Fort de l'Infernet

de fr

Visit a sentry fort overlooking the five Briançon valleys.

Details

n°4001
Creation:
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Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 13.48 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 6h 35 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Difficult
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 968 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 963 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 2,367 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 1,435 m
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Photos

Fort de l'Infernet
View of Les Ecrins, Briançon and Serre-Chevalier
L'Infernet

Description of the walk

Take the Col d'Izoard road, cross the village of Font Christiane and at the next crossroads turn left onto the Fort de Têtes road. Park in the shooting range car park.
(S/E) Walk along the shooting range on your left, then take the path that crosses the Randouillet Fort track. Return to this track and turn left.

(1) Stay on this track to go around the fort and reach the Fort d'Anjou.

(2) Then take the wide path on the left, zigzagging through the forest until you reach the crossroads of the military road and the track leading to the Seyte barracks.
Cut across the latter via the path to reach the barracks.

(3) Leave the Clot de l'Infernet track on your left and continue on the right towards a large building. Continue south-east until you reach a hairpin bend.

(4) Take the path that leads to the old Cochette barracks.

(5) Take the path heading west towards Fort de l'Infernet.

(6) Descend via the wide track at the fort entrance to reach the aforementioned hairpin bend.

(4) Retrace your steps to return to the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 1,435 m - Parking at - Fort des Têtes
  2. 1 : km 0.79 - alt. 1,512 m - Randouillet track
  3. 2 : km 1.97 - alt. 1,669 m - Track to the left of Fort d'Anjou
  4. 3 : km 4.78 - alt. 2,089 m - La Seyte battery
  5. 4 : km 5.62 - alt. 2,145 m - Hairpin bend towards La Cochette
  6. 5 : km 6.35 - alt. 2,248 m - La Cochette
  7. 6 : km 6.66 - alt. 2,367 m - Fort de l'Infernet
  8. S/E : km 13.48 - alt. 1,436 m - Fort des Têtes car park

Notes

There are no water sources along the route. The Seyte barracks can be used as shelter, and the fort itself can accommodate you for the end of the night so that you can enjoy the sunrise in peace.
(3) Possible alternative at the Seyte barracks: take the Clot de l'Infernet track. At Clot, turn left onto the wide track that leads to Fort Dauphin and then to the car park.

Worth a visit

This is the domain of the history of forts, the Maginot Line, and the protection and surveillance of the border. Here you can see all the military work that went into building roads, walls, barracks, forts and cable cars. There were three cable cars used to transport food and ammunition. The first left from La Schappe in Briançon and connected to Le Randouillet. The second, in two sections, went to L'Infernet with an intermediate stop at La Seyte. The third, departing from Terre Rouge, served La Cochette. Apart from the one at La Schappe, there are still remains of the others. Finally, L'Infernet and the nearby localities (Poët Morand and L'Eyrette) had their moment of glory on 21 June 1940, when the Italian batteries at Fort du Chaberton were destroyed from here.

Reviews and comments

4.5 / 5
Based on 9 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.6 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.7 / 5
Route interest
4.3 / 5
rabinovitch
rabinovitch

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 17, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hike completed in 5 hours. The climb through the forest is a bit monotonous, but the view from the top is beautiful.

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Nadroj74
Nadroj74

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 04, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant hike, with a bunker that can be visited between points 3 and 4. It's worth taking a look inside for a bit of exploration; a head torch is recommended. The last 100 metres of elevation gain are quite challenging, so you need to be in good physical condition in my opinion. Otherwise, you can always turn left at point 4, where the climb is easier. The old fort itself is very nice to explore. You can access all the rooms, and the panoramic view is, as always in the mountains, magical!

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grolles52
grolles52

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 24, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

I left the Vauban neighbourhood, so I walked for eight hours.

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Patrick K
Patrick K

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 05, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Having increased the length of the hike by 6 km (3 km there and 3 km back), we completed it in 6 hours. The only difficult part of the hike is the last few hundred metres leading up to the fort, which are very steep. However, it is possible to go up by road (return route on the map), which is longer but easier.

Otherwise, the fort is interesting!

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randonnée79270
randonnée79270

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 01, 2020
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 historical remains to discover. Beautiful viewpoint.

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DayWalker
DayWalker

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 13, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

The hike is rather monotonous as long as you are in the "wooded" section. Other paths are possible for the return trip once you have passed the seyte. However, after trying them for a change from the wide paths with numerous "S" bends, we finally followed a path that turned out to be quite similar.

On the plus side, this wooded section is very pleasant on a sunny day. The fort itself is interesting, and some more precise directions would be welcome to help you go around it on the "right" side and reach the track leading to the fort entrance. Perhaps the GPS track for this route could also be refined a little?

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Britanicus100
Britanicus100

So you should go. It's a beautiful route, you won't be disappointed.

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ericelec
ericelec

Thank you for your video.

It makes me want to go there.

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MH13
MH13

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 22, 2015
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Actual walking time: 5 hours 30 minutes
No markings on the ground, so a map or GPS is essential
A wonderful opportunity to discover the forts and their history
Magnificent 360° views of Les Ecrins, the Clarée Valley, Serre-Chevalier, Montgenèvre, etc.

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Jean-jacques G.
Jean-jacques G.

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 01, 2014
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

I did this hike in early October 2014. The weather was beautiful, with stunning views of all the surrounding peaks. The fort is quite dilapidated but worth seeing.

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Britanicus100
Britanicus100
• Edited:

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 18, 2013
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

I did this hike in October 2013. This modestly high peak offers remarkable panoramic views comparable to some of the 3,000-metre peaks in the surrounding area (Gondrans, Janus, Grande Maye, Lausette, Chaberton, etc.), the Ecrins and the Izoard mountains.

I made a video that captures the atmosphere well.
It's here.https://youtu.be/-l-njw6DuYk

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sobal
sobal

Thank you for this route.
On 28 October, we started at Fort d'Anjou, so we didn't do the whole thing.
But the directions were perfect and the walk was wonderful.

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xave
xave

Wolves were spotted in the winter of 2010-2011, just beyond Schappe Park, at the foot of the Vauban district... :idea(idea)idea(idea)idea:

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