Étang d'Eychelle and Cabane d'Eychelle

Date of your route : Sep 29, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

watch out for the dog hanging around with the herd by the lake. I don't think he's vicious, but it's best not to go looking for trouble

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Date of your route : Aug 11, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Nice hike, but I prefer going to the Eychelle pond via the trail that starts from the car park on the forest road at Bethmale pond.

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Date of your route : Jul 29, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike. Lake Eychelle is simply magnificent, especially in sunny weather.
However, you need to make sure you follow the route indicated on Visorando, as it is not signposted from the Col de la Core car park.
Even if you are fit, the climb up to the lake is not easy as the GR trail is very stony. You sometimes need to use your hands to climb. Walking sticks are therefore highly recommended! I didn't go as far as the Eychelle hut as the climb is steep, but the views on arrival are well worth the effort!

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Date of your route : May 31, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Hello. Although very short, this hike has a fairly significant elevation gain starting at the 2nd kilometre and continuing for 3 kilometres, as the first kilometre consists roughly of a 500-metre climb followed by a 400-metre descent, which means you start again from scratch with an elevation gain of around 17% for the last 3 kilometres (on the way there, of course).
That said, there is a beautiful reward at the end, with a lake and plateau at the Eychelle hut surrounded by mountains.

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Date of your route : Aug 27, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

I couldn't find this hike from the Col de la Core without going via Lake Bethmale, which is a shame

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Date of your route : Jul 28, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

I only went as far as the Eychelle pond, but it's a very beautiful hike.
About ten years ago, I had already climbed up to the flat, grassy area (point 2 on the map), and at the time, the GR was overgrown with vegetation, making the climb difficult. Since then, a lot of work has been done to clear the vegetation, making the GR much easier to walk on!

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Date of your route : Jun 17, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful hike with few people in June. Don't stop at the lake, even though it's very nice; keep going to the cabin for a stunning view with hundreds of sheep.

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Date of your route : Sep 30, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very pretty hike starting from the Col de la Core
It's worth continuing past the lake towards the hut

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Date of your route : Apr 20, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A classic route. Magnificent trail from the Col de la Core.
Description not used. Quite a lot of snow from the Eychelle lake onwards.
Worth doing again and again.

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Date of your route : Sep 02, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hike from the Col de la Core, well marked at the start. The difficulty, in foggy weather, is not to lose the path when you have to follow the dry riverbed through the grassy area.
A hundred metres from the lake, four vultures took flight three metres away, surprised by our appearance through the fog (they were finishing cleaning a sheep carcass).
As for the hut, it is part of the summer pasture where the sheepdog barks incessantly as we approach. Once we were inside, the sheep wasted no time in helping themselves to the food on the table (they were difficult to chase away).
Finally, I found it regrettable that the four carcasses of dead sheep, scattered in the grass, were not gathered in one place, a little away from the flock (even if they are food for the vultures...)

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Date of your route : Sep 12, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

11 September 2022
It's best to avoid the huts on the Cirque d'Estive ladder for a few hundred sheep and patous that quickly make you feel unwelcome.
It's difficult to get around in this summer pasture area.
Do this before or after the herds are in the area around the huts if you want to continue your hike to the ponds above

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Date of your route : Jul 11, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

the return trip via the GR 10 is a bit long but a pleasant hike along the lake

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Date of your route : May 29, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A superb walk to the lake and then to the huts (there's a new one since last summer), but still a little too much snow to continue on to the Col de la Crouzette. There were few people around in the morning at this time of year, but many more in the afternoon on the way down (it was Ascension Sunday).

However, for the return trip, we decided to go via the Eliet hut and then descend towards Lake Bethmale. A beautiful 12.8 km loop, and the opportunity to meet a local who kindly gave us a lift back to the Col de la Core... If we had been a little fitter, we would have gone back up via the GR to the pass, but this part is less interesting.

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Date of your route : Oct 14, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hello everyone
We went on a hike in beautiful, cool weather, just as described. It was a lovely hike with magnificent views. We stopped at the lake for lunch. There was no one else there, and it was peaceful and blissful.

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Date of your route : Aug 09, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

A beautiful hike that is worth continuing to the Col de la Crouzette. There were lots of people up to the Etang d'échelle (including a family with children who apparently screamed all afternoon!), but after the lake, it was almost deserted! Still, it's quite a climb and the kids deserved a rest after all that effort.
The mass tourism that is developing rapidly in the mountains would benefit from more education on how to behave in the mountains and in nature in general.
This hike is best done early in the morning to avoid the crowds.

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