Sept Laux J2

The second stage of this circular route in the Belledonne Massif, sometimes along a balcony trail, sometimes through wild valleys, takes you around the Allevard Massif.

⚠️15/06/2026: a notice indicates a rockfall at Cul de la Vieille between 2 and 3, making it impossible to follow this route. You must take the GR®738 as a detour. Please let us know in the comments if you have any information regarding the lifting of this notice.

This walk is part of a multi-day hike: Sept Laux

Details

n°141535

Creation:
09 Aug 2015

Last update:
today

Last review:
16 Jun 2022

Activity: Walking
Distance: 10.35 mi
Average duration: 6h 50
Difficulty: Difficult
Back to start: No
Ascent: + 2,408 ft
Descent: - 5,026 ft
Highest point: 7,018 ft
Lowest point: 4,383 ft

Country: France
Areas: Alps, Belledonne, Dauphiné, Les Sept Laux
City: La Ferrière (Isère) (38580)
Start: N 45.249074° / E 6.078493°
End: N 45.224845° / E 5.998757°
IGN map(s): Ref. 3334OT, 3334OTR, 3335ET, 3335ETR, 3335OT, 3335OTR, 3433OT
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Description of the walk

(S) From the Sept Laux refuge, follow the yellow and red-marked trail (^GR®® de Pays d’Allevard) towards Lac Noir and Fond de France.

(1) Go round Lac Carré, walk beneath the dam, pass close to the EDF chalet (leaving it on your left) and head for Lac Noir.

(2) At the Col de la Vieille, turn left and head straight down towards the Cul de la Vieille: you’ll lose 300 metres in altitude over just under 2 km. Be careful, this descent can be slippery in wet weather or after rain!

(3) Head to the crossroads near the Chalet du Gleyzin de la Ferrière and turn left towards the Col du Merdaret and Le Pleynet (^GRP®® Tour des Sept Laux). Follow the balcony path, from which you can see the Le Pleynet resort, and head to the Chalet du Pra.

(4) Leave the main track and take the path on the left which climbs up into the mountain pasture, marked in yellow.

(5) Beneath the Oursière chairlift, a wooden sculpture has been placed. Continue along the yellow-marked path and emerge beneath the Aigle chairlift, at the signpost “Sous la Dent de Pipay” (alt. 1,868 m).

(6) Follow the wide track heading south-west. From this track, you can see the top station of the Aigle chairlift and the Tétras ski lift. Just 200m of climbing left before reaching the Col des Oudis (alt. 2096 m).

(7) Descend along the wide track towards the artificial lake below.

(8) Go round it on the left. Climb up opposite, running parallel to the Marmottons ski lift, and emerge onto the arrival plaza of the Chamois chairlift.

(9) Head towards Lac de la Jasse, following the signpost opposite the top station.

(10) Please note: at Lac de la Jasse, the signpost is misaligned and points towards the Lac ski lift; do not go up under the ski lift but stay on the track until, 100 m further on, you find a second signpost marked “Sous le Lac de la Jasse” which points towards “Le Gros Cailloux”.

(11) At the three-way junction, take the track on the left, continue along it and leave the track on your left that climbs to the summit of La Jasse (Alt 1792 m) to take a path on the left about 300 m further down, heading south. Follow it to reach Le Gros Cailloux, a climbing site.

(12) Continue through the woodland on the yellow-marked track until you reach a junction with a track suitable for vehicles.

(13) Head up the track to the right towards the Colonie du Pré de l'Arc holiday centre. Stay on this track to return to the car park where you started (E).

Waypoints

S : mi 0 - alt. 7,018 ft - Refuge des Sept Laux
1 : mi 0.16 - alt. 7,005 ft - Turn left towards Lac Noir
2 : mi 0.57 - alt. 6,877 ft - Col de la Vieille
3 : mi 1.74 - alt. 5,292 ft - Gleyzin de la Ferrière chalet. Near the - Bréda (rivière)
4 : mi 3.47 - alt. 5,433 ft - Chalet du Pra
5 : mi 4.6 - alt. 6,056 ft - L'Oursière chairlift
6 : mi 5.25 - alt. 6,102 ft - Below the Dent du Pipay
7 : mi 6.14 - alt. 6,877 ft - Col des Oudis (2096m)
8 : mi 6.65 - alt. 6,302 ft - Artificial lake
9 : mi 7.15 - alt. 6,473 ft - Les Chamois chairlift top station
10 : mi 7.55 - alt. 6,112 ft - Lac de la Jasse (1864m)
11 : mi 7.63 - alt. 6,122 ft - Signpost: "Sous le Lac de la Jasse"
12 : mi 8.48 - alt. 5,430 ft - Le Gros Cailloux
13 : mi 8.93 - alt. 5,151 ft - Colonie du Pré de l'Arc
E : mi 10.35 - alt. 4,426 ft - Start car park

Notes

The Gleyzin de la Ferrière and La Pra chalets are privately owned.

