Cascade de l'Arpenaz, Natural geoheritage waterfall in Sallanches, France

The Cascade de l'Arpenaz is a waterfall on the western flank of the Faucigny massif in Sallanches, Haute-Savoie, fed by the Arpenaz torrent that flows into the Arve. Its main drop is 270 m high, followed by two smaller plurimetric falls at the base. The water descends through dark, decimetre-bedded Tithonian limestone of the Arpenaz fold, a recumbent S-shaped structure, before reaching the Arve.

The waterfall's site was classified by decree on 12 September 1991 and belongs to the geological heritage of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. In 1911 a passage was cut, cantilevered into the cliff of the Montagne de Véran overlooking the gorge of the Arpenaz falls.

The name Arpenaz is analysed from two Celtic (Gaulish) elements: *Ar-, meaning "lively water", and *pen-, meaning "rocky head". A second reading links Are-penno to a "piece of land" or boundary marker, since natural sites served as landmarks delimiting territories. The falls dominate the hamlet of Luzier.

The falls drop 270 m from the western flank of the Faucigny massif a few kilometres north of Sallanches, above the hamlet of Luzier. A path cut into the cliff of the Montagne de Véran in 1911 overlooks the gorge. The torrent then runs down to the Arve across the sediments of an old debris cone.

The waterfall flows through alternating layers of Jurassic limestone and marl intervals, creating a distinctive pattern in the rock face. These alternating stone layers tell the story of marine deposits that occurred here millions of years ago.