The Col of Arclusaz (loop starting from the Bellevaux convent car park)

Let's go for a hike in the heart of the mountain pastures!
What a fantastic feeling to travel through this wide open pastoral valley, to reach the Col de l'Arclusaz, perched at the top of the cliff.
How to feel like the kings of the world!

First take this little path that goes up, hidden in the forest, following the stream. Then suddenly, coming out of the cover of the trees, the wide valley of Arclusaz opens up in front of you.

You enter a landscape of chalets and mountain pastures, framed by the Pointe des Arlicots and the Grand Parra to the east and the Dent de l'Arclusaz to the west. As you progress through the vast meadows towards the bottom of the valley, you come across chalets here and there grouped together in small families of three or four.

When you reach the Col de l'Arclusaz, suspended at the top of a cliff, you dominate the Isère valley which stretches out at your feet. Above you, Napoleon's hat, a huge stone headgear, towers over you by a hundred meters.

You then descend by another route which will take you past Notre-Dame de Bellevaux. Stop for a few moments to savor the calm and admire this charming chapel erected in 1839 on the site of a former monastery

1/ Always follow signs for "Col d'Arclusaz" (GRP).
2/ At the "Le Couvent - 897 m" crossroads, turn right for 250 m, then at the "St Benoit - 908 m" crossroads, climb left into the forest.
3/ Continue uphill through the forest on this path until you reach the mountain pastures and the "Sortie du vieux chemin - 1 255 m" crossroads.
4/ Then take the pastoral track up the valley, via the Chalets du Praz.
5/The out-and-back access to the Col d'Arclusaz begins at the "Sous les Arbets - 1 440 m" crossroads (1h20 ascent). On the way back down, follow the signs for Chalet de Bottier.
6/ First pass Chalet du Lauzarin (1,431 m). At Bottier (1,435 m), the trail becomes a path and plunges down to the bottom of the Lanche valley.
7/ Rejoin the trail at "Fond des Près - 1,110 m" and finally reach the Couvent parking lot via the ruined village of La Chapelle (fountain) and the Chapelle de Bellevaux (940 m).