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Departure from Valmorel station. Park in the free car park next to the "Le Pierrier" and "Le Cheval Noir" residences, just before the "Cheval Noir" and "Cheval Blanc" covered car parks. To access the car park, drive through the village and turn left under the Pierrafort cable car departure point.
There are signposts at all major intersections along the route.
Without signposts
(S/E) Continue along the road to its end (towards the east). Go around the entrance to the covered car parks on the left. At the roundabout, continue along the road closed to traffic and walk alongside a large building on your right. At the junction just before a ski lift line, turn right and walk a few dozen metres along the line on your left.
(1) At the edge of the forest (ski lift pylon no. 6; signpost "Le Cheval Blanc"), leave the road on the left, pass under the ski lift line and take a path towards Les Bachals and the Col du Gollet. Climb up, cross a stream. Follow a few bends through the forest and arrive at more open terrain.
(2) Go over a small cattle grid and cross an alpine pasture. Descend slightly, leave the pasture and re-enter the forest. Walk along the gently sloping hillside, crossing two streams. Climb back up to the alpine pasture and come out onto a track at the Chalet des Bachals.
(3) Turn right and follow the track south, leaving the chalet on your left.
(4) At the first hairpin bend on the left, leave the track and follow the Chemin des Chasseurs towards the Col du Gollet. Climb steadily up the hillside, heading south-south-west then south-west, through shrubbery.
(5) Shortly before Col du Gollet, at the ski lift of the same name, leave the path and turn left onto a trail towards Crève Tête. Follow the switchbacks through the mountain pasture. Reach the ridge and continue along the hillside to reach a small, unnamed pass (avalanche triggering device).
(6) Continue along steeper switchbacks, amid increasingly numerous boulders and on a rockier path. You will come across several tracks marked with pink paint dots: do not follow these very steep tracks, as the usual path is steep enough. After a final left turn in a grassy area, you will reach the summit (metal cross).
Yellow and white markings (old)
(7) From the summit, retrace your steps for a few metres and turn immediately left (leaving the path you took on the way up on your right). Descend the ridge. A short distance from the summit, go around a small landslide on the left (use your hands). Continue descending, either straight or alternating zigzags, on the ridge or slightly below, on a very pleasant path through a beautifully flowered mountain pasture (in season).
(8) At Longecha, continue straight on towards Plan Pierre Larron (ignore the path that branches off to the right towards the Belleville Valley). Descend in zigzags through a more wooded area. Cross a grassy track and continue on the path towards Les Bachals. Follow a few switchbacks through the forest and come out onto a track. Follow this track to the left, then soon turn right with it and leave the Refuge Pierre Larron on your left. Ignore a vague start on the left and pass at the foot of an isolated rock block on the right-hand side.
No markings
(9) At the next junction, turn left onto the Route Forestière Pierre Larron towards Les Bachals. Continue downhill on this wide track, ignoring all the paths branching off to the sides.
(4) Turn right at the hairpin bend and pass the Chalet des Bachals on your right.
(3) At the signpost and just before a picnic table, take a sharp left onto the path towards Valmorel. Through mountain pastures and forests, follow the same route as on the way there in the opposite direction.
(2) Continue downhill through the forest.
(1) Turn right onto the small road and left at the next junction. You will soon reach the car park where you started (S/E).
Visorando member
Moderate 
Easy 
Association / Club / Walk leader
Tourism professional
