Lake Caillauas

Date of your route : Jul 21, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Quite a long hike, almost 8.5 kilometres to get to the lake.
I would also advise against taking the steeper shortcuts at the beginning of the forest and after the refuge.
The climb is fairly gentle if you follow the switchbacks and is not difficult.
The Clarabide Gorges are superb.
The lake, surrounded by 3,000-metre peaks, is also very pretty, and you wouldn't imagine it to be so deep (100 metres)
The descent is via the same route, and I found the return journey after the gorges very long.
Otherwise, there were a few people up to the refuge and very few after that. It's not Lake Oo.

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Date of your route : Oct 03, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hike completed in 5 hours and 40 minutes, including breaks, alone. I do not recommend cutting corners or taking steeper paths to try to save time: you will only exhaust yourself. From the refuge, the path leading to the lake is not very well marked, and it is not always easy to know which path to take, even though they all lead to the summit. There are a few technical sections, but nothing too complicated, you just need to be careful.
I recommend not carrying too much water to keep your load as light as possible. Drinking water is available at the refuge and along the way, where there are numerous water sources. If you have a filter bottle, don't worry, you can fill it up at several places. For both the descent and the ascent, walking poles are not essential, but they are very useful for saving time and improving safety.

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Date of your route : Oct 11, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

The description is accurate, but when crossing the Caillauas stream, you need to be careful where the route climbs up the rocks; you have to descend to take the footbridge and cross the stream. It is a very beautiful high mountain hike.

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Date of your route : Jul 26, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Excellent hike, I recommend it.

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Date of your route : Oct 11, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Caillaouas Lake Hike
A magnificent hike with lots of variety. The trail is well marked and accessible to all. The bridge crossing the stream had been repaired (be careful as there is a small change to the trail to reach the bridge). The landscape becomes a little more rocky after the refuge, and there are numerous shortcuts. The water level was particularly low. We wanted to go to Pourchergues, but we didn't because an employee at the power station informed us that it had been emptied for maintenance.

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Date of your route : Oct 10, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

The route is well marked up to the Soula refuge, dotted with interesting information boards about the history of the dams and the local flora and fauna. From there, a winding path leads easily to Lake Caillauas. The cabin near the lake can be used as a shelter (mattress, fireplace, but no wood). There is a small spring below, near a "window" in the tunnel.

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Date of your route : Sep 23, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Easy/moderate hike

Very easy up to the refuge, then it climbs but is not difficult for experienced walkers.

As you pass the dam, a path appears on the right (no difficulty, but keep an eye on the cairns) which leads to Lac des Iskrivots (1 hour's walk) between the two blueberries
i did the round trip to the two lakes in 8 hours
the first lake takes 3 hours to reach

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Date of your route : Aug 11, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Very easy climb to the La Soula refuge where you can fill your water bottles. After that, it gets more challenging (steep incline, rocky path, strong sun exposure). A little disappointed by the lake (very rocky environment) even though the colour of the lake was a spectacular blue!
It is an artificial lake, and the water level was low when we visited. Ruins of buildings also detract from the beauty of the landscape. Nevertheless, there are some beautiful views. Thank you for sharing this route.
No difficulties with the route (we use GPS).

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Date of your route : Apr 09, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike with several panoramic views, which makes it very interesting!
It takes about 1.5 hours to reach the Soula refuge, but as the views are limited, it's best to continue on to Lake Caillauas (another 1.5 hours). We did this hike in early April, and it's easily doable without any special equipment.
The climb up to the lake is interspersed with several "shortcuts", but it's impossible to get lost.
We even saw a few marmots, which weren't very shy!
One small downside: a bridge was broken shortly after we walked along the rock face. It is possible to cross, but you have to step from stone to stone across the river.

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Date of your route : Jul 27, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A magnificent hike, a 4-hour climb from Pont du Prat, and a 3-hour 10-minute descent. (We are two people aged 60 and 30). The climb after the refuge is long; it took us 2 hours. There are numerous switchbacks, sometimes crossed by other paths, making the route less obvious in places, but it is impossible to go wrong. The climb to the refuge is very pleasant. The return trip is quite long.

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

Hike completed in 6.5 hours without breaks. Please note that numerous snowfields overhanging the path in the valleys require a minimum of equipment, and the warm weather over the past week is likely to have made the snow-covered sections very unstable and dangerous. The circular loop providing access to Lake Pouchergues is therefore currently impassable as it is still covered in snow.

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Date of your route : May 15, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Quite a long hike – 6½ hours of walking – but varied (first through forest, then gorges, then the climb after the refuge). Marmots (the first ones on the small plateau above the refuge, then in several places during the climb to the lake, including young ones playing). There are lots of information boards along the route (about flowers, wildlife, industrial history, etc.). One of them is at an observation point for chamois; we didn't see any here, but 5 minutes before reaching the lake, we noticed three large rocky areas (rocks with reddish streaks) on the left: a chamois was standing there, a reward before we arrived. The lake itself is not very picturesque (dam, ruins), but it is the varied route that makes this hike interesting.
On the way back from the lake, you can turn left at the ruins (with the lake behind you), descend towards a hut used by employees ("le Ritz"), and follow a small path behind this hut that joins the uphill path a little further on.

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Date of your route : Sep 18, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

I had the opportunity to do this route yesterday (mid-September 2020).
I would describe the first part as fairly easy up to the refuge. Be aware that it is still about 500 metres, but the route is straightforward (lots of small signs) and there is no real reason to get lost. Furthermore, in my opinion, the first part is less rocky and therefore the most attractive section.
The second part is a little more challenging. I had a bit of trouble "reading" the route and ended up feeling my way along at random. There are a number of tracks, perhaps left by hikers in a hurry to get back down, or by summer pasture activity...
So I stopped a few times to look for the "optimal" route, but I don't think there's any risk of getting lost, the only risk being increasing the distance.
The lake was quite low (end of summer), so I think the area is less impressive than in other seasons.
On the other side of the dam, you can see a path that must lead to the next lakes, but given the scree you have to cross, it seems to me that this is only for those who are used to these kinds of conditions (borderline mountaineering).
Otherwise, I didn't find a tap at the dam.
The estimated time to the bottom is 3 hours, but for me it took 4 , and the same time to come back down.

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