarme is a geological curiosity of the Haut-Jura Regional Nature Park, located in the hairpins of Septmoncel, on the edge of the Flumen gorges. Its name comes from its resemblance to the bicorne hat worn by gendarmes after the Revolution.
It is an anticlinal fold, convex and A-shaped, made up of thin limestone layers, more clayey in the centre of the hat. This fold formed during Alpine folding and illustrates the Jurassic formation well.
The road of hairpin bends of departmental road 436, between Saint-Claude and Septmoncel in the direction of Geneva, was built thanks to the political action of the jurist Désiré Dalloz (1795-1869), a local son. It overlooks the Saint-Claude valley. A small path of about 2 km round trip, around ten minutes' walk, leads to the curiosity, with parking along the road opposite.
