The Morgon Cirque

The route crosses the superb Boscodon State Forest, continues through the Cirque de Morgon with its small lake, and ends with a descent in wide hairpin bends through the forest on the edge of the Cirque de Bragousse.
Along the way, several viewpoints offer splendid views of the Lac de Serre-Ponçon, the Pic de Morgon and the Cirque de Bragousse.

Details

125203
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 11.79 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 5h 25 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Difficult

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 720 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 725 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 2,095 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 1,541 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Access is via the D954 between Savines-le-Lac and Crots. Take the D568 towards Boscodon Abbey. At the abbey, continue along the small tarmac road towards Fontaine de l'Ours. This leads directly to the car park at an altitude of approximately 1,570 m.

The hike starts at the Fontaine de l'Ours car park in the Boscodon National Forest, near Crots.

GRP® markings (red and yellow)

(S/E) Follow the Sentier des Pyramides trail westwards. You will pass the Fontaine de l'Ours, a converted cave, and then the Belvédère de l'Aiguillas viewpoint.

(1) Continue along the path that descends into the ravine carved out by the Colombier torrent, which you will cross by fording. 100 metres before the torrent, you will pass the Belvédère des Pyramides viewpoint on your left.

(2) Climb back up to an altitude of 1,600 metres, then continue to the forest road that connects Boscodon Abbey to the Grand Clot car park.

(3) Turn left and walk along this forest road.
At a left-hand bend in the road, theGRP® turns right.

No markings

(4) Continue along the forest road, cross the Grand Clos car park and climb up, following the track closed to traffic to Portes de Morgon, where you will pass a wooden cross.

(5) Turn left, then left again towards Col de la Baisse and Fontaine de l'Ours (sign).
The path climbs steadily up the hillside inside the Cirque de Morgon to Col de la Baisse (altitude 2,035 m).

(6) Head towards Clos Besson. From time to time, you will pass signs attached to trees bearing a hiker's logo and the words "Sentier de Charance".

(7) The trail crosses two successive tricky passages in scree.
After climbing to the highest point of this hike (2,077 m), it descends in increasingly wide switchbacks to its junction with the Sentier des Pyramides, which you took at the start of the hike.
Turn right; the car park is about 200 m away (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 1,572 m - Fontaine de l'Ours car park
  2. 1 : km 0.5 - alt. 1,603 m - Belvédère des Aiguillas
  3. 2 : km 1.29 - alt. 1,561 m - Near - Belvédère des Pyramides.
  4. 3 : km 3.44 - alt. 1,598 m - Forest road, turn left
  5. 4 : km 3.83 - alt. 1,630 m - Continue along the forest road.
  6. 5 : km 6.01 - alt. 1,896 m - Wooden cross - Cirque de Morgon
  7. 6 : km 7.24 - alt. 2,030 m - Col de la Baisse (2034m)
  8. 7 : km 7.65 - alt. 2,022 m - Passage through scree
  9. S/E : km 11.79 - alt. 1,573 m - Fontaine de l'Ours car park

Notes

Good hiking boots and drinks.

Crossing two scree slopes (7) after the Col de la Baisse can be tricky for those prone to vertigo.

Worth a visit

Reviews and comments

4.7 / 5
Based on 5 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.6 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.8 / 5
Route interest
4.8 / 5
HENRYD57
HENRYD57

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 24, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Tour completed on 19 August on a beautiful day
We decided to start from a paid car park (€5, beware of very rocky road) instead of starting from Boscodon Abbey, saving ourselves a 10 km round trip
from there, the road continued to wind its way to the cirque, offering several views of Lake Serre Ponçon
An incredible site with magnificent views
Accessible to all, although all-terrain pushchairs are not recommended

Machine-translated

Er_iialc
Er_iialc
• Edited:

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 09, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Beware of snowfields, which are still very common in early May.

Machine-translated

nomisimon
nomisimon

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 03, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful circular route alternating between sections in the Boscodon forest and sections along a balcony with lovely views of the Morgon and Bramousse cirques and Lake Serre Ponçon.

Machine-translated

binetplaton
binetplaton

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 23, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A very pretty circular path in the middle of the Boscodon forest. There was a slight problem crossing the first stream, as the path had been washed away by heavy flooding, but by climbing over the scree, we managed it!

Machine-translated

gazok54
gazok54 ★

Thank you, Gardfre
The hike suggested by the author ends at the cirque, which is already a beautiful circular route, so if you made it to the peak, well done. Once you reached the top, you must have been blown away by the view.

Machine-translated

Gardfre
Gardfre

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 14, 2016
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Easy climb to the cirque, then the climb to the peak becomes more difficult.

Machine-translated

Other walks in the area

For more walks, use our search engine .

The GPS track and description are the property of this route's author. Please do not copy them without permission.