Refuge de Nice - Refuge de la Madone de Fenestre

This route, which runs parallel to the border, is dominated throughout by the large peak of Gélas, the highest summit in the area.

This walk is part of a multi-day hike: Route in the Mercantour

Details

n°96825

Creation:
18 Jan 2015

Last update:
–

Last review:
18 Aug 2025

Activity: Walking
Distance: 5.41 km
Average duration: 2h 50
Difficulty: Difficult
Back to start: No
Ascent: + 461 m
Descent: - 772 m
Highest point: 2,548 m
Lowest point: 1,861 m

Country: France
Areas: Alps, Mercantour
District: Belvédère (06450)
Start: N 44.104587° / E 7.400419°
End: N 44.095742° / E 7.356817°
IGN map(s): Ref. 3741OT
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Description of the walk

(S) Departure from the Nice refuge, still on the^GR®52. Go around the right bank of Lac de la Fous, leaving the dam on your left.

(1) Head south to marker 416. Then head west, then north-west to begin the steep climb up Pas du Mont Colomb.
Note: this climb, which follows a scree slope, ends with a narrow passage that leads to marker 400 indicating the pass.

(2) Continue downhill across the scree to reach a plateau dotted with small lakes.

(3) Here you will find a proper path. Walk gently down to the Gias Cabret ruins.

(4) Then head south to reach marker 367.
Leave the Vallon de Ponset trail on your left and turn right towards the west, heading towards La Vésubie and the nearby Madone de Fenestre refuge (E).

Waypoints

S : km 0 - alt. 2,217 m - Refuge de Nice
1 : km 0.93 - alt. 2,191 m - Lac de la Fous dam - Gordolasque
2 : km 2.1 - alt. 2,439 m - Pas du Mont Colomb
3 : km 2.8 - alt. 2,368 m - The small lakes
4 : km 4.19 - alt. 2,053 m - The ruins, heading south
E : km 5.41 - alt. 1,906 m - Madone de Fenestre Refuge

Notes

This is a short stage, but be careful when crossing the Pas du Mont Colomb. On both sides, the path is located in a scree slope. It is easy to follow but requires sure footing. Also beware of rockfalls that may be triggered by hikers upstream.

This route passes through a protected area, which may be subject to special regulations:

Coeur du Parc national du Mercantour - more information

Worth a visit

Church in the village of Madonna di Fenestre.

Reviews and comments

4.7 / 5

Based on 3 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.7 / 5

Ease of following the route
4.7 / 5

Route interest
4.7 / 5

User 26808092

18 Aug 2025 at 19:31 7200

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 12, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

For us, it was the third day of the tour. This time, the route was shorter than the previous day but still classified as difficult. There were many technical sections, and with the fatigue accumulated over the previous two days, we confirmed the difficulty.
Once again, we found ourselves in a lunar landscape surrounded by scree. As we descended, we came across some vegetation, which added to the scenery.
We saw chamois and ibex, which were barely disturbed by the passing hikers.
Another warm welcome at the refuge.
The site is nice with a beautiful chapel full of mystery. Unfortunately, we missed the 15 August procession there.

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Toubab38

08 Aug 2022 at 12:46 7200

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 28, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

The logical continuation of our journey to return to our starting point at the Countet bridge

My wife was apprehensive about the Colomb Pass. She made it through despite one or two difficult sections with our bags. I usually always take a rope with me, but I didn't this time. It would have reassured her. I spoke to a park ranger who confirmed that they were aware of the issue but didn't want to make it safer to prevent the route from becoming a highway.
I don't know where the right limit is.
Sadly, halfway through the hike, we came across an Italian family with two young children, one of whom was wearing flip-flops... I don't know how they made it to the Nice refuge... While some things seem so obvious to most of us, I wonder if it might not be a good idea to post certain safety rules.

Machine-translated

Rrodrigue

01 Oct 2019 at 10:17 7200 • Edited: 01 Oct 2019 at 16:31 7200

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 28, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

We did the hike in both directions. We set off on Saturday from Madone de Fenestre, spent the night at the Nice refuge and returned the next day to Madone.
We are not experienced hikers and this was the first hike classified as "difficult" that we had ever done.

The Madone to Nice section seemed more difficult and longer than the return trip. The climb up to Pas du Mont Collomb is long and exhausting. The descent from Pas to the Nice refuge is very steep at the beginning and quite tricky in some places. It took us 4½ hours to complete this section.

We spent the night at the superb Nice refuge. The welcome was very friendly, the food was perfect and the place was spotlessly clean.

The return journey was as described. It just took us an hour longer, making it 3½ hours in total.

This hike is superb, both in terms of the scenery and the feeling of being "almost" alone in the world and taking on a "climber's" challenge )
Finally, as a bonus, we came across some ibex, one of which we surprised (5 metres away) grazing on some grass behind a rock. Not shy, it moved a little further away to observe us (mutually) and then resumed its original activity.