Lac Chavants to Vaudagne and Charousse
7
Overall rating
Good
Length
6.27km
Elevation + / -
306m / 306m
Trail type
Loop
When to go
Mid Apr - Mid Oct
Hike duration
1.0 - 2.0 Hours
Altitude Range
951m / 1215m
Technical level
Easy (2/5)
Natural beauty
Very Nice (4/5)
Run duration
40 - 60 Mins
Families
4+ Years old
Dogs
Dogs Allowed
Provision Sources
1 Snack Bar
Contributors:
XXX
A fantastic little loop in the Les Houches and Vaudagne area with a lot of variety. It starts of at Lac des Chavants, a small lake at the Les Chavants area of Les Houches. There is also a rock climbing wall, a playground and a restaurant there. From there you walk to Vaudagne through a nice forest area with little streams. The village of Vaudagne is very pictoresque with a beautifull little chapel and nice views of Passy and the Rochers de Fiz. From there you go up to an alpine meadow with great views of Mont Blanc before heading back down to the starting point. A fantastic family walk or short run.
If you are looking for a longer trail, then you could combine this trail with our Servoz-Vaudagne discovery trail and visit the town of Servoz and the many points of interest along the way.
Photos of this Trail
We have a large library of pictures from in and around the Chamonix Valley. All pictures are categorized and geo location tagged. These are the pictures we have for this trail. Click on any picture to view it's details and location.
Trail Directions & Safety Considerations
Children
4+ Years old
Dogs
We recommend to keep your dog on a leash
When to Go
Mid Apr - Mid Oct
Risk Considerations & Difficulty Assessment
This is a low altitude family friendly walk and should be snow free from mid April to the middle of October. The trails are well marked and you are never far away from a town. Your main way points will be Vaudagne, Alpage de Charousse and Lac Chavants. The trails are dog friendly but at the Alpage de Charousse you will be passing a pasture where sheep dogs might be guarding their flocks. There will be a warning sign explaining how to best deal with this and the rules for your own dog. The trail itself is easy and never very steep.
Trail Starting Point
There is a big parking at the Prarion lift station very near to Lac Chavants. There is also a bus stop near the Prarion lift station. You could take the train but the Les Houches train station is located on the other side of the Arve river and it will take you as much as 30 minutes to walk to Lac Chavants from the train station.
Trail Directions
From Lac Chavants make your way north past the tennis courts and enter the trail that takes you into the forest. This is a lovely area of rolling hills and little streams in a nice forest area. At the end of the trail you will reach a junction where you will take a right turn towards Vaudagne. This is a wide 4x4 trail and will have some steep sections with lose scree. You will be approaching the Vaudagne trainstation but before you reach it, you will take a left turn towards Vaudagne and take a trail that takes you westward into the forest. You will pass by a big house in the forest and enter a paved road which will connect with the main road going to Vaudagne. Stay on this main road until you reach the village. There is footpath that will take you to the top of the village which is basically a short cut between the switch backs that the main road takes. At the end of the trail going up the village, you will see another trail going up the hill next to a pasture. Take this trail which will take you to the Alpage de Charousse, a beautfil Alpine pasture with a few farm houses and a nice backdrop of the Mont Blanc. Follow the trail which will pass through the farm houses and end up in a forest trail. Follow this trail which will turn into paved road at La Creuse and the first houses above Les Chavants will appear. Keep following the paved road till it meets the Route des Aillouds. You will see a pedestrian trail across the road called the Chemin de la Bovresse. Take this trail which will end up at the Route des S'Nailles which is a straight paved road down the hill towards the Tennis Courts near Lac Chavants.
Points of Interest for this Trail
We have a large database of all of the points of interests in and around Chamonix. These are the points of interest you will find along this trail:
3D Map & GPS
Trail Route Map & GPS
You can download the GPX file and load this route into your own GPS enabled device or application. If you are on Strava, then you can open this route in Strava and save it to your account.
3D Map of this Trail
FATMAP in an incredible website and mobile application that you can use to view the trail in full 3D, do a fly over of the route and get a detailed vertical profile. You can view the FATMAP of this trail below and use the 'View larger map' link to visit the trail on the FATMAP website.