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

Tétras lyre - hiver - more information

Worth a visit

From the Col de la Vieille, you can take in part of the Vercors Massif, the Chartreuse Massif, the Bauges Massif and, between them, Lake Bourget.
Keep an eye out – this is marmot country!
Beneath the Oursière chairlift (5), a wooden sculpture has been placed! Follow the yellow-marked trail and you’ll emerge beneath the Aigle chairlift. Look carefully—there’s a second sculpture there!
Below the Col des Oudis, a path leads back to the Chartreuse Massif, with the Dent de Crolles in the foreground
We are now in the Sept Laux ski area. Please be aware that outside the winter season, the area is shared with mountain bikers, so be careful and do not stand in the middle of the slopes!

Reviews and comments

4.4 / 5

Based on 6 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.2 / 5

Ease of following the route
4.5 / 5

Route interest
4.5 / 5

athmos.oner

16 Jun 2022 at 12:06 7200

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

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

Second part of the trek: wake up at first light to enjoy a coffee with a view of the lake, absolute calm and magnificent pink tones and a perfect mirror reflection on the lake.

The descent to the "cul de la vieille" is hard on the legs, especially as there isn't really time to warm up given the short distance to cover before reaching it. There are quite a few people on this section, but then almost no one.
After that, the vegetation and shade are welcome, the waterfalls are flowing strongly (the snow is melting), there are quite a few slippery snowfields and water crossings, and a few slips, fortunately without falls.
Very pretty views and landscapes, enjoy them while you can, they won't last!
The rest of the route is an almost continuous climb under the blazing sun, which is quickly replaced by fog just as the landscape becomes much less interesting (ski slopes, ski lifts, etc.).
The end is indeed much less pretty than the first day, but towards the end, descending into the dense vegetation is quite pleasant.
The very end between the holiday camp and the car park on a road suitable for vehicles is not the most exciting, but your legs are heavy, so it's not too much of a problem.

There are many places to access the water on this second day and fewer people than on the first.

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clairelise07

24 Aug 2020 at 10:09 7200

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 07, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

The return trip is less scenic than the outward journey, but it's a great hike overall over two days.
The climb to the bear pit is steep, but I may have taken a wrong turn, according to the map. There was an additional 200 to 300 metres of elevation gain on the second day, and most of the descent was down ski slopes before coming back to a sign for "Lac de la Jasse". I was disappointed by the lake, which I had imagined to be more impressive.

In short, my reward was seeing Mont Blanc in the distance.

It is possible to return via Pleynet, Prapoutel and the GRP, but it is long and less interesting, even if it is easier.

For your information, I walked for four hours without seeing anyone, starting from the bottom of the Oursière

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mathnicoles

25 Jul 2020 at 21:12 7200

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 19, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Second day was very enjoyable. The hike consists of uphill, downhill and flat sections, which is great because it prevents your knees from hurting too much when there's only downhill. At this point, we had to cross a stream without shoes to avoid getting them wet, as there were no dry stones sticking out of the water. The water was very cold but it was fine.
Some people insist on using the ski slopes, but only 3-4 km of the route is on the slopes and much of it is uphill. We didn't find it unpleasant to walk on the slopes (it makes a change), and it wasn't long.
You no longer have to walk back up the ski slope to rejoin the hiking trail at Lac de la Jasse, as it is now a mountain biking and hiking trail. The end of the route from Lac de la Jasse to the finish takes about 1.5 hours as it is a fairly gentle descent, so the pace is much faster (no knee pain).
In total, it took us 7 hours and 45 minutes to cover 18 km, taking our time and stopping fairly regularly.

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sophiiiie

24 Aug 2017 at 16:20 7200

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 20, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A good second day. At the post with the tooth under Pipay, turn left onto a wide track and climb to the end to reach the Col des Oudis, which is not signposted, but a restaurant of the same name is signposted.

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Phasme91

15 Aug 2017 at 14:17 7200

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 13, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

The second day was also very good. We got lost at the Pra chalet; you have to take the path that goes up before the chalet, not after.

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alaindauverchain

11 Jun 2017 at 15:03 7200

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 02, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A beautiful day for hiking... quite challenging due to the numerous snowfields... the lakes are magnificent.

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V4_pat
19 Walks

Visorando Member

City: Draguignan (83300)

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