July 15, 2021

Hike to Tête de Véret & Tête du Pré des Saix: From Flaine to Cluses

Last summer, I went on a hike in the Faucigny mountains: Starting above the Flaine ski resort, I visited the summits of Tête de Véret and Tête du Pré des Saix then walked all the way down to Cluses.

Here is a map of the path I walked:

In the morning, I went to Cluses by train from Annecy then boarded a Flaine Express summer shuttle. I got off at Combe de Vernant, a couple of stops before the terminus at the Flaine ski resort proper. I started walking towards Lac de Vernant then on to Pointe de Véret above. I went down to the new artificial lake in Combe de Véret and went up again on the other side to Col des Grands Vans using the large dirt road. I walked the small distance to Tête de Véret. There was a great view from the summit on Désert de Platé, the Giffre and Aravis mountains and even Mont Blanc. I went back to Col des Grands Vans and started walking towards Cluses, still a long way off, using the dirt road (which is a ski slope during winter). On the way, I passed Col de Vernant, Tête du Pré des Saix (which is connected to Samoëns through the Grand Massif Express gondola and Chariande Express chairlift so there was a lot of people), Pointe de Cupoire and Croix des Sept Frères. At some point, I took a fork and walked a forest trail down to the village of La Frasse. I made a detour to have a look at the baroque Chapelle Ronde de Ballancy (Round Chapel) then continued towards Croix Verte. There, I walked a trail that led to Cluses, which I had already taken in the other direction when I had been to Pointe de Chevran. Once in Cluses, I headed to the train station and waited for the train back to Annecy.