Hike to Mont Orchez, Chapelle Saint-Innocent & Cascade de l'Englennaz
Earlier this spring, I went on a hike to Mont Orchez, in the Chablais mountains above Cluses. I also visited Cascade de l’Englennaz, a waterfall in Cluses.
Here is a map of the path I walked (download KML):
In the morning, I took a train from Annecy to Marignier, the train station before Cluses. I walked up to the cross at Le Coux then followed a dirt road to the usual starting point of the hike to Mont Orchez, at Sur le Coux. From there, the trail up was steep and quite muddy because of the recent rains. There was a great view from the summit on the Vallée de l’Arve and the Bornes mountains on the other side. I ate lunch then went down towards Châtillon-sur-Cluses, passing by Chapelle Saint-Innocent along the way. Near a church in Châtillon, I found a recently built trail down to Cluses. Once in the valley, I made a detour to have a look at Cascade de l’Englennaz then walked to the Cluses train station in order to take the train back to Annecy.
Above, waiting for the connecting train at La Roche-sur-Foron.
Above, at the Marignier train station, looking towards Le Môle.
Above, Vieux Pont, on the river Giffre.
Above, Giffre.
Above, snow on the Bornes mountains.
Above, at some point, I followed the maintenance trail for the power transmission lines.
Above, Croix du Coux.
Above, Vallée de l’Arve and Bornes and Aravis mountains on the other side.
Above, Aravis.
Above, Marignier.
Above, Mont Blanc.
Above, Pointe d’Andey.
Above, Le Môle.
Above, Pointe de Perret and Pointe de Marcelly.
Above, Mont Orchez seen from Sur le Coux.
Above, Le Môle seen from a viewpoint below the summit.
Above, Chablais.
Above, Sur le Coux below.
Above, summit of Mont Orchez.
Above, Bornes mountains.
Above, Pointe Percée in the Aravis.
Above, Le Môle.
Above, Cluses.
Above, Rochers de Leschaux.
Above, towards La Roche-sur-Foron.
Above, on the way down to Châtillon-sur-Cluses.
Above, Mont Blanc.
Above, on the way to Chapelle Saint-Innocent.
Above, the chapel.
Above, golden fresco inside the chapel.
Above, Pointe de Marcelly.
Above, Pointe de Chevran.
Above, Chapelle du Mont-Proven in Châtillon-sur-Cluses.
Above, looking back at Mont Orchez.
Above, Eglise Saint-Martin.
Above, Aravis.
Above, ruins of a castle (Château de Châtillon).
Above, cemetery near the church. There is a great view from there.
Above, I followed those signs to get down to Cluses. It seems like a recently built trail (mostly not shown on the IGN maps, although it is on OpenStreeMap). It starts near Eglise Saint-Martin in Châtillon and arrives in Cluses not very far from the trail to Cascade de l’Englennaz.
Above, Le Môle.
Above, Mont Orchez.
Above, squirrel.
Above, Montagne de Chevran.
Above, Mont Orchez and Pointe de Marcelly.
Above, on the trail to Cascade de l’Englennaz.
Above, the waterfall. There is way to get to the basin right below it, but it is very slippery.
Above, Eglise Saint-Nicolas in Cluses.
Above, SNCF train station in Cluses. The last time I was in the area, it looked quite shabby. They really went all the way with the upgrade.
Above, towards Chamonix.
Above, towards La Roche-sur-Foron.
Above, Mont Orchez seen from the train.