VALLEY
Walk 12 Alp du Pied
Walk 13 Fort de la Lausette and the Peygus
Walk 14 Col de Bousson
Walk 15 Lac des Cordes
Walk 16 Lac du Plan Vallon
Walk 17 Col des Ayes
Walk 18 Fort de la Croix de Bretagne and la Grande Maye
Walk 19 Lac de l’Orceyrette
Walk 20 Lac Palluel and Lac Faravel
Walk 21 Lac de Fangeas
Walk 22 Dormillouse High Circuit
Walk 23 Crête de la Rortie
Walk 24 La Grande Cabane
Walk 25 La Blanche
Walk 26 Chapelle St Hippolyte
Walk 27 Croix de la Salcette
Walk 28 Cime de la Condamine
Walk 29 La Croix d’Aquila
Walk 30 Briançon and Fort des Salettes
Walk 31 La Croix de Toulouse
Walk 32 Circuit of le Grand Area
Walk 33 La Grande Peyrolle by the Crête de Peyrolle
Walk 34 Grand Lac de l’Oule
Walk 35 La Cime des Conchiers
Walk 36 Lac de Combeynot
Walk 37 Les Arêtes de la Bruyère
Walk 38 L’Aiguillette du Lauzet Circuit
Walk 39 Lacs du Glacier d’Arsine
Walk 40 Plateau d’Emparis
Appendix A Route summary table
Appendix B Hill forts
Appendix C Useful contacts
Appendix D Bibliography and further reading
Wild flowers at l’Alpe du Lauzet (Walk 38)
View from the descent from Col des Marsailles (Walk 15)
INTRODUCTION
Dominated on all sides by jagged peaks, and perched on a rocky spur at the nucleus of five beautiful valleys, the city of Briançon lies almost at the southernmost tip of the main Alpine range. It is the highest city in France (at 1326m above sea level) and it is the beating heart of the Briançonnais, the region to which it gives its name.
The Briançonnais is a stunning mountain wilderness packed with everything one would expect from a high alpine environment: snow-capped peaks, green valleys and pastures filled with the sound of cow bells, sparkling alpine lakes full of trout, an abundance of wild flowers and a labyrinth of paths.
The glaciers of la Meije reflected in Lac Noir (Walk 40)
However, despite these attractions, the Briançonnais does not receive the volume of visitors that the wealthier, glitzier Northern Alps enjoy. It is geographically more isolated, being further from motorways and transport hubs such as Geneva. And often the area is overlooked in favour of mountains within national parks, which are more marketable. Yet anyone who has visited this amazing region will tell you that this is ludicrous. Although only part of the Briançonnais falls within a national park – the Écrins National Park (Parc National des Écrins) – it is as scenic and unspoilt as any mountain region in Europe.
In particular, the Briançonnais has largely been overlooked by English speaking walkers who have tended to favour the more easily accessible mountains around Geneva. This is a significant advantage for the walker who will find (save during the six peak summer weeks) largely empty tracks and paths among indescribable beauty. Outside of peak times it is not unusual to spend a whole day hiking in these wonderful mountains without encountering another soul. Even during peak times, the mountains here are tranquil compared to many other better known regions. In the age of mass tourism this is truly a rarity in the Alps. In short, those who favour solitude will feel like they have died and gone to heaven.
Cervières and the Cerveyrette Valley as seen on the climb to l’Alp du Pied (Walk 12)
Such statements may sound like tourist office hyperbole, but they are supported by statistics. For example, the Écrins National Park (the northeast section of which contains part of the Briançonnais) is approximately half the size of the Lake District National Park in the UK, which attracts approximately 16 million visitors each year. Yet the Écrins National Park apparently only gets around 800,000 visitors. This suggests that the Briançonnais receives a mere 10 per cent of the visitors per km² that the Lake District attracts.
Perhaps as a consequence of the lack of visitors and its relative remoteness, the Briançonnais has not been exposed to as much development as the Northern Alps, retaining a rural feel which has largely died out elsewhere. The Hautes Alpes in which Briançon resides is one of the least affluent regions of France. It remains a French region for French people, and exhibits a charm often extinct in more touristy areas. Here, one finds few large ski resorts scarring the landscape. Absent, too, are the millionaires’ chalets found elsewhere. This absence of development and pretension is one reason that aficionados of the region are fiercely loyal to it.
Another
