Oyonnax

At Welcome to the town of Oyonnax, nestling at the bottom of a Jura mountain valley in the Ain department highlands.

Oyonnax boasts a remarkable natural landscape of pine forests, mountain lakes, rivers and streams, deep valleys between high plateaux where you can meet chamois, deers and cows.

The town, famed as the centre of "Plastics Valley" opens its doors to tourists winter and summer alike with easy access to cross-country skiing resorts, and, in the summer, medium-level mountain hikes and mountain biking trails.  The reservoirs, lakes and rivers give ample opportunity for swimming, watersports and fishing...
We look forward to your visit…

• La Grande Vapeur :

This building was constructed between 1905 and 1906.  It was called " la Grande Vapeur " after the name of the first factory built in 1865 - 1867, by the industrial engine company founded by Messrs Convert, Dupuy, Darmet and Bollé.  La Vapeur was used as a power source when the watercourses of the town became inadequate to provide the necessary hydraulic power.

When this electricity became available, " La Grande Vapeur " was laid out in booths rented out by jobbing workers.  Polishers and sanders came to collect their work from the craftsman and then took it back to be finished.  An innovative concept, like the construction technique used (reinforced concrete) and the roof, which was a terrace converted into a water reservoir in case of fire.  The premises were later renovated to house the comb and plastics technology museum.

• La Maison Brunet :

This building is one of the oldest in the town.  It housed the town hall in the 19th century.  Just next door, the Monument to the Dead of Three Wars can be seen, which includes in particular scenes from the Resistance.

The sights :

•  The Sequoiadendron :

•  Parc Jeantet

Now a market square, was once a park.  One sequoia has been preserved and its trunk was sculpted by Alain COUTTY assisted by Michel AUGER (1987) who transformed it into a sort of totem. « La Caravelle » :

      This mural fresco inviting the onlooker to travel, set the tone for town planning, reconciling the needs of accommodation with aestheticism.  It is painted on a low-rent housing unit by local artist M. COUTTY.

• « Le Chef d’Orchestre » (the Conductor) :

      Another mural by M. COUTTY, situated on the left after the railway.

• Old advertisements :

Rue Sonthonnax, these advertising murals were painted in 1923 by Oyonnax plasterer/painter BELLINI and restored by the teachers of the Centre Culturel Aragon under the direction of Monique BROCHET.

• Churchs

• Lake Genin :

This pretty mountain lake is situated at an altitude of 850m in a clearing surrounded by pines.  Nicknamed " Haut-Bugey's Little Canada ", the site offers various activities for visitors: paths to ramble along, picnic sites, supervised swimming, fishing (day passes can be purchased at the inn), camping, and in winter, open-air skating and cross-country skiing.

Interesting marsh plants can be found here, in particular the fascinating carnivorous sundew. The inn is a meeting place for those who appreciate the charms of the countryside, summer and winter alike.

• Lake of Vouglans :

Land was flooded to create this artificial reservoir in 1968.  Fed by the Ain river which has its source at Pont-de-Poitte.  It has a volume of 600 million m3 of water, making it the third largest reservoir in France, with a length of 35 kms.

Various nautical activities can be enjoyed on its waters: motorboating, sailing, fishing, river cruises and swimming from the beaches of Surchauffant, la Mercantine, as well as the resort of Bellecin.

Each year during August, an international triathlon takes place on the Vouglans site .  The French rowing team regularly trains there.

• Source bleue :

In the park of the Château de Dortan, this abundant spring is always a source of gushing water shimmering with the colours of the seasons. Its outflow feeds both the Merdançon watercourse and a penstock operating the small electrical station of the château.

 caving route penetrates 500 m into an underground river crossing the aerodrome in Oyonnax and linking with the "trou de la bouche" source.

• The Ain river :

The Ain is doubtless one of the loveliest rivers in France with its charm and the variety of the countryside it flows through.  Its old name was "Igneus", and the Ain deserves to be lingered on. Follow the river and experience great geographical diversity.

The river Ain has been of major economic importance over the centuries.  In particular, it was used until 1900 to float wood down to Lyons, and has five power stations dating from the beginning of the 20th century dotted along 30 kms of its course, not to mention its medieval mills.

The Ain is quite simply the sort of river where it is good to paddle or sit on a rock and just fish.

• La Roche Fauconnière :

In the community of Belleydoux, a feature of this remarkable classified site is its wild wooded valley 400 m deep.  From Belleydoux, it looks like a vertiginous spur of rock falling onto the combe of Orvaz.

The interplay of colours in the limestone has etched on its wall the design of a curious bird in flight, from which is derived the name Fauconnière (falconry).  A beautiful panorama stretches out before the eyes of visitors down to the little hamlet of Orvaz below, and the valley of the river Semine, which has its source at La Pesse.  Opposite are the Combe d'Orvaz and the Crêt de Chalam.

• Combe d’Orvaz :

This vast amphitheatre, when viewed both from above and from below, presents two rocky outcrops facing one another and dominating the hamlet of Orvaz.  Chamois can often be seen in the scree at the foot of the cliffs.

• Crêt de Chalam :

Accessible from La Pesse.  You can reach this site on a walk that will take you four-and-a-half-hours there and back, climbing 350 m.  One of the best-known peaks in the High Jura, ris ing to 1545m, and offering a splendid view over the Alpine chain and the Jura mountains.

At its foot, the Borne au Lion marks the historical boundary of Franche-Comté with the Duchy of Savoy and the Kingdom of France.  This site was, during the last war, a stronghold of the maquis in the High Jura and the Ain.

Consisting of 60% spruce, the la Brétouze forest is a favourite ramble for the local population of Oyonnax.

This tree nursery has a rustic kiosk, woodland walks and small streams.

Here, during the early years of the last century, every first Sunday in July a fête champêtre - a country fair - was attended by up to 4,000 people who would roast lamb cutlets over a wood fire.

La Brétouze, with its evergreens and broad-leaved woodland, remains a mythical place for the residents of Oyonnax.