Savoyard Discovery Trails (PSD): Les Prioux
At the gateway to Vanoise National Park, the area’s extraordinary natural environment unfolds before you along an amazing trail up Chavière Valley.
Dauntingly awe-inspiring with the range’s high summits towering in every direction, and yet pleasantly tranquil with quaint hamlets and grazing herds, the valley reveals the secrets of life in an alpine pasture.
In Les Prioux, a small hamlet at 1700m elevation, nature reigns and humans learn to adapt. As if to make up for lost time during the long winter months when cut off from the rest of the world, the houses up here seem to “talk” to each other. They will tell you stories about yesteryear and of life today still influenced by the turn of the seasons: the pastures, making Beaufort cheese, tourism, mountain professions.
Winding up Chavière Valley, along the Doron River, the trail will awaken all of your senses to reveal the secrets of the houses in Les Prioux.
There are two circuits and two levels of difficulty to choose from:
Leisurely stroll
An easy walk for everyone, including families with strollers, senior citizens, and people in a wheelchair.
– Time round trip: 40 minutes
– Vertical gain: 10 meters
– Distance: 1.1 km.
Total freedom
Recommended for the truly curious who would like to explore Chavière Valley and Prioux by starting their hike from the village center in Pralognan-la-Vanoise.
– Time: 2 hrs
– Vertical gain: 300 meters
– Free parking at “Le Bouquetin” parking lot.
Guidebook with maps/step-by-step :
VARIANTS ascent: From Pralognan From the Bouquetin car park, in the center of Pralognan, you can reach the hamlet of Prioux on foot by going up the Chavière valley and passing through the hamlet of Chollière. Start in front of the Maison du Parc then reach the top of the Route du Plateau (information panel). Trail n° 59 Another family walk starting from Les Prioux which will offer you very beautiful views of the Chavière valley and the Dôme des Nants glacier bar. For the itinerary see the hike of the “Sentier du Lièvre aux Prioux”
