Écrins
The Vallouise valley and Lake Eychauda, starting points for many trails towards the mountain huts.
ACTIVITY
Hiking & trail running
From multi-day routes to loops around an alpine lake, the Hautes-Alpes offer some of the most varied walking terrain in the Southern Alps.
Four essentials at a glance
- Best time
- Late June to September at altitude; spring and autumn at mid-altitude.
- Level
- From family trails to demanding traverses.
- Guidance
- Mountain walking leaders for off-trail routes or nature discovery.
- Key areas
- Écrins, Guillestrois & Queyras, Briançonnais.
ACTIVITY
Why here
The department brings together two major protected areas, the Écrins National Park and the Queyras Regional Natural Park, with a dense network of waymarked trails and mountain huts. You can go from a glacial valley to sunny alpine pastures in the same week.
Several long-distance routes cross the department: the GR54, Tour of the Oisans and Écrins, the GR58, Tour of the Queyras, and the GR5, the Grande Traversée des Alpes. For a day out, alpine lakes remain favourite destinations.
Key figures
60 %
of summer visitors to the Hautes-Alpes go hiking
Source: Hautes-Alpes Développement (hautes-alpes.net) (new tab)176 km
GR®54 Tour de l’Oisans et des Écrins, around 12 days
Source: FFRandonnée (new tab)700 km
of maintained trails and around forty mountain huts in the Écrins National Park
Source: Parc national des Écrins (new tab)1,000 km
of waymarked trails in the Queyras
Source: Office de tourisme du Guillestrois et du Queyras (new tab)
When to go
- January : Outside the stated periods
- February : Outside the stated periods
- March : Outside the stated periods
- April : Outside the stated periods
- May : Possible months
- June : Favourable months
- July : Favourable months
- August : Favourable months
- September : Favourable months
- October : Possible months
- November : Outside the stated periods
- December : Outside the stated periods
Favourable monthsPossible monthsOutside the stated periods
Dates for your diary
Mid-SeptemberEmbrun and Serre-Ponçon
Grand Trail de Serre-Ponçon
Mid-September (in 2026: 18 to 20 September; 2027: mid-September, exact date to be confirmed)
From 15 to 64 km around the lake.
Source: Finishers (new tab)
Our advice
- Set off early in summer: mountain thunderstorms often develop in the afternoon.
- Check the mountain weather forecast the evening before and again that morning.
- Bivouacking is regulated in the core of the Écrins National Park: check the Park’s rules before you go.
- Book mountain huts in high season; they are generally staffed from June to September.
- Pack warm layers: temperatures drop quickly with altitude.
- In the event of an accident, call 112 and give your location as precisely as possible.
The editorial selection
- Leisure activity
Leila'Venture
From Molines-en-Queyras, dog sledding in winter; climbing, via ferrata and canicross hiking in summer. Family-friendly.
Guillestrois & QueyrasView entry - Accommodation
Refuge du Glacier Blanc
A French Alpine Club hut at 2,542 m beside the Glacier Blanc, halfway between the Pré de Madame Carle and the Refuge des Écrins. 131 beds when wardened, 35 otherwise.
ÉcrinsView entry - Accommodation
Les Perce Neige
A 20-bed group gîte in the centre of Saint-Véran, on half board, 200 m from the shuttle and 250 m from the slopes.
Guillestrois & QueyrasView entry
Latest stories
Hiking & trail running
Six years tracking a she-wolf in the Briançonnais
For six years, Corentin Esmieu watched the same she-wolf in a valley in the Briançonnais, without camera traps, relying solely on direct observation. The film he co-directed with Baptiste Deturche, Louve, une vie dans les Alpes, hits cinemas on 4 November 2026; the she-wolf herself remains out of reach, and that is just as it should be.
Hiking & trail running
Traversette Tunnel: the gate is shut until 2027
On the French side, the gate installed in 2023 once again bars the entrance to the oldest tunnel in the Alps, bored in 1480 beneath the Col de la Traversette. Winter has gripped the Upper Queyras since 18 October: no more hikers will pass through to Italy before late spring or early summer 2027.
Hiking & trail running
Lac Sainte-Anne: hike above Ceillac before the snow
Above Ceillac's last larches, a rocky bowl at 2,414 m holds the Queyras's largest glacial lake. The path is reported passable until 1 November, snow permitting: you have two weekends left to head up.
Your questions
Practical guides
Spots by area
Guillestrois & Queyras
Ceillac, Lake Sainte-Anne and Lake Miroir; GR58 loops around the villages.
Briançonnais
The Clarée valley and its alpine lakes above Névache.
Buëch & Dévoluy
Limestone plateaux and the ascent of Pic de Bure.
Champsaur & Valgaudemar
The Valgaudemar valley, its waterfalls and mountain huts.
Key organisations
FFRandonnée (new tab)
Official guidebooks and GR® routes
Parc national des Écrins (new tab)
Regulations and trail conditions
Météo-France (new tab)
Mountain bulletins
Sources
- Tourisme : chiffres clés (new tab) · Hautes-Alpes Développement (hautes-alpes.net)
- GR®54 Tour de l'Oisans et des Écrins (new tab) · FFRandonnée
- 50 ans du Parc national des Écrins (new tab) · Parc national des Écrins · 2023
- Dossier de presse Le Queyras été-automne 2023 (new tab) · Office de tourisme du Guillestrois et du Queyras · 2023
- Grand Trail de Serre-Ponçon (new tab) · Finishers · 2026
Figures checked on 19 October 2026. Event dates may change: check with the organisers.