This is an enjoyable walk, with some lush vegetation, that it is a pleasure to follow as a means to apply knowledge gained from a visit to the Lautaret pass Alpine Botanical Garden. The high point of this short climb is the Belvedere de l'Homme. It is an invitation to contemplate the high summits of the massif and perhaps encourage us to come back another time to walk towards the Arsine pass, the Adèle mountain refuge or the Emparis plateau that we can imagine in the distance.
Pierrick Navizet - eco-tourism task officer at the Parc national
Entrée dans le Parc du coté du Col du Lautaret (Pierrick Navizet - Parc national des Ecrins)
En chemin vers le belvédère de l'Homme (Pierrick Navizet - Parc national des Ecrins)
On touche au but ... La Meije se dévoile (Pierrick Navizet - Parc national des Ecrins)
Le sentier se devine au mitan du versant herbeux (Bernard Nicollet - Parc national des Ecrins)
La Pyramide de Laurichard et la réserve naturelle du Combeynot avant le démantelement des téléskis (Eric Vannard - PNE)
Démantèlement des téléskis au col du Lautaret (Eric Vannard - PNE)
Evacuation des matériaux par hélicoptère (Eric Vannard - PNE)
Travaux de démantèlement des téléskis au col du Lautaret (Eric Vannard - PNE)
Evacuation des matériaux par hélicoptère lors du démantèlement des téléskis (Eric Vannard - PNE)
Chaton mâle et chaton femelle de l'aulne vert (Bernard Nicollet - PNE)
Aulne vert (Bernard Nicollet - PNE)
Le sentier traverse la megaphorbiaie. (Pierrick Navizet - Parc national des Ecrins)
La vie en minuscule pour le chrysomèle des adénostyles (Bernard Nicollet - Parc national des Ecrins)
Le lys martagon (Pierrick Navizet - Parc national des Ecrins)
Parade de Tétrs Lyre au printemps (Robert Chevalier - Parc national des Ecrins)
From the car park below the Lautaret pass, head towards Laurichard where you will quickly come to a crossing. Leave the Laurichard footpath and turn right. Cross a footbridge and progressively walk up the hillside. The footpath crosses over several streams, eutrophic tall herbs and shrub zones and leads to a more open area - where sheep sometimes graze – before reaching the Belvedere de l'homme. Do not go over the barrier, turn back to return to the start point.
Transport
Bus route Grenoble - Briançon, via Le col du Lautaret (ligne express régionale : LER 35).
Access
D1091 (Grenoble — Briançon), col du Lautaret.
Information desks
Information center "Col du Lautaret" (summer only)
Under the gaze of the Meije (3983 m) and surrounded by beautiful meadows celebrated in the great names of botany, the former hospice of the Lautaret called "refuge Napoleon" houses the reception and information Park center - Projections, documentation, books of the Park. Accessible to people with reduced mobility. Free admission.
Col du Lautaret
05220
Le Monêtier-les-bains
Website - Email - 04 92 24 49 74
Lat: 45.03494, Lng: 6.40566
Maison du Parc du Briançonnais
Located at the foot of the medieval town fortified by Vauban, declared World Heritage by UNESCO in 2008, the Maison du Parc Briançon is a welcoming place of information exchange. Three floors of exhibition to discover : the natural and cultural heritage, the museum of the history of skiing in Briançon. Documentation, maps, guidebooks, books and products of the Park. Guided tours for groups by reservation. Free admission.
Place Médecin-Général Blanchard
05100
Briançon
Website - Email - 04 92 21 08 49
Lat: 44.89807, Lng: 6.64312
This trek is within park center, please read access rules.
Clic for map interaction
On the way...
A small ski resort was created in 1970 not far from the Lautaret mountain pass. Due to the risk of avalanches and new standards required, alpine skiing was moved near to the village of Villar d'Arène and Chazelet hamlet. The two obsolete ski-lifts situated in this very picturesque territory, rich in terms of biodiversity, ruin this place which has been classified since1974 as the national nature reserve of Combeynot. In 2013, dismantling was carried out by the Mixed union of ski-resorts in the Haute Romanche with the support of the National Park. In the end more than 35 tons of iron and concrete blocks were evacuated.
La Pyramide de Laurichard et la réserve naturelle du Combeynot avant le démantelement des téléskis (Eric Vannard - PNE)
Here is a spectacular transition from the genuine forest and pastures of the north facing slopes. There is a thick grouping of shrubs made up essentially of willows and green alders. These will never reach the size of a tree. They constitute impenetrable thickets where, over time, boars, chamois and roe deer have outlined a maze to hide in. The plants provide nitrogen through their roots and fertilise the soil, as if getting their own back on the eutrophic tall herbs.
Chaton mâle et chaton femelle de l'aulne vert (Bernard Nicollet - PNE)
Transition zone at the upper edge of the forest, it has large plants with big leaves that seek light in order to grow. Under cover of their leaves, some animals and plants find a safe haven, particularly alternate-leaved golden saxifrage and adenostyles alpina. On the east part of the Ecrins massif, eutrophic tall herbs can be found at the edge of streams and brooks. Just after snowmelt, it raises its golden head and constitutes a lovely carpet of flowers.
Le sentier traverse la megaphorbiaie. (Pierrick Navizet - Parc national des Ecrins)
The Turk's cap lily lodges on the grassy slopes, meadows and undergrowth. It can be seen from a distance due to it long upright flowering stalk from which stem three to ten majestic flowers. They are large, purple-pink with some crimson, and have six petals that turn upwards when they reach maturity. Six orange stamens are then visible. The flowers that bend downwards lift when the fruit is formed.
Le lys martagon (Pierrick Navizet - Parc national des Ecrins)
The black grouse lives above 1200 m, and can only be found in the Alps. It is possible to spot the male due to its black plumage and its tail in the shape of a lyre (which is why its French name is Tétras Lyre). While it spends most of the time in winter in an igloo scooped out of the snow as protection against the cold, in the spring it performs spectacular parades to attract a female. The National park is tracking the population of the species in this zone.
Parade de Tétrs Lyre au printemps (Robert Chevalier - Parc national des Ecrins)
Altitude profile
Altitude (m)
Min : 2036 m - Max : 2124 m
Distance (m)
See also
Markings
PR
