The Mont Brion circuit

Date of your route : Jun 02, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We completed the Mont Brion circuit hike without any difficulty, adopting a trail-running style, and finished in 3 hours and 10 minutes. We really enjoyed the various viewpoints.

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Date of your route : Sep 15, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk, not very busy, especially this September. The only slight hiccup was towards the end, after stage 12: I tried to follow the GPX route and ended up in a pile of rocks and branches caused, I think, by a recent flash flood in the Lavaty stream. After stage 12, the marked path branches off to the right; I should have taken it, but I preferred to follow the GPX track! It was a mistake on my part – I ended up in the woods and the debris, and had to climb back up through a pile of branches and stones to rejoin the path, which had been diverted by the flood.
Otherwise, though, it was a lovely hike with plenty of beautiful, ever-changing views. I heard marmots whistling several times.

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Date of your route : May 10, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We decided to go on this hike because it’s accessible by coach from Thonon-les-Bains. It was brilliant, although by mistake we cut the hike short from stage 3 to stage 10 by going via a lake and the ‘Crève-Cœur’ pass; there was a bit of snow, but it was a lovely route too, with no particular difficulties and a little shorter than the standard route. Given the comments about the difficult stages due to slippery conditions, this route might also be worth considering.

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Hello,

I would advise against this hike over the next few days. We actually did the Mont Brion circuit today, and realised that after passing the Col de Damoz des Moulins (6), it becomes very dangerous due to avalanche debris. Once we reached the bottom (with some difficulty), we therefore decided to completely change our route, given how difficult the path was to navigate on the way back up the pass (7 to 8).
On the way down, we saw that a notice had been added to every signpost indicating that the path between 6 and 7 was strictly closed. We would have liked to have seen that before heading down.

We may have been a bit too reckless, but I think we were lucky. Although the path is magnificent, I would advise you to ask people in the area whether it is passable again before setting off.

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

A lovely walk, very well marked in yellow if you don’t follow the Visorando route (with the yellow markings, there’s just a slight variation at point 4).
Slippery sections on the descent from the Col Damoz des Moulins between points 6 and 7 (it was very dry on 9 October 2023), then slippery again on the climb up to the Savolaire pass between points 7 and 8, but particularly very, very slippery on the final descent (11) (I fell four times).

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Date of your route : Aug 04, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely hike, with marmots and ibex to be seen after point 6. We added the Pic de la Corne, which adds an hour to the walk but really enhances the experience; the 360-degree view is simply magnificent for just a few extra metres. From point 11 onwards, the path through the forest is really steep.

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